a vote in our current system means "I approve of this alternative over the others"

Almost, but not quite.

What a vote actually means is "I prefer the result I expect from this vote over the result I expect from the other vote."

If withholding your vote this time means they offer more next time, that's a result you might want. On the other hand, if you always vote blue as long as you slightly prefer the democrats, you give the democrats permission to move to the right, slightly behind the republicans, indefinitely.

in practice, though, they'll always find some way to gin up votes without offering substance. that's their whole job.

Political power is wielded by those who hold office, thanks to the people who got them into office. When that is a handful of billionaires and will connected political operatives, that power is used to their benefit. To the extent that thanks is owed to small dollar working and lower class people, to thousands of door knockers and surrogates, that power will be used to their benefit.

This is not true in the slightest.

Why would it be? The Democrats only need to be slightly less bad than the Republicans, and your vote is guaranteed.

And it requires that we acknowledge that we approve of what the American Left has done more than the alternative.

1. Democrats are not the American Left.

2. What have the Democrats actually done?

The policies of the Democratic party are bought by corporate interests. The material interests of a corporation run directly counter to those of a worker. Workers want higher wages, companies want lower. Workers want public healthcare, insurance companies want private. Workers want less war, the MIC wants more. Workers want lower housing costs, hedge funds and landlords want higher. Who do the Democrats side with? What direction is America headed in?

Is this a democracy or a good-cop bad-cop routine?