1/ In the U.S., we no longer hold elections. Instead, we have ethno-partisan herd counts.

And that means our system of government is broken. A brief thread. https://twitter.com/eminently_me5/status/1323911182470815744

2/ Several states both voted to accept the ACA's Medicare Expansion ... and voted for Trump and GOP leaders who oppose that.

Floridians overwhelmingly voted for a $15/hr minimum wage ... and voted for Trump and GOP leaders who oppose that.

3/ In other words, most voters want Democratic POLICIES ... but many voters don't want to ELECT Democrats.

So why is that? It's NOT that Democrats don't have platforms or policy ideas.

Consider that the GOP had NO 2020 PLATFORM. None. They didn't need one.

4/ The GOP didn't need a 2020 platform because U.S. elections ARE NOT about policy. They're ethno-partisan herd counts. Period.

5/ The theory of republican-democracy (lower cases) is that elected officials do policy ... and voters then judge their work.

If the policies helped, voters reelect them. If the policies hurt, or if the officials were corrupt, voters toss them out.

6/ But that doesn't happen. Trump/GOP policies haven't helped anyone except rich people and big businesses.

They ignored climate change. Caged children. Gutted environmental, health, and safety rules. Not to mention the 235,000 dead from COVID.

7/ Then there's the corruption. This may be THE most corrupt administration in U.S. history. Trump STILL won't release his tax returns or disclose his financial conflicts of interest. He's funneled MILLIONS of public money into his businesses.

He even got impeached.

8/ In a republican-democracy where voters punish failure and corruption, Trump and the GOP *should* have been routed. Turned out by double digits, like Hoover and the GOP were in 1932.

And ...

9/ If you saw only those state referendums - where many red states chose Democratic policies - you'd think Trump and the GOP *were* routed.

Yet ...

10/ Trump will lose the popular vote (again) but may win the Electoral College. Republicans gained U.S. House seats and will likely retain a Senate majority. And the GOP gained in state legislatures.

They weren't punished for failure and corruption. They were rewarded.

11/ When a party with NO 2020 platform and a record of failure (including 235k dead) and corruption ...

... is *rewarded* in the next election ...

... then republican-democracy (lower cases) is broken.

12/ This election WAS NOT about policy. It was an ethno-partisan herd count.

And the GOP ethno-partisan herd is ALL about white patriarchy. White men, white women who'll accept patriarchy to get white supremacy, and men of color who'll accept white supremacy to get patriarchy.

13/ I wish I could say what The Solution is.

For most of U.S. history, The Solution was an all-white-male electorate. With white patriarchy as core fact, white men debated and voted on policy.

But we can't go back to *that* Solution.

14/ And so long as the GOP remain the ethno-partisan herd of white patriarchy, with voters will support Dem POLICIES but reject Dem CANDIDATES because Dems are "the party of women and Blacks" ...

... I don't see a Solution. Sorry. I just don't.

(End of Thread)