The Beginning of the End (one hopes)

[jducoeur]

[Before I start -- Happy Birthday to outlander!]

Okay, tomorrow's the day. Go out and vote. No excuses. And this time I'm going to forego the usual politically correct niceties about "Vote for whoever you like, but please vote". This is the time to call a spade a spade -- fuhgodsake, vote Democratic.

Let's be clear here: I do *not* consider myself a Democrat. I still think of myself as a Republican. During the years that I was developing my political opinions, they seemed like the party with the most appropriate ideals: small government, economic responsibility, a small-c conservative outlook of examining things carefully and not getting too easily carried away by utopian enthusiasms. They didn't always live up to those ideals, but at least they were ideals that I respected.

But let's be real: the current Republican party has *nothing* to do with those ideals -- it has less to do with them than the Democratic Party did at its very worst. Instead, it has been taken over by an unholy alliance of imperialists, fascists and religious fanatics, who have corrupted it utterly. Perhaps even worse, the *spirit* of the party has been gradually perverted. Say what you will about his flaws, Reagan at least *tried* to paint a positive, hopeful message, inspiring the country. Now, we're left with a message that seems to be 100% made up of equal parts fear and hate. That's deadly to the spirit of the country. (There's another whole posting building up on that point.)

My short-term agenda is tactical: to put some effective checks on the lunacy. But in the longer term, I want my damned party back. I want a Republican Party that presents a valid and viable alternative in politics. That may or may not be possible, but it certainly isn't going to happen until the loonies in charge are well and truly discredited. And that means I don't just want a Democratic victory tomorrow, I want to see a *crushing* victory. The more things swing tomorrow, the more the daggers of recrimination will come out inside the Republican Party, and the faster this internal Axis of Evil will fall apart.

So yes, your vote counts. This one isn't just about who wins which seats -- it's even more about how big the margin is. It's time to be loud and clear with the message that we are disgusted by this corrupted party, and want it gone.

As for voting Democratic, let's be clear here: the Republicans really, really want you to vote for anyone else. They are rightfully cynical about this: if they can scare you away from the Democrats, that's almost as good as convincing you not to vote at all. The third parties aren't going to *win*, and who wins is the main thing the Republicans care about. We're talking about a group that regards a razor-thin margin as a mandate, so keeping the opposition divided is an essential part of their strategy. One thing they want to see is validation of their scare tactics -- that if they are frightening enough, they will drive folks away from the Democrats. Most of what they are saying is lies, and it's time to say that we aren't listening any more.

So I'm going out tomorrow and voting party-line Democrat, and I recommend the same to you, even if you don't think of yourself as a Democrat. I'm doing it *because* I consider myself a serious Republican. Because the only way I stand any chance of getting back a Republican party I might be able to respect is if these bastards are well and truly crushed...

Comments

With one exception...

[miraclaire.livejournal.com]

I will be voting for Democrats in all but one election: Secretary of State. I think Galvin has not done good things for Massachusetts and testing Diebold voting machines in this election has reinforced that for me. Jill Stein has my vote.

Re: With one exception...

[etherial.livejournal.com]

If I see Diebold at my precinct, I'm calling a lawyer.

Re: With one exception...

[hakamadare.livejournal.com]

these people (http://www.verifiedvoting.org/) have a hotline, 866-OUR-VOTE.

Re: With one exception...

[keshwyn]

Likewise. But Galvin is not opposed by any Republican, so I feel no guilt there.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

I think that I haven't said thank you for your political posts on the election. They've been very useful.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Seconded. The ensuing discussion about Prop. 3 was especially useful.

[its-just-me.livejournal.com]

Very well said.

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

I am dubious that the Republican party can ever have its honor restored; it has been swimming gleefully too deep in the gutter for too long. Watergate and Iran-Contra were but prelude to Gingrich's Contract on America, bringing the solemn machinery of Impeachment to bear over a guy lying about a blowjob, using the worst attack on the US mainland in nearly 200 years as an excuse to gut the Bill of Rights; lying to the country and to Congress to get support for an utterly pointless and unnecessary war, then posturing about how tough they are while cutting benefits for the poor schmucks whose only crime was to do what they were told was their duty, and so many more that many of us have become numb to outrage. Maybe responsible conservatives can form a new party, but I see no way they can get the stench out of the old one.

I recently bought the 4-DVD Edward R. Murrow Collection (http://www.docurama.com/productdetail.html?productid=NV-NVG-9714), about which I have some thoughts percolating that may turn into a long post. One thing I was really struck by was footage in Harvest of Shame of an interview with Eisenhower's Secretary of Labor, saying that what migrant farm workers need is Federal farm labor standards (because the states would be afraid to raise their standards in the face of competition from other states), and a strong union — specifically citing the example of the ILGWU. I don't have it in front of me, but he said something along the lines of "My wife pays less for a dress today than my grandmother did fifty years ago, when the locked-down sweatshop conditions that led to the Triangle Shirtwaist fire ruled the day. And garment workers are now stable middle-class members of the community." I don't remember the guy's name, but I was so astounded to hear these words coming from a Republican that I Googled him, thinking perhaps Eisenhower had for some political reason appointed a bleeding-heart liberal to head the Department of Labor. His Republican credentials were exemplary, and the AFL/CIO opposed his appointment. Can you imagine any Republican politician today saying such a thing? I can not.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

I think "Vote Democrat!" is actually a very bad message to send right now. I'm entirely with you on the line "Republicans must be defeated!", and would certainly not vote for any Rs right now. But I'm really unhappy voting for *any* federal incumbent, including the Democrats. There were at least three bills in the last two years that any competent opposition party would have *at least* filibustered against. As an opposition party, the Democrats have completely fallen down on the job, and don't deserve to be rewarded. I'm not just disgusted with the Republicans, there's plenty more to go around.

In the race for my Representive in the House, no Republican was running, but the incumbent Democrat was opposed by a member of the Socialist Workers Party. In this situation, I happily voted for the commie :-) And in several state elections I voted against Democrats for one reason or another (though never *for* a Republican). [If I could, I would probably have voted against one local incumbent who sent two "vote for me!" mailings to our house, despite running uncontested.]

[leanne-opaskar.livejournal.com]

Justin -- you still live in MA, right?

Not trying to tick you off or anything but .... well, in my opinion .... voting party-line Democrat in MA doesn't mean anything. Massachusetts is predominately Democratic already. All it reinforces is the status quo.

It's the same deal as voting Democrat here in California. California is so Democratic that they don't even bother to campaign out here. It's pointless. No message will be sent by voting Democratic out here -- it would simply be business as usual as far as the political parties are concerned.

I went ahead and voted for the people that I thought would do the best job, for the propositions I thought were good, and against the ones I thought were bad. No way in hell I wasn't voting for the Governator -- the tomato cans they have running against him would be terrible. q: I voted for some Democrats, some Republicans, and some third-party people, and against some incumbents (Democrats -- business as usual -- we are in California, so they're almost all Democrats anyway) who are really REALLY awful. q:

[jducoeur]

Certainly true, but numbers still matter. Consider: the Republican Party in MA may be weak, but it still exists, and it still holds a considerable number of offices. If the polls are to be believed, that number is about to drop to the lowest number in (IIRC) a century or so. Yes, the attention is focused on the gubernatorial election, but they are certainly noticing the eroding of what foothold they have on the local level as well.

Is it as strong as message as it would be in a genuinely two-party state? No, but it's still a message, and it's still one they are going to pay attention to. The fact that their tactics have eroded all of the gains made since the Weld days is well worth reinforcing...

[leanne-opaskar.livejournal.com]

Not being in MA, I can't argue whether they're noticing or not, but here in CA, it pretty much seems like neither party cares who wins at the local level (outside of the local parties and the people running, of course).

This may have something to do with where I live, of course. San Diego is a (generally) Republican city in a Democratic state.