Obama and McCain are essentially in the same party, one of my heroes who taught me that is voting for that party. The party (this time I mean the Democrats, the party that is allegedly a separate party from the other one) that has shattered hopes and dreams for decades (at least) is being supported by one of the greatest progressive minds in this country. What happened to tactical voting Howard? Isn’t it only in the swing states that progressives should be forced to hold their nose in the voting booth while pulling the lever (my state has levers I don’t know about others)? Why give the imperialist neoliberal war machine any more encouragement if one isn’t forced into the grips of the swing state conundrum? Telling others to vote for Obama, but not to hope for any kind of significant change, is like pulling the training wheels off a child’s bicycle before that child is ready for that treatment; it’s setting folks up for a perilous disaster without having prepared them for the impending bumps and bruises.
Obama’s whole message is one of hope, and that’s what the progressive left should be pointing out, that this will be the hope of the same people that are running the show already (and the two party system is a show, where we never get to see the men behind the curtain). The same people that are and will be running things before and after Barack Obama gets elected. We know that Barack Obama excels at connecting with the oligarchy, and the defense contractors, and the nuclear power industry, and the ‘clean’ coal industry, and those for tort ‘reform’, and the Christian right (who he seems to have been courting all along), and the AIPAC crowd, and the banksters, and many more groups I could name who are all working for ‘change’. But it’s not the kind of change that the majority of people who are going to be voting for Obama would like to see enacted. To do anything but point this out, and try to foster some sensible alternatives, is to give in to the kind of pessimistic thought that I will never allow myself to fall prey to.
Sorry dear comrade, but there’s no dignity in doing what it is that you’re suggesting. To pull the lever affirmatively for continuing more of the same, is in no way, shape, or form a step toward a brighter colored future. No, the only progressive options on election day are named Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney (as well as whoever the Socialist Party is running), and although those of us who are voting for them are certain that they will not win the election (thanks to the MSM, and other insurmountable malevolent forces); one thing we do know is that in our heart of hearts this is the only appropriate action for any of us to take.
