There is nothing interesting or helpful that I, a Blue team voter, can say that shames, insults, or belittles a Red team voter.

Not because I need to somehow cater to the Red team voter, but because Red team voters are 100% irrelevant, and so am I.

Whether I like it or not (I don’t), in this ineptly designed two-party plutocracy,

I vote for the Blue team.

Even though I hate 88% of what they do, they can rely on my vote no matter what… because I hate 99% of what the Red team does.

Also, culture and stuff. Good Reasons.

The problem on both sides (but especially mine) is that the people who VOTE for the team think they are ON the team.

I have news: That’s not how representative democracy works. If you aren’t running, elected, appointed, or working on it, you’re not on the team…

You’re a fan.

As a reliable voter for the Blue team, I am nothing more than a fan watching the game. I have no power other than to cheer, boo, and yell at the GM to fire the coach or draft a new star player.

I will reliably root (vote) for my team and so I am irrelevant to the game’s outcome.

Representatives are the players. Their job is to WIN. Winning means getting elected NO MATTER THE CONDITIONS, advancing popular and effective policy, and then getting reelected.

Representatives are 100% responsible for all of this because they are the ones with or seeking power.

The Red team’s reliable voters are in the stands too. If I punch one of them in the face, I get taken out by security and the game goes on.

Almost the entire discourse from my fellow Blue team fans is the equivalent of dumping a beer on a Red team fan. Useless. At best.

The only thing that matters is WINNING THE VOTES of the people who could go either way or who may not vote at all.

There are tens of millions of these people. Winning their votes is The Game. There is no other game.

When you understand that winning votes is The Game and that you don’t matter, Trump fans don’t matter, that you’re all irrelevant, everything becomes about having the right players, running the right strategy, winning the votes, and enacting policies that make sure you win again.

When you hear someone yelling about the other team’s voters, the absurdity becomes crystal clear: “If they weren’t cheering so loudly, we would have won! If you cheer for the other team, you are a BAD person and NOT MY FRIEND ANYMORE.”

What are we doing?

And then things get really crazy: People blame VOTERS for their team losing (something Democrats do to voters they think are “theirs”) 🤦‍♂️.

This is exactly equivalent to “We would have scored more points if the ball wasn’t so STUPID. The other team ran so FAST! It’s not FAIR!”

Any cowardly politician or apparatchik who blames a single thing on voters should never be allowed to participate in politics again.

Win the votes, make things better, and then win again. That’s your job, and if you don’t even understand your job, you shouldn’t have the job.

One question, reacting to the current clusterfuck: How might we repair trust in our institutions and even basic facts after decades of relentless lying and grifting by our leaders?

One answer: Maybe try being honest 🤷‍♂️.

That’s a play I’d run. But I’m just a fan.