Let’s take an extreme example.
Does a Democrat vote in Wyoming or West Virginia really make a difference?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-fulfilling_prophecy
If no one votes because they don’t think they can win, they’re right. Vote anyway, you never know, you might unseat a local candidate and begin making incremental progress. And to be honest, the local level is always going to be more impactful on your day to day life anyway.
But if you don’t cast the vote, you’re going to be in the minority forever, along with everyone else who agrees with you and does the same.
Counter opinion.
Win, lose, it doesn’t matter.
Voting is a pressure release valve that allows the status quo to exist.
It tricks the population into thinking it has an ounce of control over a country that serves it corporations
Voting is misdirection of the masses. It’s the wrong answer to the wrong question.
While you are directing your anger at the citizen voters on the other team, or the people not voting, the lobbyists are the people with the real greenbacked votes that actually count.
Looking at how fucked the right has been in many elections they were expected to come out on top in, I wouldn’t be very surprised if the Republicans lose in some areas both sides are assuming they’ll win in and typically do this time around. Need every vote though.
In swing states you certainly have a point.
In a state that is deeply one colour or the other, you don’t need every vote.
The more of them that give up, the more the Republicans take over the smaller, less significant roles and then you end up with Republicans doing the districting, deciding the cases in the lower courts, twisting the law to suit their agenda. There are definitely blue states that went red this way. The population stayed blue, but didn’t vote enough in the little things and the reds took over the decision making and now you have a red state.
