if a candidate wants leftist votes, it is not as though they don't know what to do and say.

Leftists fundamentally understand how the electoral system works and are allowed to complain about not having representation when both liberals and fascists get to vote for their candidates gleefully.

The arrogance of liberals who expect leftists to fall in line and side with them because liberals aren't as bad as fascists is what drives voter apathy among the left and pushes them to third party.

The actual way to gain leftist votes is to appeal to leftists. Shocker!

Failing that, you can point out that grassroots action is the only way to actually move America to the left, the DNC will likely never actually move to the left, as they are a party of Capitalists. Grassroots pressure like the Civil rights movement is what gets meaningful change.

Your electoral system fucking sucks.

DNC leadership fundamentally misunderstands that if you want a bloc to vote for you then you need to modify your platform to appeal to that bloc instead of depending on fearmongering about your opponent to get votes from people who are opposed to your platform as it stands because it's very nearly as terrible and leads to the same outcome.

Don't blame leftists for not having a dog in this race. Blame the party for treating us like free votes and shaming us when we don't turn out for their smug corporate asses.