Personal Reality Check: Being ABB Is Not Enough!

Like many of you, I am heartbroken at what happened to Dr. Dean and General Clark. I have said all along that I would support whoever the nominee was going to be, but I still experienced disappointment just the same. That’s partly due to the fact that, like all of you in these forums, I am true to my values and convictions. Those two men became heroes to me in ways I cannot completely explain, and I hope they will be remembered and rewarded for their efforts in the future.

I have often said that although Kerry wasn’t my guy, I don’t dislike or despise him. He is smart, a war veteran who later fought against said unjust war, athletic, articulate, and a musician—items I cannot apply to the Chimp in Chief on any scale whatsoever. That said, I still need him to really be honest about the IWR vote. Whether he does that or not, I will still give him the Mad Dog nod in November.

Which brings me to the thrust of this post...

Being ABB is good. If you want to make phone calls, knock on doors, pass out flyers, or anything else for John Kerry, then that’s fine and dandy. I however, will do no more than make a donation and put a bumper sticker on my truck. I will, however, do the following:

Just being ABB is not enough. We must take back as much of the U.S. House as we can. We must protect and/or gain as many U.S. Senate seats as we can, especially with several Dem senators retiring. In my state, our Democratic governor is often hog-tied by a Republican legislature, which must change. To these goals I will do what I think I do best: assist in local politics.

I hope this does not sound like a copout. I could sit this election out and say nothing, brooding and wallowing in my disappointments in the primaries. I could also remind myself that I--and so many others, for that matter--have been personally screwed by Republicans at all levels of government and business. I will, from now until November, say three things beyond ABB:

STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC TICKET
STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC TICKET
STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC TICKET

I never used to say that. I always respected ticket-splitters for their “vote for the person” attitude. However, the Republican Party as we know it prevents me from doing that. If doing this helps appease my feeling of loss during this primary season, then so be it. If it helps right the wrongs that have been done to this society, then that is like winning the lottery in my book.

we need to make some drastic changes. Even if Kerry beats Bush, a Republican Congress will hamper our efforts.

I'm also usually in support of a split executive and legislative, but, again, I feel we have a lot of damage to undo. I plan to vote straight Democrat in the fall, as I did on Tuesday.

However, I can NEVER find myself voting for a Republican. I will only vote Indie or Green if the person has a compelling campaign. In Minnesota I have not, in the last 2 elections seen enough to persuade me away from any Dem in any office.

Yep, the local and state races are incredibly important - we need to take back control.

I wouldn't if it were say, Zell Miller (D-Racist) against Mark Hatfield (R-Oregon Leftist)...

but it's not too hard for me. I've only voted for a
Republican once and that was because he was the pro-choice candidate. And considering the last two people who replaced him, I have to say he wasn't a bad choice.

and work for local campaigns. Where I live, the candidates lump together in their outreach. I doubt I could work only for my Congressional candidates if I tried. I'm not trying because I'll work for all the Dem candidates including Kerry. I like and respect him. He was not my first, second, or third choice but I still like him.

there are boxes at the top of the ballot that allow you to check put a checkmark for a straigt party ticket vote.

In my state, if there's a space unfilled on the ballot - say 4 state house seats are up - there are 4 Republicans but only 2 Dems on the ballot - then if one of the Republicans gets 10 right in votes from Dems - they can be listed on both sides of the ballot, as a Republican and a Democrat. This is exactly what happened in NH in 2002 when I ran for NH House. Everyone who voted straight party ticket for me, also voted for 3 Republicans. :grr:

Put a check mark next to each Democrat's name. It will take a little longer, but it will make you feel good.

If people seriously want to remake the Party, the efforts must begin at the local level. Not only is it possible for a committed cadre to make an immediate impact there, but such impact is necessary for national change.

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

1. Running ABB as a candidate isn't enough either, why expect more than a vote.

2. Numerous people who want to see the emergence of a third party are advised by many here that third parties should focus on more local levels than the presidency. Desiring a straight ticket vote (which precludes such things from ever happening) lends much creedence to those who claim that working with the Democratic party is impossible. Unless by straight ticket, you merely mean vote for no Republican.

frequently the third party candidates (at the local level) are, at best, ill-equipped to serve, or, at worst, absolute lunatics! My personal favorite is one who changed her last name to Reagan, because she thought so highly of him.

I don't think that people here are trying to boss you around as much as express their concern that the Republicans are dominating everything right now. I'd be happy to see things be a LOT more liberal, but right now the priority is to get the Republikooks out of office. I fear that another four years of the Patriot Act and computer voting could have us stuck with them forever!

Maybe third-party local candidates are "frequently" lunatic or ill-equipped to serve, but not always. Local elections are places where third party candidates can actually win--around the nation, hundreds of Greens have been elected to local office. (Specifically, 204 Green Party members are serving in elective local offices in 26 states.) Most of those are in minor offices like City Councils, County Commissions, School Boards and the like, but several local governments in California (eg Santa Monica) are run by Green Mayors and City Council majorities. Also, the Mayor of New Palz, New York--who has been in the news a lot lately for performing gay marraiges--is a Green. Also, Mike Gonzalez, head of the San Fransisco Board of Supervisors, made it into the runoff and narrowly lost the race by a few percentage point....in a race so close the Dems had to bring in Clinton and quite a few people like that to campaign for their guy as well as spending several times as much money. See www.greens.org/elections/ for details on Green local office-holders.

There are certain areas of this country where third parties at the local level are indeed viable. However, industrial states like mine have bigger issues, and the fight is between donkey and elephant. Sorry to rain on any one person's pararde, but that's the truth.

I would love to see an eleoctorate that could rally around a plurality of candidates, but that is just not reality right now. The Repukes control the board rooms, the media...everything.

Look, the Greens and indies--and this is especially true in places like California--can hang on to office and do good work, and that's fine. All I am saying is that people that live in areas where the issue is GOP or Dem, with little third party influene, vote straight Dem. In my area that's easy to do, because when you mention the Green Party to people and they might think it's a home party for lawn care products.

...for ten years. Now I live in Minnesota. There is a tremendous difference! And this is no longer quite the liberal state it used to be, the Republicans have gained significant power. We don't have the luxury to pick our brand of liberalism, we're fighting to keep the anti-tax, fundamentalist loonies from completely taking over.

which means he, who screwed up Medicare, will get a free pass so I wrote in a name of another guy who was running for the Assembly and didn't have a chance. We have to start somewhere.

Nothing But My Vote

No money.

No Activism.

When the Democratic Party evolves into Chordates, I'll reconsider.