Despite this, it's equally obvious what will happen if election night 2010 goes badly for Democrats. Many will blame the president, not themselves, arguing that Obama should have articulated a grand, progressive vision -- which would have inspired about a third of the nation and concerned the rest. They'll also blame him for not fighting harder for a larger stimulus that didn't have the votes, for a public option that didn't have the votes, for card-check legislation that didn't have the votes, to close Guantanamo faster than Congress would let him or to end don't ask don't tell before lawmakers would allow it. It's self-fulfilling self-righteousness." [emphasis added]
The progressives are taken
to task for daring to advance a bold agenda while the Tea Party's drive to
"take the country back" is considered to possibly resonate with enough
Americans to give them the right to continue building their movement.
At this stage, progressives may stay home because the primary challengers they supported were shut down. Instead of supporting a Blue Dog or conservative Democrat or a Republican who will likely never be on the right side of change, progressives may instead opt to direct what energy and time they have into issues-based advocacy campaigns to move the center on issues like the power of money in elections, mountaintop removal coal mining and dirty energy, BP's destruction of the Gulf of Mexico and the need for more transparency and action, the continued war in Afghanistan, the "new normal" the Obama Administration has helped create by continuing Bush Administration policies on national security, civil liberties and human rights, the growing power of forces that endorse the privatization of American public education, and the threat telecommunications companies pose to the Internet and the nation's media infrastructure, etc.
Progressives who decide to not vote aren't falling into a Republican trap. They are reasonably choosing to not go in the veal pen for Democrats anymore.
Progressives stood strong and were outspoken. If Democrats had been bold, progressives would have been there to support Democrats when attacked by corporate and special interests and political leaders from the Right. But, the Obama Administration chose to enable a combination of Blue Dog Democrats, moderate Republicans, and starkly conservative political leaders. They chose to let memes and messaging from hucksters on television and the Freedomworks-funded Tea Party elements influence healthcare "reform" --- what ultimately became a bill that enriched and further entrenched the for-profit healthcare system in American society.
Let's admit it right now: Giving Obama a chance failed. Why? Because giving presidents a chance encourages citizens to be spectators of democracy and democracy is not a spectator sport.
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