To be pragmatic, one must first look at reality. And the reality is that Hillary Clinton will be the nominee. You may love it or hate it, but there are not enough votes in the entire Daily Kos bubble to change it. Barack Obama gave her a strong challenge, and he clearly has a long future ahead of him in politics, but Hillary Clinton has outpaced him in fundraising, outpaced him in endorsements, and outpaced him in the polls.
Sure, Howard Dean was in a similar position, and he got knocked off; but Howard Dean, a fabulous governor, was largely untested as a candidate. He was not yet experienced enough to avoid making those gaffes that would not have mattered in a world where voters had brains but mattered greatly in our world.
Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has been tested. She ran against Rudolf Giuliani in 2000 until Giuliani dropped out. She also survived races against George Bush Sr. and Bob Dole. (For the seven or eight Kossacks too young to remember the 1992 election, the Republicans spent more time lashing at Hillary Clinton than at the official candidate.) Hillary has survived every ugly attack Republicans can make, and she has come out on top.
I only see one way Hillary Clinton could lose this nomination:
As I was saying ...
I only see one way Hillary Clinton could lose this nomination: she gets caught with a staffer’s head between her legs; TV reporters ask Bill how he feels, and he breaks into tears, sobbing about his humiliation. If that happened, America would ... well, mostly we’d laugh our asses off at Bill and cheer on Hillary (Hey, if anyone’s entitled...). As a bonus, she would not have to spend any more campaign funds on staffers, as thousands of men would line up to work for free, just on the hope.
No, I guess she can’t lose this nomination after all.
Hillary Clinton will be the nominee no matter how I vote or how you vote.
Therefore, many Democrats may ask, is there any reason to vote at all in the primary? And the answer is yes, there is one reason: to be counted. If, for example, Clinton gets 60% of the vote and Obama gets 40%, the story will be that only these two candidates speak for any Democrats. If on the other hand, the result were Clinton 50%, Obama 25%, and Kucinch 25%, the country would have to recognize Kucinich as a voice to be taken seriously.
If no one votes for Kucinich, he can be written off as a wacko and his positions ignored. But if he has a strong showing, then he will expand the margins of debate; his progressive positions, if not widely embraced, will at least be taken seriously; and most importantly, it will give President Hillary Clinton the freedom to take more progressive positions while still appearing moderate in contrast to other voices in the debate. If Kucinich is dismissed from the public debate, the current positions of Clinton and Obama will be accepted as the furthest left – and Clinton will be forced to move to the right when she wants to appear "reasonable."
The main argument made against Kucinich is, He can’t beat the Republicans. This is probably true. But anyone looking at the political landscape can see there’s no danger of Kucinich winning the nomination. Even if every person reading this essay votes for Kucinich, Hillary Clinton will still be the nominee.
But each individual who votes for Kucinich helps give Kucinich more respect and more of a voice in the political arena. Each Kucinich voter ensures that when President Hillary Clinton is criticized by Republicans as being too liberal, there will be credible voices, respected voices, criticizing her as too conservative and urging her to be more progressive.
I don’t agree with every position Kucinich has taken. I don’t think he would make a perfect president. I don’t think he would be our strongest candidate against the Republicans. But I am ready to vote for Dennis Kucinich in this primary. It’s the most pragmatic way to ensure that progressive ideals are honored.