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There has been an ongoing debate at FDL about whether it is better to vote the lesser-evil route (which, I note, is still evil) or vote 3rd party. The arguments are familiar to everyone, I’m sure. I made my choice two years ago to vote 3rd party as a matter of conscience. I will admit that it was not an easy matter to break free of the D vs. R mindset. It was a bit scary at first but ultimately, what a feeling of freedom! I no longer have to settle or vote against. I get to vote for someone and for particular policies! And, best of all, I’m not sending the message that I approve of the dramatic erosion of civil liberties, of the use of drones, the war on drugs, the war on women, the war on entitlements, etc. But I’m not an eloquent writer and when I came across this combination interview-discussion between John Cusak and Jonathan Turley, I found a passage which summed up how I feel. I wanted to share it with you all. I know some people here won’t consider 3rd party as an option and they consider my choice to be anything from stupid to selfish to reckless. This won’t change their minds. But if you are wrestling with how to vote, maybe it will help you decide.
Jonathan Turley, constitutional law expert (my bold):
The Republican and Democratic parties have accomplished an amazing feat with the red state/blue state paradigm. They’ve convinced everyone that regardless of how bad they are, the other guy is worse. So even with 11 percent of the public supporting Congress most incumbents will be returned to Congress. They have so structured and defined the question that people no longer look at the actual principles and instead vote on this false dichotomy.
Now, belief in human rights law and civil liberties leads one to the uncomfortable conclusion that President Obama has violated his oath to uphold the Constitution. But that’s not the primary question for voters. It is less about him than it is them. They have an obligation to cast their vote in a principled fashion. It is, in my opinion, no excuse to vote for someone who has violated core constitutional rights and civil liberties simply because you believe the other side is no better. You cannot pretend that your vote does not constitute at least a tacit approval of the policies of the candidate.
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“Reformers who are always compromising, have not yet grasped the idea that truth is the only safe ground to stand upon. The object of an individual life is not to carry one fragmentary measure in human progress, but to utter the highest truth clearly seen in all directions, and thus to round out and perfect a well balanced character.”
– The Woman’s Bible, Elizabeth Cady Stanton
I’m pretty certain that the only way to have any prayer of persuading anyone stand where you want them to stand is to speak to them from THAT LOCATION YOURSELF.
There may be consequences unforeseen from following this admonition, and those consequences might be much better than we currently imagine.
One thing I have learned from the tea baggers; to make their party move to the right, they would only support the idiot who was furthest to the right. It’s working for them.
http://www.feedbooks.com/userbook/2988/
There has to be a point where you feel uncomfortable with compromising certain principles and you realize there will no “victory” in your win. I left the party in 2008. It was the best decision I ever made. No more having to make excuses for candidates who appear to care very little or hold us in little regard. No more being afraid that the Republican boogeyman was going to get me(and instead settling for the Democratic one.) My voice became my own again and I became a person that someone from any side would need to woo and respect to win me.
I understand that many of my fellow progressive liberals are afraid. Been there, done that. It is my hope though that they at the very least respect that people who are choosing a third way aren’t being stupid or selfish, they are choosing what they see as the only direction they feel they have left to allow themselves to be true to who they are and what they believe. The Democratic party crossed their line of comfort.
Instead of working to try to convince the electorate they are at fault for a loss, it is imperative for those that will vote Democratic regardless of its failures(since they’ve chosen to work from the within the party paradigm) to convince the party that it must do more for the electorate or risk losing them in an election. The onus to change, is on the party LEADERS, not on the rest of us.
Strategically all of us are not aligned, but I’m not sure we have to be. All we need to do is to remember to respect each other and believe that each of us is acting in good faith when we cast our vote.
“I’d rather vote for something I want and not get it, than vote for something I don’t want, and get it.” – Eugene Debs
Plain and simple a woman would never kill other women’s children, something the men can’t seem to resist ….Jill
R U guaranteeing that Hillary is a pacifist?
Or Thatcher was?
Or Madeline Albright?
I didn’t think so.
So, WTF R U saying?
” I know some people here won’t consider 3rd party as an option …”
I will with great relief and clean conscience vote 3rd party. It might be tougher if I lived in a swing state and I sympathize with those who do but I agree that you must vote for that which you believe in.
The difference between the D’s and the R’s is like the difference between a gunshot to the head and slow poison. One takes longer and hurts more but in the end your are just as dead.
I have stayed a registered democrat so I could vote for the left-most person in any primary. That is supposedly where a vote has the most impact. And I can still vote for any third party I care to whenever it is appealing.
Anyway, this whole voting thing is just a symbolic exercise for any individual. I still get a little kick out of participating in the spectacle.
Personally, I will not support or vote for anyone who actively works counter to certain core principles I hold dear. That means that I cannot support Obama, and the Democratic Party that so ably enables him, any more than I can support Romney and the Republican Party.
One thing that puzzles me are the people who seem to think that calling me names and berating me for my choice is going to make me change my mind. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt that they are not just being assholes for the hell of it.
The only reason I’m not voting third party is because I haven’t had enough time to consider the candidates, and after O, it’s for sure I’m not going to caste a vote because someone else thinks it’s a good idea. Election day will be a good day to go fishing.
I’m in Florida and I’m voting for Stein. No way will I vote for the warmongering, drone touting MIC enabling, destroyer of Civil Liberties, Constitution Shredding, Bankster enabling, Union Busting, Ecological Distaster making, Clean Coal, Pro-Nukes, global warming denying, job outsourcing, whore for Big Oil, Oilbomber.
I think that this has been true, but it’s increasingly becoming clear that both sides of the either/or fallacy have failed this country.
No.
It’s general not comprehensive , chill.
Well, you’ve got until November, so you might read up on Jill Stein and vote Green. ;-)
I plan to split my ticket. There are Democrats at the state level who can keep the legislature out of the hands of ALEC. But the national party is going out of its way to undermine unions. It is eager to cut a deal to eviscerate the safety net. It will cave on taxes and the war machine. As for civil liberties, the parties are twins. I suppose I should worry about the Supreme Court but it’s not like there is any tangible pushback from the Democratic Party. Another reason to vote 3rd party is to preserve future ballot access. Maybe this week will change my mind but I expect instead the empty balanced approach and silly forward mantra will just put me to sleep.
. . . “general” and “comprehensive” mean pretty much the same thing.
When you compare “Men” to “Women”, I don’t know how much more comprehensive you can get!
Nice quote. Thanks for posting this. I, of course, agree with you and empathize. It IS liberating to declare your support for someone with whom you actually agree on most issues, isn’t it?
Since I decided there was no way I would ever vote for a fascist again, I have felt clean.