OPINION: How All Protest Votes Go to Waste

To all of my friends and family wanting a more progressive America and thinking about sitting out or voting for Jill Stein, I’ll start by saying I hear you on your desires, but I have some hard truths. 

For four to five decades we’ve all been sold a bill of goods when it comes to trickle down economics and the idea that the primary growth in America was created by “the market.” Truthfully, older generations built their wealth with significant subsidizing by the government (New Deal, GI Bill, passed down wealth from land grants, etc.) and still protect it to this day with government assistance via Social Security, Medicare, etc.

However, in 1980, a politician with a silver tongue named Ronald Reagan successfully convinced folks across the board that the same government that helped them go to college with minimal debt, have good paying union jobs with pensions with a high school diploma, and much more was “the enemy.”

“Greed is good” was the mantra of the ’80’s. Unfortunately, the bulk of Gen X never was able to recognize it or call it out as BS, simply seeking to climb the ladder vs. recognizing that the wood was rotting.

But eventually we started having recessions, a busted housing bubble, subprime loan scandals, Wall Street bailouts, and many failures that harmed individuals and families. And instead of recognizing that this approach of deregulating everything was like letting a 5-year-old choose their own diet, we simply got things cleaned back up and handed power back over to the same folks to double down on the same reckless practices.

Simultaneously, because of the Civil Rights Movement and integration in the 1960s, a racial wedge was created and the Republican Party, which began its work of picking off working class white voters from the Democratic Party, doubled down on coded racial division and the parties flipped.

The Republican Party began to brand all the things that were once positively framed as investments into Americans as government handouts for undeserving people (Black folks then, immigrants now). Subsequently, they began cutting these items, not only hurting Black and brown communities but also white working-class folks.

With voter animus sowed, they successfully convinced the white working-class folks that Black/immigrant folks were stealing their jobs and resources while passing huge tax cuts to distribute money to the wealthy, allowing them to hoard and invest in the stock market as well as second, third and fourth homes.

Democrats like Bill Clinton moved further right to win and gutted the safety net because they had to prove to be “tougher” to win. Simultaneously, he also raised taxes on the wealthy, which is how he balanced the budget and created a truly mixed political legacy.

In 2000, despite being more progressive than Clinton, Al Gore, Clinton’s VP, narrowly lost the election. A large part of what undid him was that many progressive folks and Arab Americans supported Ralph Nader, allowing George W. Bush to win — with just a 537-vote margin in Florida — claiming 271 electoral votes despite losing the popular vote. 

Bush went on to appoint current Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito to join Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court. 

In 2016, similarly, many progressives supported Jill Stein while conservatives left third-party option Gary Johnson in the general election (see RFK this year) and went to Trump. This allowed Trump to claim victory and eventually appoint three Supreme Court justices, giving right wing activists a 6-3 conservative majority and the opportunity to undo much work that had been done in previous generations..

Keep in mind, the most extreme five of those six conservative justices who are now moving our country further right got their opportunities in large part due to protest/third-party votes. While these may have been well-intentioned attempts to move things further left, the result has been the opposite.

Currently, the Republicans are governing through the courts by creating cases to eventually go to the Supreme Court and change the law of the land despite most of their wishes being wildly unpopular. 

Between the Iraq War, Roe v. Wade, the end of campaign finance regulation, affirmative action, environmental regulation, voting rights, and much more to come, Republicans are pushing this country farther and farther right due to the miscalculation that protest voting will eventually make us more progressive.

I respect impatience. I recognize being principled. I recognize flaws with the Democratic Party and would like them to exhibit a different level of aggression when they have power. But I have to reiterate that the strategy of punishing Democrats and voting third party vs. mobilizing to elect Democrats in Congress as well is having the opposite impact.

I know some folks may read this and say, “Screw you, I’m staying home, sticking with Stein, or (even worse) voting for Trump” because you think it will hurt folks like me. And maybe you’re right, but I certainly would not be alone, as we’d probably be united in that reality.

I can’t and won’t tell you how to feel. I will simply say that folks like Bernie Sanders, AOC, Elizabeth Warren and the like didn’t stop caring and fighting for regular folks. I can also point to movements that have moved the needle while pointing out how deeper change like student-loan forgiveness is held back by judges appointed under Republican presidents. 

While Bernie, AOC, Warren and others may not agree on all things, they recognize life under Harris/Walz will be better than under billionaires like Trump and Elon Musk who make their greatest fortune off of … chaos.

Furthermore, even without full agreement on Gaza, they recognize that Kamala Harris believes in a two-state solution and a push for peace, whereas Donald Trump simply said that Netanyahu needed to “finish the job” and wipe out the Palestinians. 

Read more: PHOTOS: Kamala Harris Makes Star-Studded Return to Charlotte

Third-party/protest votes aren’t a new idea. That said, in just three election cycles and less than 20 years, they’ve yielded five conservative Supreme Court justices and let the Republicans find success in items conservatives stayed committed to fighting for five decades like overturning Roe v. Wade, the Voting Rights Act, and affirmative action.

Conservatives did this not only with constant protesting (which Trump will use his military to shut down in a second term), but constant voting between the two candidates with a chance to win — because that’s the way our government is set up whether we wish it were that way or not.

However you feel about me after reading this piece, please consider these points before making your final voting move on Tuesday. And even if you don’t vote for Harris/Walz at the top of the ticket, be sure to vote blue in statewide elections. There is a lot on the line for all of us.

Justin Perry is a licensed clinical social worker in Charlotte treating mental health and addiction while advocating for greater equity in housing, education, criminal justice and mental health care.