The joke is that my leftist friends don’t admit to being Socialists but will vote for all the Socialist Dems straight ticket. Some people simply can’t entertain the notion of voting for a Republican. The Dem ideology of old is too ingrained. Never mind that the Dems of today don’t bear even a passing resemblance to the Dems of yesteryear.
Been there, done that … kudos for trying. Could you get them to vote for a third party? Would get them out of the way while Adults vote. ;-)