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   Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸 (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 25-May-2026 08:53:28 JST Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸

   I am going to say this once for the US 2026 primaries, once for the 2026 general, and once again for the 2028 presidential primaries, which have already started:

   There is no such thing as a spoiler. Our democracy is stronger when there are more choices and diverse points of view on the ballot. If you want to get a candidate's voters, earn them. Copy the candidate's policy ideas and make them your own. If you don't want to, they're not your votes.

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     Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸 (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 25-May-2026 08:58:17 JST Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸

     in reply to

     Unity is earned.

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     Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸 (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 25-May-2026 20:13:59 JST Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸

     in reply to

     • lakelady

     @lakelady you're right. Voting in the primary elections won't start until 2028. However, the campaigning and positioning has already started:

     https://ca.news.yahoo.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-drops-biggest-171904275.html

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     lakelady (lakelady@mstdn.social)'s status on Monday, 25-May-2026 20:14:00 JST lakelady

     in reply to

     @evan afaik there haven't been ANY presidential primaries yet. They won't happen until 2028

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     Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸 (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 25-May-2026 20:17:48 JST Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸

     in reply to

     • lakelady

     @lakelady Elizabeth Warren announced an exploratory committee in December 2018, about a month after the midterms, for her 2020 campaign.

     The first Democratic presidential primary debates were in June 2019. They were held over two nights, because there were 20 candidates who qualified.

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     Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸 (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 25-May-2026 20:19:17 JST Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸

     in reply to

     • lakelady

     @lakelady Donald Trump announced his candidacy in November 2022 -- one week after the midterms.

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     Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸 (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 25-May-2026 20:21:11 JST Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸

     in reply to

     • lakelady

     @lakelady so, you're right: voting has not started. But the election process has.

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     Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸 (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 25-May-2026 20:32:22 JST Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸

     in reply to

     Here's my template for how a major candidate can get the votes from a minor one.

     "I agree with the minor candidate on policies A, B, and C. I did not have a position on policy D, but after hearing them, and consulting with experts, I endorse policy D. I had a different position on policy E, but I have changed to theirs. For policy F, I disagree with the minor candidate and will stick with my original position.

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     Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸 (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 25-May-2026 20:36:13 JST Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸

     in reply to

     "I know that some of you will not vote for anyone who differs with you on position F. But if you vote for me, you'll get policies A, B, C, D, and E, and I have a good chance to win."

     I know this doesn't happen; they rarely address the positions of minor candidates, and only hammer on position A - "Beat Trump".

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     Dr. Eric J. Fielding, PhD (ericfielding@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 25-May-2026 20:40:49 JST Dr. Eric J. Fielding, PhD

     in reply to

     @evan Few voters pay attention to policy details supported by candidates for political offices. Elections are seldom won on policies

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     Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸 (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 25-May-2026 20:40:49 JST Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸

     in reply to

     • Dr. Eric J. Fielding, PhD

     @EricFielding the people who care about policies vote for spoiler candidates.

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     M. Grégoire (mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 25-May-2026 21:07:39 JST M. Grégoire

     in reply to

     @evan Very true. There's a tendency to think that votes for a third-party candidate (so to speak) are wasted, but in fact the other candidates are wise to look at why winnable voters left them and to see what they can do to broaden their appeal.