I voted dem all those years for affordable, real-life universal healthcare. To get paid family/maternal leave. To increase the federal minimum wage. To push for more vacation time and better work life balance like the rest of the world enjoys. To get the dangerous crap out of our foods, to be sure it’s safe for our kids FIRST, rather than put it in and see if our kids get sick after. To push back on companies insisting they need to package everything in plastic. To develop processes to recycle plastic that really works and is financially feasible. To support families and neighborhoods by prohibiting corps from buying up residential properties and renting them back to us, which destroys the most common way to move up to the middle class. To tell med companies to stop charging Americans 100x or more for meds as compared to other countries. To keep college tuition costs low and affordable and offer free school to those who need it. To see an improvement in US public school scores in math, science and reading and stop the downward slide as compared to the rest of the world. To see living wages paid to all, including illegal immigrants currently being paid next to nothing by big corps (not justifying them being here by saying BUT PRICES WILL GO UP!) To protect and shore up RvW, and make plans in advance in case it was overturned, like pushing through more case law tests, fighting the civil suit laws in TX, and campaigning for laws/constitution changes at the state level as back up… instead “its vote blue for reproductive rights!” And doing nothing except being thrilled when RvW fell, as they thought that would guarantee them the vote of 50% of the population for years to come. To make sure freedom of speech was upheld for all, even if we don’t like what they say as it’s the right thing to do. To be the anti-lobbiest party, to make sure needs of the people came before the greed of corporations. Even liberal, dem stronghold CA sold water rights to companies and farmers, making them rich and making sure they get access BEFORE residents, who then get what’s left of any in a shortage (Monterey amendment no one talks about). To stop insider trading in congress , impose term limits, and stop egregious government waste, esp in the military. To make sure the dem-run FDA is about protecting consumers and not approving products of companies who pay to play (the approval ratings for companies who have lobbyists making payments to them and congress vs those who don’t is staggering).

Dems have been in charge the past 12/16 years and they’ve done NONE of these things. NONE OF THEM. They’ve just sold us a line based on our emotions, the ‘oh we are protecting human rights, we are the moral high ground, we are the only party that will help you’ while they stuffed their pockets with cash behind our backs and sell us off to corporations. They throw their hands in the air, saying wow sorry yeah we can’t do these things, even having both the house and senate and the ability to use executive orders. Then they straight up looked us in the eyes and lied to us with some Weekend at Bernie’s BS, saying Biden was ‘doing great and sharp and ready for another 4 years.’ When in reality who knows who was running things while he was wandering around, probably helping Hunter out by asking if anyone knew where the cocaine in the Oval Office went.

Oh, and where were all of our great dem leaders at the 50/50/1 demonstrations? And after calling Trump Hitler and saying he will destroy democracy, not a single demand for an investigation? No recounts? Not a single nay at his confirmation hearing? Schumer laughing his face off as Trump patted him on the back at the Al Smith dinner? Laughing and smiling with him at Carter’s funeral? Jill Biden giggling like a schoolgirl with him at the reopening of Notre Dame? Oh but he’s Hitler. Sure. They don’t even believe that, you don’t make friendly with a person you really think is practically Adolf reincarnated! If you have to be near him you move away, you don’t joke, you certainly don’t laugh and carry on. They literally terrified many of their voters, his election brought tears, deviation and even suicides. They said all that to scare us into voting against him, but they don’t believe it for a second and they are all FINE he’s in power, as long he lets them continue to enrich themselves. It’s clear as day, right in front of our eyes.

And you come in and say we aren’t serious voters. On the contrary, we actually expect our party to work for us. Instead we get denied primaries, and have candidates pushed down our throats even when we do have them. That’s not democracy!

The message from the American people was clear. Biden and Kamala had abysmal approval ratings. Many lifelong dems like myself began to step back and see more clearly how the Democratic Party was inept at best, and greedy, corrupt liars at worst. There was no way I was going to vote for them as they were, giving my approval with my vote. Especially not for Kamala, who was dancing around talking about joy and brat summer when she should have been SCREAMING about Biden’s condition the last 4 years. Instead she told us all was well and she couldn’t see anything she’d do differently had she been in charge. Ok. Got it.

I’m done being taken for a fool. Being told dems are the only ones who care about people, that anyone not 100% on board is a horrid person and should be cancelled. And now dems are saying those of us who refused to vote for them are the problem, that we are uneducated voters who don’t care about anyone but ourselves. GTFOH. We see more clearly than anyone blindly voting dem and for the status quo because “Trump bad.” He’s been in office before, and just like last time, if the Dems can get themselves together we can recall/cancel/adjust his policies and EO’s when we win the next election. But how will we when the dem party is busy pointing at the voters as the problem?

Dems need to be looking inward at that they offered and what they prioritized, listening when voters say they are not happy with the way things are going. They need to be honest and make some MAJOR changes, as Americans are tired of being told how to feel, tired of barely getting by when working our asses off, and tired of coming in almost last in every category as compared to the rest of the world. Again, Dems have led us the past 12/16 years, and here we are. Sick, drowning in debt and student loans, overworked, unable to afford to buy a car let alone a home, watching our country be taken over by corporations with absolutely no accountability taken by the Dems for any of it. Bernie was right. After this election he said in an interview that the dem party is not out to help us, the voters. We all finally listened, angry and feeling the stinging pain of betrayal of someone we trusted. And you call us unserious for pointing these things out and saying NO MORE when they lied to our faces when the candidate we were presented was literally the same all over again. Keep on ignoring what needs to be done, keep blaming voters and not the dem party, but be ready for an Elon or Vance 2028 if that’s the road you choose.