Because the parties don't represent the people. The parties represent the interests of those with most influence in the party. In the modern system it is those who make the most impactfull and sustained donation efforts. The rest is just marketing used to secure enough votes in the election show according to arbitrary rules they set and change as they see fit.

So it’s amazing to me that the party seems to go out of its way to find the most horrific ghouls and status quo warriors to set forth in a federal election, especially really fucking important elections

I think its useful to distinguish between Democrats and democrats. I try to use Democrats for party officials, elected officials, talking heads within the party etc. I try to use democrats for democratic voters.

Democrats do not have the priorities of their voters in mind, and have, since the 90's, wished that they actually had republicans for voters. Democrats don't want to be managing a leftwing party (the votership they largely have), they want to be managing a rightwing party. The Democratic party reconfigured its self to be diet Republican after Carter and have been failing forwards ever since.

Well it's simple, what are the Democrat voters going to do, vote 3rd party?

They're held hostage to the party, so the party has no need to reflect them, it just has to be less bad than the Republicans.

If you don't like it, vote in the primary!

(Unless you live in NH, then you don't get a primary. Also the DNC reserves all rights to ignore any primary election)

Either we get rid of the two party system, or it's gonna be the death of democracy.

There can't just be two options picked by private organizations... That's just the illusion of choice when billionaires and corporations donate to both parties.

"Genocide Joe" is a little crass, but he absolutely deserves to be taken to task for his blind support of the IDF/IOF. That's more important to me as a voter than hearing circle jerk promises about known positions. We know he's pro abortion rights, he's shown that. Now it's time to address the elephant in the room.

This is why their only political message is “vote for us or you’ll be sorry.”

We're held hostage by one party and get literal death threats from the other. It sucks, man.

So it’s amazing to me that the party seems to go out of its way to find the most horrific ghouls and status quo warriors to set forth in a federal election, especially really fucking important elections

Can you elaborate on what you mean that "the party seems to go out of its way to find the most horrific ghouls and status quo warriors to set forth in a federal election"? Are you unaware of the fact that Biden is the incumbent President?

He was nominated by a wide margin against a dozen other candidates (including over my preferred candidate), and elected with solid EC majority and a record number of individual votes.

To suggest that he was somehow appointed by the party establishment, when he's simply running for reelection like almost every incumbent President in American history has done after their first term seems like a very disingenuous statement. It's interesting that nobody leveled that argument against Trump when he ran for reelection in 2020, not to mention every other time it's happened, considering it's been the norm for decades.