Who should progressives vote for in November? August 28, 2008
Posted by Evil Bender in News and politics, Progressives.trackback
While I’m busy with the start of the Fall Semester and watching the Democratic National Convention (which has been an inspiring event, so far) I can’t help but notice there’s a lot of bickering on the blogs about Progressives who don’t seem likely to vote for Barack Obama, or who at least have said they don’t know if they’ll vote for him. It’s become particularly heated in discussions on and about one of my favorite progressive blogs, Shakesville (i.e. Liss’s post, Jamelle’s response).
What I’d planned on doing, and undoubtedly the safest course of action, was to remain silent. But I think that would be cowardly at this point, so I’ll make two observations that I hope are clear.
- Progressives, like everyone else, should vote (or not vote) as the dictates of their conscience guide them. Obviously.
- As a progressive, you have four options in November:
- Vote for Obama.
- Vote for McCain.
- Don’t vote for a Presidential candidate.
- Vote for a third party or write in candidate.
So how should progressives vote? That’s up to each of us to decide, of course. But I’d respectfully suggest a fine standard would be to decide which option best helps further progressive causes. I’m open to arguments that it’s option 3 or 4, but I must admit I’m hard pressed to see that point of view.
Obama is not a perfect candidate. None are. (If anyone doubts my honesty, I’ll note that In the past I’ve called him out on behavior I didn’t think was acceptable.) But for all his imperfections, I believe he would be a far, far better President than John McCain. I believe with Obama as President we will make some progress on progressive issues; with McCain as President, we’ll backslide, and probably face decades of super-conservative SCOTUS rulings. Obama will disappoint us repeatedly, but he’ll get some things right. And he’ll get far more right than McCain ever could.
So please, progressives, vote as you will, but ask yourself whether your vote is truly in line with your values.
And for those not planning to vote for Obama–I hope you’ll discuss why in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.
I agree that some progress is a good thing. I suspect that any progressive who isn’t voting for Obama because of whatever deal-breaker he or she invokes also would say that some progress is a good thing, unless he or she is being too argumentative to say that. To say otherwise is to make the impossible argument that there isn’t a dime’s bit of difference between Obama and McCain, because they’re lying about their differences, because Roe can’t be overturned, because it is inevitable that Roe will be overturned, because both men are pawns in a corporation-run world, whatever excuse someone can write. For me, this is George Wallace’s argument from 1968, one that instantly fails because of that example. For others, it’s believable to justify their actions, even though on a good day they would agree with you that some progress is a good thing.
Is someone’s vote a moral obligation or a vehicle for self-expression? I used to think there was a moral issue in voting the right way, but unless it’s such a local election that it can be decided by one vote, no single vote matters. Arguing that each vote is part of some larger bloc that does matter ignores the fact that my single vote still makes absolutely no difference to anyone but me. Rhetoric to the contrary is a ploy to encourage voting as the speaker wants someone to vote, a ploy that doesn’t succeed or fail depending on my individual response, but on how thousands or more respond.
I can choose to attach my vote to some large bloc. From that I might feel solidarity with those who offer some progress, or I might feel good from rejecting a bloc I find disgusting. It’s my choice. I might pretend my choice factors in everything that’s good for the country, but human behavior doesn’t seem to work that way. We don’t act after integrating all facts. Instead we have a hierarchy of excuses for what we do.
So it is that someone can say that he or she won’t vote for Obama because of his FISA vote. They won’t vote for someone who’s willing to shred the Constitution. Now we can argue about whether that vote shredded the Constitution or even put a dent in the fourth amendment and whether that’s Obama’s fault, but it will still be something that was a deal-breaker for this voter. Obama’s vote went too far for this voter. It’s not an easy thing to get a straight answer why while arguing over whether or not that should be a deal-breaker. We feel what we feel.
I remember watching Mario Cuomo talking on CSPAN years ago about how he liked the label progressive pragmatist or pragmatic progressive. It can be all things to all people in a good way. Yet not everyone embraces both of those completely. That’s where my mind often goes when I read people describing their deal-breakers. That’s never about pragmatism. People may make the argument that they don’t want the revolution to be blunted or diverted by those who are less than true believers. What if the revolution never will come exactly as I would want?
Whatever argument someone makes, the real reason someone decides anything may be well hidden. There is research on those who favor the death penalty that when people are presented with overwhelming evidence that their reason for supporting the death penalty is wrong, they’ll just switch to a different reason. Such is democracy.
I’ll vote for Obama because we have some traits in common and because he’s right by me on health care and on the Supreme Court, because I’m not a swing voter and because nothing that he has done that’s angered other people angers me, because I fully embrace progressive pragmatism as Mario Cuomo saw that, which didn’t keep him from losing in the end. Everyone defines “progressive” and “pragmatist” differently.
I wish there were a more novel metaphor than “herding cats” that I could use here. Win or lose, I’m amazed that Obama has gotten as far as he has this year in an effort that does amount to herding cats compared to the great conformity of the Republicans to the neo-con triad of low taxes, a maximally aggressive foreign policy, and repealing all social change since the fifties. I think Obama’s effort will be useful either way. Others don’t see it that way. People write a lot of words about that.
On the left, there are only pockets of conformity. You can ask people why that is. They’re somewhat better than cats in their answers, but you’re not going to get the whole truth out of any of us.
I haven’t thought this out too much yet, but I’m pretty sure I’m voting McCain. I think Obama is just a pretty face who can talk a good game (I have no faith in his ability to accomplish half of what he says), and I feel as though my party has let me down, not only by letting Obama get the nomination over the clearly more qualified Hillary, but by not having a solid candidate ready after 8 years of Bush rule. Democrats should be in the lead right now–there should be no question–but there is, and that says a lot about the party. While there’s a lot in McCain’s platform that I don’t agree with (see: pro-life), he is a moderate Republican, and I do respect him as a war hero. I’m just not impressed with Obama. And, well, I do live in a red state. I suppose if the numbers look close here, I’ll go ahead & think real heard. If they’re not close, I’ll either vote McCain or write-in Hillary.
k: just a few thoughts offered up in the spirit of friendly discussion… (And just as a general sidenote, it frustrates me that this election season has gotten so contentious that I feel the need to put a disclaimer on political discourse lest I lose friends? Oy veh.)
To me, it doesn’t make much sense to vote for a candidate one disagrees with just because he’s going to win anyway — particularly McCain, since, if one doesn’t like Bush, chances are pretty good one won’t be a fan of McCain, either. An alternate possibility, then, would be to vote for a third party candidate, such as Cynthia McKinney. Does it accomplish anything? Probably not. But it registers dissent in a way that simply voting for McCain doesn’t.
Now, obviously, if you’re jazzed about McCain and his platform, I’m totally happy to agree to disagree. And naturally I support your right to write in Mickey Mouse if that’s what you want to do. ;) Just wanted to point out that even if you don’t want to vote for Obama, there are alternatives to voting for McCain. :)