I was having the same conversation with people in 2016. In fact, for every election since 2000. Yes democrats often suck. But at least they believe in consensus based governance and the rule of law. The modern GOP (since the civil rights era) has been firmly authoritarian and anti-democratic. Unfortunately your choices are between “lackluster” and “truly horrifying.” Changing that will take a generation but if you don’t participate now and vote against the GOP, things will be far worse far more quickly than if Democrats just disappoint you.
Very much how I feel. One path gives us the opportunity to improve our situation eventually, the other wishes to burn it all down and create a religious dictatorship, or whatever the hell you’d call the Trump/MAGA/right wing of the U.S.’ ideal version of government.
Some people can’t separate the ideal from the actual. Yeah the process sucks and we should demand better. Yeah we should demonstrate, protest, and riot. But we still have to fucking vote, and at the end of the day we have to win. In politics, you can’t play if you don’t win.
People who try to skip voting to go do the rest of the fun stuff should frankly get put in stockades at those riots and pelted.
Fuck these aesthetic allies, do the work or don’t show up. Price of admittance to the instagramable protest march is the most recent “I Voted” sticker.