> I don't get the mechanism of how not voting for a Dem does positive
> good. The establishment probably sees nonvoters as a success story -
> the disaffected who, instead of causing trouble, just shrug and say,
> "Whatever."
Possibly. But they'd have some justification in viewing the hapless lesser-evil Democrat who can't keep his hand off that lever as an even greater success story.
What the elites don't want, never have wanted, is democracy, and they've been quite successful in preventing it. Not voting at least reflects an accurate assessment of our plight. Voting, by constrast, suggests an obdurate state of denial.