Hi, folks! I'm Rana, of Frogs and Ravens. Shakespeare's Sister has been kind enough to let me blogwhore here and hopefully get some useful discussion rolling. So here goes.
Last week in my post Where's the Pie? I argued that I'm tired of being given only negative arguments why I, a lefty progressive, should vote Democratic. I also noted that arguments that begin by assuming that my allegiance to the Democratic Party is an obvious given are (a) mistaken (I'm a Green) and (b) arrogant and presumptuous.
If you want to earn my vote, I said, you need to come up with a better reason than Republicans Are Evil (shades of "At least we're not as bad as Saddam Hussein") or Democrats Are Electable (remember Kerry as the "electable" candidate?).
Moreover, while tactics and short-term strategies are important -- whether we're talking the 2006 election or improving voting accuracy and oversight -- if we focus only (or even primarily) on those, we're sunk.
What we need, I argued, is a vision of the world we want to live in, a vision to inspire us to do the right thing, a vision that will guide our representatives and encourage them to keep fighting the good fight, even when the polls slide and the corporations mutter.
I, and others on the left, were making this complaint in 2004, and in 2000. What do the Democrats stand for, we asked? What is the vision that keeps them going, that nurtures them in times of crises, that is worth sacrificing for?
It is telling that we as yet have no answer to this. And this despite this lack of vision being cited again and again as a cause of voter disaffection from the Democratic Party.
Perhaps this is because the Democratic Party does not have a vision. Perhaps it is because they are merely opportunists who drift in the winds seeking popular and comfortable positions. Or perhaps it is because the party leadership does have a vision, but it is a selfish one of defending the status quo and access to the corporate trough, a vision supported by a passive and apathetic citizenry who has been encouraged to think of politics as a periodic event like the Olympics rather than a way of life.
We need a new vision. I found mine in the Green Party. I'd like to hear yours.
(To be continued.)
Cross-posted at Frogs and Ravens.
Last week in my post Where's the Pie? I argued that I'm tired of being given only negative arguments why I, a lefty progressive, should vote Democratic. I also noted that arguments that begin by assuming that my allegiance to the Democratic Party is an obvious given are (a) mistaken (I'm a Green) and (b) arrogant and presumptuous.
If you want to earn my vote, I said, you need to come up with a better reason than Republicans Are Evil (shades of "At least we're not as bad as Saddam Hussein") or Democrats Are Electable (remember Kerry as the "electable" candidate?).
Moreover, while tactics and short-term strategies are important -- whether we're talking the 2006 election or improving voting accuracy and oversight -- if we focus only (or even primarily) on those, we're sunk.
What we need, I argued, is a vision of the world we want to live in, a vision to inspire us to do the right thing, a vision that will guide our representatives and encourage them to keep fighting the good fight, even when the polls slide and the corporations mutter.
I, and others on the left, were making this complaint in 2004, and in 2000. What do the Democrats stand for, we asked? What is the vision that keeps them going, that nurtures them in times of crises, that is worth sacrificing for?
It is telling that we as yet have no answer to this. And this despite this lack of vision being cited again and again as a cause of voter disaffection from the Democratic Party.
Perhaps this is because the Democratic Party does not have a vision. Perhaps it is because they are merely opportunists who drift in the winds seeking popular and comfortable positions. Or perhaps it is because the party leadership does have a vision, but it is a selfish one of defending the status quo and access to the corporate trough, a vision supported by a passive and apathetic citizenry who has been encouraged to think of politics as a periodic event like the Olympics rather than a way of life.
We need a new vision. I found mine in the Green Party. I'd like to hear yours.
(To be continued.)
Cross-posted at Frogs and Ravens.
