the answer is they are NEITHER ...
for too long, the great myth has been pushed by the centrist wing of the Democratic Party ... they've told us over and over and over ad nauseum that the fringe third-party left is irrelevant and that the party had to be pragmatic and go after that rich goldmine of voters in the center ... phrased another way, the party's left-wing should STFU and let the wise old owls in the center move the party to the right to win votes ...
this is NOT a thread condoning Greens ... it is not a thread arguing there is no difference between the two major parties ... if you're one of those who is just blinded by hatred for Greens, this thread is not for you ... no one here is arguing in support of Greens ...
what this thread is about is about winning "non-Democratic" votes ... in fact, Greens are the smallest of the constituencies we should be discussing ... the really huge constituency is made up of people who don't vote at all ... look at the Greens in the article below ... they are being supported by independents ... this is the "pox on both your houses" crowd ... at least they plan to vote ... the non-voting crowd is made up of more than 70 million Americans ... i don't condone their failure to vote ... but i do understand that one of the most common reasons they don't vote is that they do not feel the major parties represent them ...
just once, it would be nice to have a thread that looks at the "gold in them thar hills" ... look at all the votes Democrats will not win ... the usual parade of morons will waste our time bashing Greens and calling these non-voters idiots ... wonderful ... these people are a bunch of whiners ... what a laugh that they consider themselves "pragmatic" ... what could be less pragmatic than their whining and their insults and their failure to actually suggest ideas about how the Democratic Party might tap into this rich pool of potential voters?
and please make special note about the main point in the article below: independents are as ready to endorse candidates on the left as they are to endorse candidates in the center !!!!! that's the great truth the Democratic Party's political hacks fail to grasp ... independents are looking for honesty and integrity and change; they are not looking for parties that sellout their core beliefs to be "pragmatic" ... until the Democratic Party returns to its traditional roots of fighting like hell for workers and restoring democracy and integrity to government and putting people before profits and special interests and promoting alliances as a means to prevent war rather than showing how tough we are by going along with misguided wars, we will never return to the party's glory days where we were able to win election after election after election ...
the two major parties both need major overhauls ... the system is NOT working ... our electoral campaigns are fueled more by negatives than by positives ... that tells you about all you need to know about the state of our democracy ... for Democrats, it's time to return to our traditional values and our traditional issues ... if we don't, we might win an election or two but we will not be able to sustain any long-term control ...
source:
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2006/10/23/in_illinois_green_party_candidate_surging.htmlIn Illinois, Green Party Candidate SurgingIn the Illinois gubernatorial race, a new SurveyUSA poll shows the support of both Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) and challenger Judy Baar Topinka (R) down, with Green Party candidate Rich Whitney surging.
Blogojevich leads with 44%, while Topinka gets 34% and Whitney pulls an astonishing 14%.
Key finding: "Among Illinois independents, the candidates are effectively tied: Topinka gets 31%, Whitney 29%, Blagojevich 27%."