Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

This fight is for everything.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

People are weird.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2020 / Late Night Election Year Open Thread: Luring the #StillVotingYang Participants

Late Night Election Year Open Thread: Luring the #StillVotingYang Participants

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The hashtag #StillVotingYang was at the top of Twitter’s ‘Trending Topics’ column when I was looking for coronavirus news last night. Given the hour, I assumed it was Russian bots and/or native trolls… but while that may have been the original spark, the idea seems to be popular with ‘real’ potential voters, now.

To tell the truth, a lot of these YangGangers sound like me aged 21, voting for John Anderson as a protest against Jimmy Carter’s refusal to defend pro-choice policies. Nobody owns my vote! Show my why I should vote for your candidate! If we won’t defend our positions, when will we ever see things change?

In my defense, I didn’t have the atrocities of the Reagan/Bush/Trump regimes to warn me how poor a tactic that would turn out to be. In their defense, a lot of these folks are drawing a distinction between the primaries and the general election, which is perfectly reasonable — the primaries are when policy differences should be fought out.

… Many tweeted using the hashtag to say they still believe his policies are what the U.S. needs now, while others remained unconvinced by the platforms offered by the remaining Democrats.

Yang, whose campaign promised that every eligible American would receive $1,000 a month as part of a Universal Basic Income, officially withdrew from the race just as the New Hampshire primaries were announced.

Yang finished in eighth position in New Hampshire, receiving just 2.8 percent of the vote, having finished sixth in Iowa with 1 percent.

“His democracy dollars policy is the only policy that brings the power of money in politics back to the people,” tweeted Leony Marks.

“#AmericaneedsYang because all the other candidates would just continue and play along with the old system of oppression.”

“No vote that is cast thoughtfully is wasted, and your candidate is not entitled to my vote. @AndrewYang earned my vote, your candidate will have to do the same if you want me to change my mind.”

Eric Quach tweeted: “TO BE CLEAR: #StillVotingYang ISN’T about voting @AndrewYang in the GENERAL election. IT’S about voting @AndrewYang in the Democratic PRIMARY election.

“If you want our vote, then you need to earn it & those who are attacking #YangGang, you definitely don’t deserve it.”…

However, others also used the hashtag to describe their dismay that Yang supporters aren’t now backing one of the other candidates still in the race in order to achieve the overall goal of removing President Donald Trump from the White House.

“If you’re #StillVotingYang, you clearly don’t give af about removing the single biggest threat to democracy this country has ever seen. Do us all a favor and open your eyes before you find yourself complicit in Trump’s reelection,” writer Jack Wallen tweeted.

“This #stillvotingyang has really cemented that we are too stupid a people to deserve anything but Donald Trump as our president for the rest of his life or until the country literally explodes, whichever comes first,” added author Ivan Brandon…

I know a lot of people assumed, when Yang officially dropped out, that of course his supporters would switch to Sanders, because ‘they have so much in common’. Quite a few people, not all of them Bernistas, said that Sanders would / should offer Yang the VP slot immediately. That… doesn’t seem to have happened. Seems like Buttigieg should be attractive to YangGangers, as well.

But of course what I’m hoping — especially at the Nevada caucuses — is that the Warren voters can persuade the YangGang, one by one, that Elizabeth has a plan for them, too, if they’re willing to look at it. She’s really good at motivating people, and I hope my fellow supporters in the Silver State can follow her lead.


Sad trombone coda:

Reader Interactions

111Comments

  1. 1.

    Justin Wilson

    I feel like I’m always supposed to be mad at all sides of every topic now. Everyone is completely wrong. And the people everyone is arguing with? They’re wrong, too. Jesus this year is gonna be exhausting.

  3. 3.

    Jerzy Russian

    I’m #StillVotingYang because I want my vote to count toward a vision of the future I actually believe in and am excited about.

    If the candidate is not in the race and hence won’t take up an office after the election, as a practical matter how does the vote count towards anything?

    The house is on fire, and let’s know turn away the firefighters because they are not from a union shop, or because their firetruck runs on diesel and pollutes the air. Once the fire is out and our most pressing concern is fixing that leaky faucet in the spare bathroom that we hardly ever use, we can once again argue about what plumber we will call, or whether we could just get a new vanity or even perhaps remodel the entire bathroom.

  4. 4.

    laura

    This level of spite-stupidity just makes my teeth ache. The preciousness elevates it to the worst of performance artistry.

  5. 5.

    Mnemosyne

    Meh, I don’t really care what they do in the primary. It would be nice to keep them for the general since the Bros look like they’re preparing to spin out again if their Personal Jesus fails to get enough votes again.

  6. 6.

    Van Buren

    1. I haven’t eaten in 3 days, but because this steak is medium rare and not rare I am walking out of the restaurant.
  7. 7.

    Wag

    The only presidential vote that I have regretted was my first. Voted for Barry Commoner instead of President Carter.  Of course, I was voting in Colorado, and Reagan had the state’s EC delegates locked up, but I still kick myself for not voting for Carter.  Commoner was an early proponent of solar energy, but in retrospect otherwise had little to offer.

  8. 8.

    FelonyGovt

    My in-laws just informed me that they’ve already voted for Bloomberg because they think he’s the only one who can beat Trump. I have no idea where that idea came from.

  11. 11.

    tokyokie

    @FelonyGovt: My in-laws just informed me that they’ve already voted for Bloomberg because they think he’s the only one who can beat Trump. I have no idea where that idea came from.

    No doubt from the 9-figures of advertising he’s bought.

  15. 15.

    Morzer

    @FelonyGovt: Bloomberg or Bernie and Bust seem to be what a lot of voters perceive as their choices this time around, especially now that Barack’s Bestie appears to be collapsing.

  16. 16.

    James E Powell

    In their defense, a lot of these folks are drawing a distinction between the primaries and the general election, which is perfectly reasonable — the primaries are when policy differences should be fought out

    I’m going to go out on a limb and say sure, maybe under normal circumstances, but not this time.

    I heard the same or similar about Bernie voters in 2016. So they kept campaigning. Calling her corrupt, no better than Trump. Right up to and including the convention when they booed her and walked out.

    The time for a candidate to quit the race is when it becomes clear that the candidate cannot win. You want to work out policies? Run for congress and the senate or maybe start up a PAC. Anything else is bullshit.

  18. 18.

    Morzer

    I suspect the Bing Bang Ying Yang crowd are mostly attention-seekers who will enjoy their five seconds of petulant fame and then go back to whatever solitary vices they habitually prefer.

  19. 19.

    Ruckus

    @AxelFoley:

    The Bernie or busters are still with us.

     

    I wonder how many of the Yangs for ever or Bernie busters have ever actually voted? I also wonder if they have any idea how our system works?

    They may vote for Yang or for Bernie but their vote is wasted and they may of course get us back to trump. This is an existential election. And we may not get who we want. I won’t because my first choice was Kamala Harris. Now I vote for my next choice. I may be forced to vote for my last choice. I will still do that even though I do not agree that this person deserves to be elected as president and the damage control that this person does may not help at all.

    Existential. Crisis.   End of discussion.

  21. 21.

    SenyorDave

    Because their health care is secure and they don’t know any at risk immigrants and they have already graduared from college and don’t  need student loans and they will be just fine even if Trump wins again.  IOW they really don’t give two shits about anyone other than themselves.

  22. 22.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Duane: I have not.  It was the first thing that came to mind.  (Naturally) :)

    How about “I want cod, not tuna, so I’m going to drain all the fish farms!”

  23. 23.

    mrmoshpotato

    @SenyorDave: I doubt they’d give a shit about risks to anyone but themselves.

    ‘I never thought leopards would eat MY face,’ sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party.

  24. 24.

    Suzanne

    Your vote is your voice in this country.

    Use it to say what you want.

    In this case, what she’s saying is “I can’t math”.

  27. 27.

    Cameron

    Who cares what these people say or do now?  It’s what happens in November that’s important.  You can announce that you’re drinking a quart of lye if Candidate XYZ doesn’t get the nomination; that’s fine, if you choose not to vote, go right ahead.  You’ll be joined by tens of millions of others, only they’ll be sitting it out due to apathy or despair rather than from an infantile temper tantrum.  Hmmm….actually, the apathy/despair thing isn’t all that cool either…..

  28. 28.

    Morzer

     

     @SabrinaSiddiqui

    In interview with @MeetThePress, BIDEN says that SANDERS should take some accountability for his supporters’ rhetoric / attacks on Culinary Union members: “He may not be responsible for it but he has some accountability … if any of my supporters did that, I’d disown them.”

  29. 29.

    AnotherBruce

    Good God, how old are these people? They sound like a bunch of adolescents sobbing because they cant and wont understand that that their candidate is gone.  They think it’s a protest vote, but it isn’t any vote at all.

  32. 32.

    Cacti

    After the revolting attacks from the Bernie cult on Culinary 226, Bernie finally spoke out…

    “Harassment of all forms is unacceptable to me, and we urge supporters of all campaigns not to engage in bullying or ugly personal attacks,”

    The only supporters doing it are yours, you disingenuous mother fucker.

  33. 33.

    jl

    All this stuff is from twitter? How many people out of all those who voted for Yang does it represent? Just the twitterers, which is often a weird group.

    @Morzer: Thanks that was interesting, I didn’t know Sanders was so popular among Democratic voters. I’m not sure what it means about the nomination, though, since it will be a while until there is a head to head primary contest, if ever. I like the results, since my preferred candidate, Warren, does pretty well against Sanders, she has a shot. But sadly for me, chance of the primary coming down to that head for head is very low (though won’t keep me from making a few more contributions to Warren).

  36. 36.

    Morzer

    @HalfAssedHomesteader:

    “Voting is a chess move, not a valentine. And here’s the joy of being politically engaged all year round every year; you get to work with a whole lot of chess pieces and players and strategies and longterm visions, so you don’t agonize over whether this little hop with a pawn we call voting defines you. You get to define yourself by what you’re passionately committed to, by who you align with, by your dreams and your visions, you get to move a lot of pieces a lot of times, you get heroic allies, and you play to win above, beyond, around elections. But you vote, because you know it matters too.” – Rebecca Solnit

  40. 40.

    Sab

    I met a bunch of really likeable Bernie supporters while out canvassing yesterday. Nothing like the Bernie bros online. I think I will tone down my anti-Bernie comments henceforth.

  41. 41.

    Jay

    Number of women accusing each candidate of sexual assault, sexual harassment or inappropriate touching:

    Bloomberg: 64

    Trump: 43

    Biden: 8

    All other candidates combined: 0— Mike Prysner (@MikePrysner) February 16, 2020

  44. 44.

    Jay

    BTDubs, has anybody “verified” the “Yang Twitter Voters”?

    Are they real people, or stock photos?

    Yang pulled a lot of GRU/troll support on line and in polls.

    Keep in mind the disinfo is out there, not just to f/u the election, but to f/u with your minds.

  46. 46.

    Jay

    Many people complain about the inhumanity of Stop & Frisk, but it's not about thatHere's a list of the top 10 reasons why stop & frisk is worse than you think:1/?— michaelharriot (@michaelharriot) February 13, 2020

    Interesting thread.

  50. 50.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Hilarious – Bernie’s voters pleading with Yang voters not to vote 3rd party because it helps Dump.   HA! Shoe on other foot and all.

    Priceless.

  53. 53.

    Sab

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Bernie bros online are obnoxious as hell. In the real world I met a bunch of perfectly nice Bernie supporters in the primary who were all in for Hillary in the general election in 2016.

    Same thing now. Canvassing for Warren, I met some really nice Bernie people who like her but will vote for Bernie in the primary but would be happy to vote for her in the general.

    I think we need to tone down the anti-Bernie stuff. Not all of his supporters are trolls.

    On the other hand, I do think he would suck as president. Plus he is old. Plus he had a heart attack this year and isn’t doing any rehab.Stupid and dangerous to his health. But that is on him.

    He has decent people rooting for him.Not all of them are monsters. I think they are very misguided, but still good people.

  54. 54.

    Jay

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    according to some “studies”, Sanders “supporters” went Dolt 45 , no vote or 3rd Party to the “tune” of up to 12%. The rest voted straight ticket in 2016.

    the same polls show that up to 21% of “Democratic Party” voters, didn’t bother to show up.

    funny that.

  56. 56.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @Morzer: Yougov is an online poll and their results have been ridiculous.

    In Iowa they had Sanders beating Warren by 11 points.  In NH they had Sanders beating Klubochar by 19 points.

    Dewey, Cheatam, and Howe are better pollsters.

  59. 59.

    Sab

    @Jay: WTF? Where I am it’s 4 a.m. And you are bailing on us?  I realize where you are it’s only 1a.m and a realistic bedtime, but still.

  62. 62.

    Sab

    4:10 and my dad’s blind cat is yowling. He has food. He has water. He is just very lonely, sitting in the living room with four other cats. If he was a dog they would be packmates and friends. Since he and they are all cats they are just potential enemies who might notice he is blind.

    I love this guy, but it is 4 a.m. so I want to go back to sleep. I probably will go downstairs and hug him instead.

  65. 65.

    Jay

    @Sab:

    sometimes, I am here for the odd chuckle,

    sometimes, world outside of Dolt45 and the Turd Reich,

    tonight, dinner at a “Greek/Canadian” restaurant with the SWMBO, then pub, interrupted by a car accident, ( not us) and trauma.

    supposed to be our belated Valentines night out.

  68. 68.

    Sab

    We need to remember that Mike Pompeo is a Koch brothers protege. He is loyal to the oil patch, not to the USA. Russia is also part of the oil patch.

  69. 69.

    Jay

    @Sab:

    yup, she was in the pub, I was outside, indulging in my filthy habit/addiction, severe rear ender right in front of me. Pickup truck vs. Mini car. First responder mode, jammed doors, gas, injuries. Me and another guy, until 911 showed up, plus, you know, traffic.

    Everybody’s going to be sort of, okay.

  71. 71.

    Jay

    Trump’s Campaign Chairman owed this guy tens of millions of dollars and repeatedly sought to use his position to get even. Now, it is revealed that Deripaska holds some of Putin’s wealth. Trump lifted sanctions on his companies. https://t.co/ZSOhVDrkSc— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) February 14, 2020

  72. 72.

    Jay

    @Sab:

    yup, doesn’t help that my only “real trauma” is car accidents.

    16, new driver, Corvette blows by me, (doing at least 140), loses control and clips the steel on the Pitt River Bridge. Stop and run over, driver’s dead, no head. Passenger,( female), consious, but half her skull was missing. Died in my lap. Still consious.

    Later, stomp through the marsh to find the drivers head, because the Pitt Meadows Volenteer Fire Department “dinna wanna”, which I as a “youte”, thought was wrong.

    after that, every accident I had was “minor”.

  73. 73.

    Sab

    @Jay: I have an American nephew whose father is Chinese. Nephew married a lovely Canadian woman. They just had a kid. Hauled kid north to meet his family, and to get him registered as a Canadian citizen. Sigh of relief for all of us south of the border. This kid now has options.

  77. 77.

    Sab

    @Jay: My family has always moved back and forth across the border. My great grandmother moved to Chicago from Ontario to go to nursing school. She married an American doctor and settled in Wisconsin. Her great grandfather meant to settle in America, got on the wrong side in our revolution, and when paroled went to Quebeq. His son in law was a Swiss furtrader.

    Yes, we are mosty all immigrants in America and Canada.

  78. 78.

    Chyron HR

    Oh, wow, it turns out that Yang’s campaign was just a Russian-backed ratfucking operation to split off 2-3% of the Democratic vote by promising something impossible?  If only someone had seen that coming.

  79. 79.

    Jay

    Yesterday, over 100 neo-Nazi & white supremacist profiles were blocked by Russian social network VKontakte. Some racists now complaining about losing 1/3 of their contacts on VK.For example, white supremacist Billy Roper now gone.HateTrackers project is taking responsibility. pic.twitter.com/4SsRPZxkwV— Atlanta Antifascists (@afainatl) February 16, 2020

  80. 80.

    Jay

    @Sab:

    yeah, the “borders” used to be porous, intra North America, and arriving by ship, used to be “disease or no?” on the form.

    funny that, built us.

    now, something for the ignorant to fear.

    recently moved back to the Greatest City In The World, won that title for all the vaguely “beige” babies, 5 of which are my neices and nephews.

  82. 82.

    Jay

    @Chyron HR:

    like Wilmer, “ support for” vs. the actual campaign needs be parsed. ReThugs deciding to be “Democratic Party” “members” for caucuses, primaries, polls*, Russians, Australians, etc,…..

    see that last one?

  83. 83.

    Jay

    @Sab:

    YVR, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

    no trains because people decided the Wetsueten have rights.

    Swarmed full of vaguely beige babies whom are georgious.

  84. 84.

    Sab

    @Jay: They are planning to move north of the border because our schools suck so bad. Yay America! Her family are all scientists (microbiology).Yay America.

  85. 85.

    Jay

    @Sab:

    sucks for the US. Good for Canada.

    I am an old, redneck Contractor, ( decade and a bit since last Life version ) and I love immigrants.

    Hard workers, better food.

    Don’t take nothing from me.

  86. 86.

    Jay

    @Sab:

    and I am glad they have “safety”. Canada could do more, but, yunnow, racist nazis must be swaddled and coddled.

  88. 88.

    Barb 2

    Nevada – 4 years ago is when the Bernie-bots made fools of themselves. They threw chairs and generally threatened everyone because their dear leader lost. And Bernie was rather proud of his Jim Jones skill set.

    I saw these cult bots act up at the caucus I went to in Washington. Yet when the results of the primary vote came out – Clinton won. Bullying and intimidation work in caucuses. Bernie-bots are most likely getting training somewhere. The uniformity of their behavior and knowing when to use the tactics together just doesn’t happen spontaneously. The Bernie-bots also disrupted the Democratic convention. Again using unified tactics. These suckers know how to manipulate as a mob.

  89. 89.

    Jay

    @Sab:

    everybody is welcome.

    yes, we have our ignorant, racists, in  but so far, out side of a few provincial governments,( cough cough) not so much.

    I get scared looks, because I look like a Nazi would look.

    (Sorry, baldness, small chin, skin cancer)

    I parse it by eye smiles, full face smiles, “Canadian” helpfulness and engagement, and “English as Another Language”. I’ve only got one. But I know the difference between Cantonese, Mandarin, Farsi and Arabic, enough to ask for “help”.

    Come North. It’s pretty “warm” up here.

  90. 90.

    Barb 2

    Northern Washington state – lots of Canadians live here. Used to be that Canadian and U.S. Coins were interchangeable. Travel between North and South was frequent. Not so much anymore. Iranian-American citizens were stopped and held at border. Depends on the whim of the Orange slob as to which nationality in on the “hold of detain” list.

    I liked it better during the era of a pocket full of Canadian change.

    One year early in this century US citizens when to Canada for flu shots – or cheaper prescription drugs. The US Gestapo was not happy at all and questioned all older folks harshly. Another Republican administration.

  91. 91.

    Jay

    @Sab:

    if they are coming to YVR, T and I would happily walk them around, buy them dinner, show them them the food, help them settle in.

     

    it’s a big city, but it’s not.

  92. 92.

    Matt McIrvin

    This very website has a bunch of commenters saying they’re planning to sit out the general election if Sanders gets nominated (a guy who has a real shot). How is this really different from being Yang-or-Bust? You’re consigning the country to the flames because you didn’t get your way, in either case.

  93. 93.

    SFAW

    @Cacti:

    “Harassment of all forms is unacceptable to me, and we urge supporters of all campaigns not to engage in bullying or ugly personal attacks,”

    The only supporters doing it are yours, you disingenuous mother fucker.

    All lives matter.

  96. 96.

    BellyCat

    Voting Proposal for Armageddon Times:

    Two columns for each office: A) Your actual vote, B) Your (possibly farfetched) “voice”

    Gets real results AND allows purity pony free-expression.

    (only half-joking…)

  99. 99.

    Shalimar

    I wrote in Jimmy Stewart in 1992 and 1996 because I didn’t like Clinton and would never vote for a Republican.  At least everyone else’s youthful stupid mistake was actually on the ballot.

  100. 100.

    trnc

    @Sab:

    I think we need to tone down the anti-Bernie stuff. Not all of his supporters are trolls.

    On the other hand, I do think he would suck as president. Plus he is old. Plus he had a heart attack this year and isn’t doing any rehab.Stupid and dangerous to his health. But that is on him.

    My current biggest campaign fear is that Bernie gets the nomination and has another heart attack 2 in the middle of October. I wonder if any Bernie supporters are making efforts to get him to be more healthy.

  101. 101.

    Sab

    @trnc: I will mention that to his supporters next week. I am old enough that I can do it without being offputting. Just one old with heart issues worrying about another.

  102. 102.

    rikyrah

    Told you that Yang was nothing but a libertarian dudebro clown ??

     

    So, of course his folks aren’t interested in voting Democratic ??

  105. 105.

    Denali

    Bernie will not beat Trump in the general election. Why do people not get this? I am afraid that Republicans are voting for him in the states with open primaries just to achieve an opponent that they can beat.

  108. 108.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Yeah, that struck me too. I had no idea that Yang drew so much support from Republicans and sundry other non-Dems. So we may not be losing much if anything if they sit this election out.

  110. 110.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Matt McIrvin:  OK, I’ll bite: IMO, BS & his faithful, specifically the gaggle of nasty arseholes in his “high command,” are not collectively competent enough to organize a two-car funeral if you spotted them the hearse. A BS Administration – with the GOP rump in Congress,the bazillionaires, the Lamestream Media and the Federalist judges put in place by MoskvaMitch all lined up against anything he proposes – will get exactly nothing done, will discredit the whole notion of social democracy for the next century or so, & will lead inevitably to a full-frontal-fascist takeover of the gummint after the 2024 elections under a POTUS who actually knows how to work the system to fuck the rest of us over maximally.

    The only, only good thing about a BS Administration would be the lack of the viciously crazy shit Trump does as naturally as breathing. Which would give folks like you & me a 4-year breathing space to adjust our resources to escape from the oncoming White Nationalist States of Amerikkka in some semblance of order. Maybe that’s enough. Maybe it’ll have to be enough. :^(

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