Lesser-of-two-evils voting logic traps voters inside an accepted political cage

Evidence

But these same people who shout gloom and doom fail to advocate for dramatic change to take back the country from these folks. This is the scare tactic that clouds our imaginations: that no matter the circumstances, choosing the lesser of two evils is always better. By this logic, we are imprisoned in a political cage—to accept matters as they are. I refuse to do so, because the political terrain as it is currently laid out has left black and other vulnerable communities throughout this country in shambles. I want to choose another path. I want to remake American democracy, because whatever this is, it ain’t democracy. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 622

Categorization

• QUESTION: This is the rhetorical heart of the ‘trap not strategy’ thesis the reader must assess on how it has aged post-2016 and post-2020.
• XREF: connects to: Populism converts entrenched abstentionism into obstructionist anti-system voting — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 25; A formally valid election is unconstitutional if any influence deters voters’ free will — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 3508; Voting for the least-worst candidate legitimizes the system that creates the limited choice. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1390