Do you think the stunning outcome of the 2016 election will get the non-voters and 3rd party voters galvanized into reality next year?

The most trolliest of trolling questions I have seen in some time here. Come on.

^^^ LOL! Defensive much? You must have been one of them!

The US has a 2 party system. 3rd party voters will most likely continue to mess things up.

Me thinks there are loads of non-voters, and 3rd-party-voters, that made a considered decision to do so.

One cannot depend on an “anti-” vote; candidates that people want to elect are necessary.

Flagged as flamebait.

Well, it wasn’t @Stache. It was a valid question. Do you think the 2016 outcome has changed some people’s thinking?

I’m guessing that the blue voters of Milwaukee, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia have learned a hard lesson.

It’s a fair question and I can only say I very much hope so. Trump is like a bad case of influenza, it probably won’t kill you but it doesn’t feel good and you don’t want to catch it again.

“or are they going to curl up in a helpless little ball again next year?”

That’s not flamebait? Yeah, right. Your intentions are clear.

The non voters I know are either lazy, or uninformed. One of my relatives who is a non voter seems to be very proud of the fact that she doesn’t vote, doesn’t read the paper, or get involved. She said she was “sick of it all” and “doesn’t have the time or the interest for any of that crap!” Her being sick if it all does absolutely nothing to change the crappy situation. Voting, and getting involved, is a way for us to change a crappy situation.

A few of my millenial friends who don’t vote, still believe that their vote doesn’t count, and can’t figure out the math. Meaning that if all of those people who didn’t vote, because they thought their single vote wouldn’t count, all got up and actually voted, they could have swung the election the other way.

Some of the non voters and some of the third party voters will only vote for a “unicorn” candidate, and don’t realize that sometimes it’s important to vote against a terrible candidate, even if it means that they don’t get their “unicorn.”

Then there are the non voters who never even think about voting. They’re busy playing Pokemon Go, and don’t know who any of the candidates are, and they’re too busy, and lack the interest to find out. Most of those people, I suspect, don’t see themselves as being part of the “government for the people, and by the people” and think that voting is “dumb” or a waste of time, and they don’t pride themselves on being good citizens, at least not with regard to voting. They look upon voting as some ridiculous thing that is being foisted upon them like jury duty, or paying taxes, only with voting, they can “stick it to the government” by not voting, not realizing that they are sticking it to themselves, and the rest of is.

@Stache – Apparently @Dutchess_III was hoping more Gary Johnson voters would have voted for Trump.

This question is so confused because you have very little grasp on what happened in 2016, and how elections work overall. You have heard some bullshit complaining about 3rd party voters, and just echoed it here.

You didn’t come here to chastise the Democratic party for blowing it. You didn’t come here to complain about the 8% – 10% of your fellow Democrats who voted for Trump. You didn’t come here to look at the lower voter turnout and overall broken democracy. You didn’t come here to talk about how we can push back against gerrymandering and voter suppression.

You came here to make an unsubstantiated claim about people who voted for 3rd parties. Since the reality doesn’t fit the model of whatever you have floating around in your head, you’ve likely left out any sources or even any explicit assertions, and only insinuated the worst about people that don’t exist.

This question is horseshit, is untethered from the constraints of the reality of what happened, and is very unproductive. Stop, breathe and learn (if you truly are interested in having a different outcome next time).

GA @notnotnotnot

It could galvanize but not counting on nor betting my life on it. It’s only 2019 after all.

If nothing changes positively dramatic for trump though maybe the Republican Party’s best bet is another Presidential contender.

This is a pretty tough crowd.
Maybe you guys should take it outside.

According to the post, 46% of eligible voters didn’t bother to vote in 2016. 46%!

Some people think that not voting is like an abstention. I don’t agree, but I know it’s true. And it may have been very true given the choice of candidates in 2016. Very Bad, and Real Bad.

“not voting is like an abstention” ^^^^^^The definition of abstention is NOT voting in an election.

People can be apathetic, the ultimate apathy is “a frog in of water that is slowing being heated” The frog dies and never saw it coming to a boil.

I know. I voted for for VB. I had no choice. Although I really don’t’ think she was / is that bad.

Cool! I also voted for Valerie Bertinelli!

Write in, man!!
Actually I wrote in for Bob Marly.

Short answer, no.

The system is COMPLETELY broken. I laugh at the voters often. They are really just a tiny bit better than Trumpers. That is to say, they are gullible. A vote is to give you the illusion of power. In reality, the only power you have is to legitimize one of two people. And even those two people are bound by their political party. So, you are really just voting D or R.
The pattern of the government in my lifetime, is for the minority party to drag it’s feet in hopes of obstructing the other parties agenda.
Obama was hamstrung by the GOP. The things he did get done were attacked, and are being undone by the Trump administration. Treaties, agreements, trade negotiations, etc will all be wiped away. Soon, the dems will start dragging their feet, so Trump won’t accomplish much more. If a Democrat wins in 2020, they’ll likely destroy all of Trump’s work too. Then the Republicans will drag their feet again, and nothing will get done.

The ONLY thing getting done, by either party, is rich people getting richer. Career politicians grow wealthy, and are rarely held accountable for anything. Their strings are all pulled by basically the same wealthy elite.

Go ahead. Vote. Give this faux-democracy power by letting them say we have a choice. IMO, it’s the voters who need to wake up. GOD I’m sick of hearing that it’s my fault Trump won. Hillary won the fucking election by half a million votes! How exactly was my 1 vote supposed to make a difference?
In GW’s election, they simply threw votes away in Florida. Did those votes help?

When you throw a party and people don’t show up, you don’t start yelling at people who didn’t come. You should evaluate why nobody liked either you, or your style of partying… Some people went to another party. Others just stayed home. There’s a reason for that…

Hear, hear!

@MrGrimm888 I disagree. But it’s those kinds of things,things that people say, that cause people to lose hope. By losing hope they lose control.

And if it’s just an illusion, why the hell do the candidates work their asses off and fight so hard for it? If it’s just an illusion, how did Hillary win the popular vote at all? And is it just an illusion in other countries, too?

The illusion maybe is in the hoping and waiting for a more ideal process to emerge sans participating.

I will continue to vote at any rate.

Dutch. We do simply disagree on this matter.
Is it an illusion in other countries? I’m not sure, but I wager most citizens in a democracy have FAR less control than they think.

@Dutchess_III (answering the original question) Of course they won’t. It’s because the 3rd party voters don’t care about letting the world burn around them as long as they stick to their principles. “Compromise” is a dirty word.

And I’m sure a certain someone will start sending me PMs again about how stupid I am for answering a question and not agreeing with her

One of the reasons why Trump won is the “fall in line” attitude Hillary’s campaign had, and shaming third party voters. Also, Hillary Clinton rarely made any specific policy stances. She just regurgitated stale talking points and platitudes.

@Caravanfan

Whenever republicans and democrats compromise, it’s usually to screw over the poor and middle class.

Also, I have to add, it’s not particularly stunning that a fake populist won against an establishment politician.

I never called you stupid. Moronic fiddle player maybe, but never stupid.