Like it or not, we are effectively a two-party system. We may be able to get some people from other parties elected, but not at the presidential level. And the presidential votes impacts a lot of down-ballot voting. In a presidential election, a vote for a third-party candidate is a vote for the opposition. Clinton lost a lot of votes to other parties, and Trump was elected.
The GOP has been very successful at destroying traditional Democrat fundraising (such as union contributions), and now both parties rely on corporate donations. Yes, it has been disastrous. But to counter extremist conservative policies we need the Democrats, and we need to work from the inside to effect change. A failure to understand this and to hide out in an alternate third party (or none at all) is to cede victory to those who would put corporate interests ahead of workers' interests, environmental concerns, consumer protections, judicial reform, diplomatic sanity, financial and economic reforms, health care and health insurance reforms, and racial and gender (including LGBTQIA) protections.
We need to elect people who don't think the market is amoral and self-correcting. We need people who are not proponents of social Darwinism. People who don't think that those on Social Security or SSDI or SSI are moochers. People who have principles and ethics and knowledge and an actual desire to help others.
Most of all we need people who can get elected because second place doesn't get you a seat at the table.
This has been a response to an article in The Liberal Network, What the Democrats Need To Do To Win Back The White House, which was linked to indirectly in a Daily Kos article via EgbertosWillies.com.
The GOP has been very successful at destroying traditional Democrat fundraising (such as union contributions), and now both parties rely on corporate donations. Yes, it has been disastrous. But to counter extremist conservative policies we need the Democrats, and we need to work from the inside to effect change. A failure to understand this and to hide out in an alternate third party (or none at all) is to cede victory to those who would put corporate interests ahead of workers' interests, environmental concerns, consumer protections, judicial reform, diplomatic sanity, financial and economic reforms, health care and health insurance reforms, and racial and gender (including LGBTQIA) protections.
We need to elect people who don't think the market is amoral and self-correcting. We need people who are not proponents of social Darwinism. People who don't think that those on Social Security or SSDI or SSI are moochers. People who have principles and ethics and knowledge and an actual desire to help others.
Most of all we need people who can get elected because second place doesn't get you a seat at the table.
This has been a response to an article in The Liberal Network, What the Democrats Need To Do To Win Back The White House, which was linked to indirectly in a Daily Kos article via EgbertosWillies.com.
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