Over the past year, much left-of-center discourse has included concerns over conflict between electoral politics and Palestinian liberation, with some deciding to cast their ballot for a third party candidate, like Jill Stein, or abstain from voting altogether. Others begged them to play the game of the two-party system for fear of a Trump victory.
Despite concerns over this left wing schism jeopardizing Kamala Harris’ win, it is now apparent that third-party voters are not the enemy many expected them to be. Had every Green Party vote gone to Harris instead, Donald Trump still would have won by a comfortable margin.
Regardless, I opened X to find tweets saying “fuck every trump supporter fuck every poc who voted for trump fuck every women who voted for trump fuck every third party voter.” Anger following the election is valid, but we need to wield it properly. Waging war against third-party voters or “dissenting” minorities is choosing a weaker enemy so that you do not have to confront the moth holes in the fabric of our country.
The vitriol against leftist Arab voters, and that directed against Black and Latino men who voted for Trump reveals another issue in the Democratic Party that will continue to sully its reputation. Politicians use minorities as political pawns, running campaigns on human rights while offering no substantial support for their constituency and continuing to support Israel’s military operations.
Then, when people see through their political tokenization, Democrats turn and blame them for their losses. After four years under Joe Biden and Harris that saw little change for Black communities, the Dobbs decision and continued issues for families at the border, how can Democrats still count on unwavering minority support?
Harris also spent much of her campaign trying to appeal to the right, racking up Republican endorsements and appearing alongside Liz Cheney. This was not enough to secure her victory. In trying to appeal to the full political spectrum, Harris’ campaign came across as flimsy and lacking conviction.
To wage war against third-party voters and right-wing minorities is to let the Democratic Party off the hook for a spineless and uncompelling campaign. It is to feign surprise when a patriarchal, capitalist country prioritizes potential economic gain over human rights. It is absolving yourself from having to do any uncomfortable work for the next four years.
The first step to fighting Democrats’ unreliability and Republicans’ perpetuation of bigotry is to stop scapegoating and look critically at the Democratic Party. Voters’ eventual drift away from the party in both directions is a symptom of its issues, not the cause.
We should also be paying closer attention to the former Democratic strongholds that defected than those who opted for third-party candidates. It is daunting to confront the party that won the popular vote, but elections are a numbers game and we cannot waste time fighting the few we deem easier to win back.
