What I’d like folks to envision in the meantime is what would happen if progressives woke up the morning of November 7th, and reality hit that the President-elect is not Barack Obama?
Sure, some on the Left would feel vindicated to witness Barack Obama defeated, believing that they had won the battle of “principles” they’d waged for four years to show President Obama their disappointment in him. They would inevitably blame him for their choice not to donate, not to work, and/or simply not to have voted.
I believe, however, for those progressives willing to be intellectually honest, and who understand the concrete reality of political consequences (see Election 2010), we must also be willing to ask ourselves hard questions before the election, as opposed to after the fact.
You see, these questions will be answered regardless, either now, or for four long years (or eight even longer years) following November 6th.
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Some will say that my questions are nothing more than my cynical attempt to use fear, but I strongly disagree. I am only asking you to picture what could very well happen. If it is something to fear, you should duly note it.
I respectfully suggest that some of the questions we should all ask ourselves, especially those who haven’t already done so, are as follows:
How will you feel when the new President nominates partisan cabinet members like Phil Gramm for Treasury, Jeb Bush for the Justice Department, John Kasich for the Office of Management and Budget, Scott Walker for Labor Secretary, Paul Ryan for Health and Human Services, Rudy Giuliani as Secretary of State, John McCain as Secretary of Defense, and Newt Gingrich as UN Ambassador? Sure, it may not be those particular ideologues in those exact positions; in fact, it could be worse still. Keep that in mind.
How will you feel when the new President gets a chance to replace Justice Kennedy, or worse yet, Justices Breyer and Ginsberg? What about all of the other judicial nominees that the new President will get to choose?
More:
https://extremeliberal.wordpress.com/2011/09/06/we-all-have-a-choice-in-the-2012-election/and:
http://www.democratsforprogress.com/2011/09/03/we-all-have-a-choice-in-the-2012-election/