Reply #26: Let me explain the "hostile takeover" calculus once again. [View All]

[TahitiNut]

Think of the Democratic Party as an array of voters (the 'base') along a spectrum from "leftists" that might otherwise vote Green (or stay home) to "corporatists" that would otherwise vote GOP. OK? Got that?

Let's say there are about 30% who would vote for a Republican if they were convinced that a Democratic candidate (like Kerry, for example) was indistinguishable from a "wacko leftist." Kerry was painted as both a "liberal" (a dirty word) and a "flip-flopper" (unlike Dubya or Hillary who never apologized for getting it wrong) and a "fake" (swift-boated).

That's 30% who'd consider voting GOP. That leaves 70% who wouldn't.

For EVERY voter who'd vote GOP there's a 2-vote difference. Subtract one vote from the 'D' and add it to the 'R.'
For every voter who'd just stay home or vote Green there's a 1-vote difference. Subtract one vote from the 'D.'

So, what we get is a Corporatist Protection Racket ... the THREAT of a minority against the majority.

"What're ya gonna do? Vote GOP?" That's not a problem for the 30% ... but a 'terrorist threat' to 70%. So the 70% gets in line and sells out to the corporate wing of the Democratic Party. (The real numbers are far more imbalanced and the strategy more complex ... but this makes the 'game' clearer, I think.)

As the Democratic Party moves right ... so does the GOP, just enough to leave no room in the mythical 'middle.' . AND THE WHOLE COUNTRY MARCHES INEXORABLY TOWARD FASCISM.

That's been the 'game' for 35 years. The People are frogs being brough slowly to a boil.

It's NO ACCIDENT that the Political Compass depicts our politicians so far to the right in a world with countries without the noxious "2-party system" ... where multi-party coalitions prevail in parliamentary democracies.