Many progressives want to "punish the Dems" by refusing to vote, or by voting for a third party candidate this November.
I can respect such progressives, because I too am upset with Obama.
But I wonder: have these hardcore progressives really thought through the costs of their choice? Moreover, are they willing to respect other progressives who choose not to follow their (risky) st
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Many progressives want to "punish the Dems" by refusing to vote, or by voting for a third party candidate this November.
I can respect such progressives, because I too am upset with Obama. I've explained why
here and
here and
here.
But I wonder: have these hardcore progressives really thought through the costs of their choice? Moreover, are they willing to respect other progressives who choose not to follow their (risky) strategy?
Many Democrats complain that progressives spend more time denouncing Obama than they do denouncing Republicans. (I always try to avoid doing this. I always say, "Obama acts like a conservative. He helps
conservatives.")
In a similar way, it seems that many hardcore
progressives spend more time denouncing more moderate progressives like me who still want to work within the Democratic Party.
It reminds me of religious fanatics who reserve their strongest condemnations for fellow believers who aren't completely committed to their pure doctrine.
Hey, I'm your ally! We just differ on strategy. I come in peace. Stop the circular firing squad!
My problem with the strategy of punishing the Dems is that it's a scatter-shot approach. It will punish good Dems as well as bad Dems. It will help the GOP gain power. It's a blunt instrument that will destroy more than was intended.
Yes, drastic measures are needed, because both parties are seriously ill with corporatism and corruption. But punishing all the Dems is powerful medicine that, via side effects, may end up doing more harm than good.
Remember 2000 and what happened when progressives voted for Nader over Gore?
OK, OK, I know. The Democrats keep relying on scare tactics like this to stop progressives from voting their consciences. They keep bringing up the specter of Bush or the Tea Party to convince progressives to vote for them.
Yes, it feels bad to be used and to be cheated the way progressives were cheated by Obama.
And yes, way too many progressives were fools to fall for Obama's slick and vague promises.
But despite all that, it's still true that allowing the GOP to gain power in order to punish the Dems is a very risky and costly strategy indeed.
As I've said before, anyone who says the Democrats are as bad as the Republicans is either a Republican plant trying to incite division on the Left, a hardcore leftist trying to seduce progressives into giving up on the Democratic Party, or a deluded blockhead. This is perhaps overly strong but it's basically correct. I'm not saying that Obama and the Democrats haven't made many terrible mistakes; I'm just saying that the Republicans would be even worse!
Unlike most Dems, most Republicans will have no qualms about dismantling the New Deal and completely turning government over to the corporations or to religious fanatics. And they'd be much, much worse than the Dems on women's rights and environmentalism and regulations in general. Think how the GOP unanimously opposed virtually every Democratic bill in the Senate, especially the good ones.
Unfortunately, we're up against a wall and all our choices suck.
If only we were in a parliamentary system of government, where progressives could extract promises, or cabinet positions, for our votes. Unfortunately, about the best we can do in the present situation
is to be spoilers: hand the election over to the Republicans by refusing to vote for the lesser-of-two-evil Dems.
It's unfortunate that people tend to think in black and white. Either the Dems are good or the Dems are bad, they think. In fact, the Dems are mixed. There are some good one and some bad ones.
And, by the way, any third party that emerges on the left won't be perfect either, I assure you!
A smart progressive should volunteer to help out good candidates, including good Democrats, who are in tough races. Maybe your local Democrat is a Blue dog. Well, then help out a good Dem or independent in a tight race in another district. Paul Rogat Loeb
mentions Russ Feingold as a progressive Dem who needs our help.
Progressives like to say, "I'm never going to vote for the lesser of two evils ever again!" But the choice of refusing to vote this November, or of voting for a third-party candidate is an evil too -- the lesser of three evils, perhaps. Anyone who thinks that the short-term effects, at least, won't be bad is kidding themselves.
Progressives who want to punish all the Dems have apparently decided that that the short-term costs of abandoning the Democrats are worth paying. They may be willing to lose an election or two, or three. Things may have to get worse before they get better. It's not a choice I'm willing to make, but I understand why they want to make it.
I sure hope such progressives respect me for my choice to be more discriminating in my denunciations: I'll support good Dems, but not bad Dems.
Perhaps I'm too kind towards the hardcore progressives. Some of them probably don't share my values. Perhaps I'm too kind towards some of the Democrats.
I admit uncertainty. I'm somewhat on the fence.It's not an easy choice.
Bertrand Russel once said, "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."
One final note. If the Dems lose big this November, it will be interesting to see what happens. My guess is that we may witness the end of the Democratic Party as we know it. The "moderate" (i.e., conservative) Democrats -- Obama and the Blue Dogs -- may move further to the right and may buy into the absurd Republican conservative talking point that Obama was too socialist. The progressive wing of the Party may, finally, branch off into a third-party. I guess that's what many hardcore progressives are hoping for.
Authors Website: http://waliberals.org
Authors Bio:Democratic Precinct Committee Officer, activist, writer, and programmer. My op-ed pieces have appeared in the Seattle Times, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and elsewhere. See http://WALiberals.org and http://ProgressiveMemes.org for my writing, meme images, musical creations, and animations.