It bothers me that you’re being heavily downvoted for saying that direct action is more effective/important than voting, so I’m chiming in to say I agree with you.
This isn’t an ‘enlightened centrist’ position here, just a realistic one. I will continue to vote Democrat and encourage others to do the same, but I don’t have any illusions that doing so is anything more than damage control.
Our political system in the US is corrupt, not just the people within it. Changing it will require external support.