No matter how disgusted you are, not voting is the WORST choice

[Lydia Leftcoast]

Large numbers of Americans already don't vote, about 50%.

Now what have the "New Democrats" said about the non-voters every time the Dems have lost since 1980? They have said, "I guess we were too liberal to win the independents." And they have slid farther to the right.

I'm all for primarying Obama. Even if the primary candidate doesn't win, it's a concrete way of letting Obama know that we are not happy.

But assuming he gets the nomination anyway, let's look at this hypothetical scenario:

60% of eligible voters stay home (40% because they never pay attention to politics, 20% because they don't like either the D's or the R's this time around.)
22% vote Republican, because the Republicans use thinly veiled racism and xenophobia and general ignorance ("He's a Marxist Nazi Muslim!") to rouse their base
18% vote Democratic, either because the Republicans scare them or because they've always voted Democratic, or because, in a few cases, they really like Obama

But here's how both parties spin it. They completely ignore the fact that over half of the adult population didn't show up. Instead, they treat it as a 55%-45% result. The Republicans say, "We won in a landslide! We have a mandate!" ignoring the fact that 78% of the population didn't vote for them. The Democratic establishment, as usual, says, "Hmm, I guess we were too liberal for the voters. We'll have to compromise with the Republicans and not fight them, because they're going to win everything anyway." (Both these characterizations are based on past experience.)
And the country is more screwed than ever.

Not voting at all has two negative effects:

1) It emboldens the conservative elements in the Democratic Party because they'll spin the loss as the Dems being "too far left" (the favorite phrase of Jiacinto, whom DU oldtimers will remember)

2) It makes it harder to win the down-ballot races, where more progressive candidates may be running. (I've got Al Franken and Keith Ellison. Ellison is pretty safe, but the righties loathe Franken, so I'd vote for him.)

Vote for SOMEOBDY, for heaven's sake.

[Lars39]

1. k&r

[stevedeshazer]

2. +1

I agree.

[Palmer Eldritch]

3. a non-vote is as good as a Repuke vote. That's why they work so hard at voter suppression.

[fascisthunter]

6. and it's why he ignores the left completely

he's counting on people to choose between him and a republican.

[Dept of Beer]

12. It has become farce.

[Palmer Eldritch]

16. who will you choose?

[freshwest]

19. The GOP pays their MSM to demoralize progressives 24/7 because it works. Welcome to DU.

[lumberjack_jeff]

4. What gets us a progressive president soonest?

2016. I've made up my mind.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. Well, not voting sure doesn't work

But if you vote at all, you ARE counted--as long as your state's election system is relatively honest, as the ones in both Minnesota and Oregon are.

Those of you who have untraceable electronic voting systems are screwed no matter what.

[EFerrari]

8. I don't think DC can be cleaned up in my lifetime but

I sure as hell can work to get good progressive local people up the ladder so if Citizens United is ever tossed out, they have a chance to survive the corruption and lead at the national level.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. Good point!

The Republicanites got their weasels into power by starting them out in local races. We have the option of putting good progressives in place in local races if we pay attention.

[EFerrari]

20. Right now, a friend is in the CA Assembly.

He started out on our school board after they killed Harvey Milk. He went through the county system and is now really *leading* in Sacramento. He's a real Democrat and I'd do anything for him.

These are the people we go to the polls for, imo. Because they are the answer to this problem.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

25. Good for him!

There are many great Dems on the local level, and they deserve our support and encouragement.

[spooked911]

5. yes

but how sad is it that Obama is killing the Dems

[ThoughtCriminal]

9. Not voting is how we got to this point - nm

[Dept of Beer]

14. Coddling the right is how a diminished vote was earned.

Give credit where credit is due.

[leftstreet]

18. Actually, Corporate Hedge Fund Democratic candidates are how we got here

I don't blame voters OR non voters

[gkhouston]

24. +1. The key phrase is "New Democrat."

If you don't vote for them, they conclude they should move to the right.

If you do vote for them, they conclude they have a mandate to go to the right.

It's almost as if they're moving to the right in response to a signal being sent from someone other than ordinary voters. I'm shocked, shocked by that realization.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

38. "Moving to the right" is to New Democrats what "cutting taxes" is to Republicans

Something to do in any and all circumstances, whether it makes sense or not.

[Zoeisright]

39. Exactly.

Anyone who doesn't understand that 2010 happened because tons of Democrats sat out the vote doesn't understand reality.

[AsahinaKimi]

11. Honto

I agree! 100% 本当！

[w8liftinglady]

13. I will definitely be getting everyone I know out to vote!

Texas has a lot to lose by letting R's take over even more. I've already committed myself to getting as many of my Dallasite co-workers out to vote as possible. I am working the polls again this year,too.

[Le Taz Hot]

15. Pedantics aside,

I don't think many on this board will NOT vote, we just won't be voting for sell-outs.

[Canuckistanian]

17. I don't recall any movements advocating not voting

The MoveOn poll was all about not volunteering and not donating to the Democratic nominee for 2012.

I think any activist knows the consequences of not voting.

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. +1000

You are correct sir.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

26. I know people who have said that they're going to stay home in 2012

This is an argument against anyone who has been thinking this way.

[Canuckistanian]

32. Tell them the situation

This ain't no Bush/Gore election. If they get in this time, it's Armageddon.

[scarletwoman]

21. I've always remembered what you've said about not voting and taken it to heart.

If you don't vote, you simply don't count in anyone's political calculations.

I've never NOT voted since I was old enough to vote. All in all, voting is a relatively painless thing to do. How many people go out of their way to hit a store with something on sale? A citizen ought to be able to extend at least that much effort to get to a polling place on election day.

I certainly don't believe that electoral politics is the end-all-be-all, but voting IS something you can do, and do pretty damn easily.

Thank you for a great post!
sw

[Tansy_Gold]

23. Vote for me

http://tansygold2012.blogspot.com/

[Lydia Leftcoast]

27. You can be the new Pat Paulsen!

:-)

[Tansy_Gold]

34. That's precisely the point

A campaign that has no intention of winning can say exactly what it means. No playing games to woo donors. Just very straight talk on the issues.

That is, after all, far more than we're getting from the "real" candidates.



TG,TT

[EFerrari]

28. LOL

:)

[Horse with no Name]

29. I held my nose last time. Rightfully so. This time, bullying isn't going to work

if ceding the federal government to the republicans is what is needed to turn this country around, then maybe that is what we are supposed to do. After all, our federal government under Obama is spending its time chasing medical marijuana farms and prosecuting John Edwards while the States are doing smash and grabs and diminishing our rights under federal law. For fuck sake--HE APPOINTED FOUR REPUBLICANS to the bench in Texas. I am not seeing or feeling a real difference from where I am sitting. The SCOTUS is corrupt to the core with solid evidence of wrongdoing and NOTHING is being done.

After all--a Democrat doing the same thing as a republican really isn't as different as a republican doing them. Maybe a republican taking full blame for their toxic policies is what people need to bring us back from the brink of insanity or crashing the whole fucking car is what needs to happen.

Regardless...the same old thing isn't going to help anyone and will certainly hurt.

I abhor republican policy...no matter who presents them. I'm funny that way.
My time and money will be spent on State issues and candidates. The federal government can fuck off.

[OwnedByFerrets]

30. Either way we are fucked. Vote for a Democrat, we get

capitulation. Vote for a repug, we get screwed. Don't vote, we get fucked.

[blkmusclmachine]

31. For top of the ticket in 2012, I'm OUT.

I'll vote down ballot, but in Texas, that ain't much choice.

[MadHound]

33. Ah, so we should reward the hand that beats us.

Yeah, like that's worked real well in the past, as the party has continued to move further and further to the right.

Politicians are like children, they have to realize there are consequences for their actions. If they are not corrected when they misbehave, then the message that they get is that it's OK to continue to misbehave.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

36. No, I'm not saying vote for the Dem no matter what

My grandfather was Latvian and was about as anti-Communist as it's possible to be, but when he didn't like his voting options, he'd vote Communist. "I want them to know that not everyone is happy."

[unkachuck]

35. "...not voting is the WORST choice..."

....agreed.

....as of today, I'm writing in Howard Dean for president....

[saras]

37. Someone who says they're going to stay home is choosing to not vote in any local elections

It's unlikely that such a decision is going to be changed in either direction by Obama.

And no, it's not the worst thing. Voting for a Republican is substantially worse than not voting.

If we're not going to go with a proper multiparty system, I think we need a legally binding option to vote for "none of the above". If "none of the above" wins the election, either it is done over with DIFFERENT CANDIDATES, or the office is simply not filled, and we can see if anyone notices.

[bluestate10]

40. Vote. Not voting make problems worse. nt

[provis99]

41. voting is totally pointless.

There is absolutely zero chance your one vote will make a difference in an election.

[mmonk]

42. I will. Concentrated on local races.

All Democrats that voted to override my Democratic governor's veto though will not get my vote locally.

[LiberalAndProud]

43. I wait for the general election campaign.

If the Republican nominee isn't scary enough, we're in trouble.