The failure of the Alito filibuster is a dark day for the Democrats, no doubt. Alito is so bad, so unfit for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, that every Democratic senator should have supported the filibuster. So the Democrats (who control zero branches of government) lose another round to the Republicans (who control them all), and we have the inevitable ranting about leaving the party and going Green or Independent. Maybe to teach the Democrats a lesson, maybe something else. I don't know. I can't fathom the logic.
I always try to explain that its about the math -- the nature of our electoral system. Sure, under a proportional system or with IRV, it might make sense to vote third-party, but we don't have those things. Right now, the votes don't even get counted correctly, and we can't do a damn thing about it because, again, the Democrats control zero branches of government. So deal with it -- this is the system we have. And under that system, if you are not voting Democrat, you are helping the Republicans. Yes, in fact, you are either with us or against us.
If you want to leave anyway, that's fine, I can't stop you. In a couple of the diaries and comments about people leaving, however, the authors have talked about Howard Dean and his principles as a basis for leaving the Democrats. Well, wait a second. Howard Dean is a Democrat. He's actually the leader of the Democratic Party. He does not believe in third parties (he actually debated Nader on this), and if you leave, you don't get to cite Dean. You also don't get Russ Feingold. He is a Democrat, and is not going anywhere. He does not support third-party candidates. By voting third-party, you undermine him. If you leave the party you don't get Barbara Boxer, or Paul Hackett, or John Conyers, or Barrack Obama, or Dennis Kucinich, or Chuck Pennachio, or any other progressive leaders who are members of the Democratic party. They are not going anywhere. They understand the only way to achieve progressive goals is to support the Democratic party.
You can have Ralph Nader, and David Cobb, and Ross Perot, and Harry Browne, and Jesse Ventura, and Kinky Friedman. If you want to make your arguments based on what these people are doing, great. But you don't get the Democrats. They don't support you. Do you know who else you don't get? Markos Moulitsas Zúniga and Daily Kos.
This is a Democratic blog, a partisan blog. One that recognizes that Democrats run from left to right on the ideological spectrum, and yet we're all still in this fight together.
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Liberal? Yeah, we're around here and we're proud. But it's not a liberal blog. It's a Democratic blog with one goal in mind: electoral victory.
Yes, the Democratic Party is a mess and is badly in need of reform. That is the purpose of DailyKos. If you don't support that purpose, or "support" it by trying to destroy the party or "teaching them a lesson" by voting third-party, you really need to go somewhere else.