This is from a local ACLU-sponsored voting/politics event, and ... well, this is kind of why we're in the mess we're in, I think. you ABSOLUTELY should vote for a party because that is IN FACT WHAT YOU ARE DOING It's not an individual consumerist act, sorry, that's not what's occurring.

Policy matters when we vote (ie, vote Party!). Why is it so hard to explain to some older liberals that it doesn’t matter if Tom the GOP state Rep really is a nice guy who owns a store in town and donates to the church’s food bank? Tom just voted for bills to end abortion and to gut public schools.

I think they used to be right. They were right/would be right if individual reps were still permitted to be individuals. Now parties, one in particular, are monoliths and you better toe the line (or else…buy v good private security).

My hot take is that parties are a pretty good indicator of what a candidate stands for

All of that is completely undermined by how parties get bills passed. 'What if we elect one super smart person, with the best intentions to rule us all' isn't the most pro democracy position, really.

I guess I agree with this in principle, but in a country where the choice is consistently between the "burn down the house with you in it" party and the "we should improve society somewhat, I guess maybe" party, you should generally vote for a party.

And the next sentence quotes Michelle Obama essentially telling people to vote Democratic.

The way Congress works and the power that majority leaders have, you should *absolutely* vote for party.

It's also not a requirement of citizenship, which I would think a bunch of fancy lawyers would know.

I lost a lot of respect for them after Charlottesville, and this doesn't do anything to remedy that.

AARP does that kind of thing too, 'vote to assure democracy and the right to vote, to protect Social Security, etc', without ever making the connection that the sole threat is from the Republican Party and that means voting for Democrats up and down the ballot.