I have been a committed one-party Democratic voter since 1992. I have never bought into the Nader-ite claims that Republicans and Democrats are all the same, so you may as well vote for an independent candidate whose values more closely resemble your own. And I still do not believe the two parties are the same.
What I do believe, however, is that both parties are largely motivated by the same desire to keep themselves and their party entrenched in Congress. As a result, they continue to neglect the real needs of the American people.
Nowhere is this more evident than with the healthcare legislation that has been so weakened that the only thing it will do is ensure that the large insurers and pharmaceutical companies continue to reap billions in profits every year.
The majority of the country wants healthcare reform that includes an affordable public option. We do not want to live each day in fear not only of losing our lives from a deadly illness but of losing our dignity and everything we have worked for in our lives as the price of treatment.
For 8 years, we watched as many democratic politicians bent over and let the republicans screw them and screw the country. Democrats voted with republicans to give away our Constitutional rights; give away our tax dollars in corporate give aways, tax credits, and tax cuts for the wealthy; and give away the lives of young American men and women who volunteered to fight for this country, often to escape poverty or afford opportunities.
We all thought it would change with a democratic majority in the House and Senate and a democratic president. Instead, despite holding the power, they are still allowing republicans to run the show.
This healthcare legislation will anger conservatives, who are programmed by Fox and Republicans do hate it no matter what is in it; and it will anger progressives and other democrats, who hate what is not in it.
There are options:
- Use the stick on Lieberman rather than the carrot.
- Use reconciliation; it may not get us everything but it is better than no bill at all.
- Stand up for something for once and force the republicans to carry out their filibuster threat.
President Obama should make no mistake. This is not a win for democrats or for his presidency.
I am not blaming the president; he is clearly just another democrat, being guided by other democrats. He is seeking to do what both parties do--keep the status quo. I firmly believe his heart is in the right place and that he is an improvement over what we have had, but I also believe the counterweight of political preservation is pulling him away from doing what is right.
Not voting for democrats leaves us with the very real risk of a president like the one we had or even a Sarah Palin. Make no mistake, there are worse options out there than the democratic party.
And right now, there are no better ones.
It must change, and this seems like the opportune time to work toward that change.
Consider--the right is fractured. Ultra-conservative republicans are talking about supporting extremist right-wing "Tea Party" candidates against other republicans. They want to establish a litmus test. This offers the potential to split the Republican vote.
If there vote is split, we can then afford to take the risk that we weaken the democratic vote by splitting our votes in 2012.
We are able to organize and unite in common cause. We proved it in our support of Obama and other democrats this past year. The progressives need to coalesce around the idea of a New Democratic party.
What would it take?
Leadership. We need the Howard Deans and the Al Gores and the Anthony Wieners and the Graysons and the Frankens and others who share our progressive values to be part of this process. We need leaders from outside of politics, such as from academia, like the Paul Wellstones. We need them to decide what is more important: supporting democrats or supporting the environment, the poor, the uninsured, and equality for all.
We need the organizations that support democrats like Move On, Daily Kos, and the Center for American Progress to coordinate and agree to promote such an effort. We need the media people who clearly share our frustrations--the Keith Olbermanns, the Rachel Maddows, the Arianna Huffingtons, and the Ed Schultzes--who will support our efforts and bring wider attention to our reform movement. And we need funding. We need supporters from the business community.
It's not enough to prop up a nonviable candidate like Nader for a party that is--rightly or wrongly--perceived as a one-issue party. We need a genuine party, with a platform that is progressive without being extreme.
Make no mistake, the more effort we make to establish a viable party and the more progress we make, the deeper both parties will dig in their heels to try to cement their berth in a two-party system.
Other democracies offer their people more choices. We need real choices.
We need New Democratic candidates who are not afraid to say, "I support the rights of gay people to marry." "I will repeal DADT." "I will work toward Universal Healthcare." "I will champion environmental reforms and support efforts like those in Copenhagen to reach an agreement with other nations." "I will not support indefinite detention without trial and other measures that violate our Constitution." "I will not support healthcare legislation that infringes on a woman's right to choose." "I will not settle for anything less than the best for the American people." "I will engage in endless wars of retaliation yet ignore the endless suffering of millions being slaughtered in their countries by their own government." "I will not wear a flag pin on my lapel just because Fox "News" says I should."
There is so much we want, and so much we and the World deserve. We are the people. It is up to us to change this system that is clearly broken.
Martin Luther King had a dream. Everything was stacked against him. He represented a small percentage of the population. He represented people who were poor and oppressed. They organized and marched and sang and held hands until they were too loud to be ignored.
We have become so divided here lately, and that should tell us something. Why are we fighting? Isn't it true that almost all of us want the things mentioned above? Isn't it true that almost all of us want candidates that will fight for these things? Can we all agree that our party is not as responsive as it should be to our needs?
People complain that young people often do not vote. Polls show that young people are often more concerned with the environment and more supportive of equality. Maybe they are less likely to vote because there's less in it for them.
As young people demonstrated during the last election, when energized, they cannot be beat for effort. Our young people are a wonderful resource to tap into moving forward. They are the leaders of tomorrow.
There are risks--like losing...and failing.
But from where I sit today, I think we are headed that direction anyway, even if we stick with the status quo. At the very least, we can start something threatening enough that influences democrats the way republicans have been influenced by the Tea Party crowds and other uber-conservatives.
We are not being heard. And if we are being heard, we are being ignored. Apparently Joe Lieberman speaks louder than all of us.
UPDATE:
It has been argued that you can't have a third party system. As our country's political system shows us historically, parties have come and gone, eventually always concluding with a two-party system.
So maybe we don't get a viable third party--maybe instead we get a new democratic party. By withdrawing our support, and draining resources away from the democratic party, perhaps we can insure its collapse and have a party in place that can step in to become the new "other party"--but one that shares our values.
It would still be a democratic party (though not necessarily in name) but with our democrats at the helm.
Alternatively, as someone else hinted at, essentially, the most powerful senator in Congress right now is a third party senator named Joe Lieberman.
So, we don't even need to control the Senate. We just need to get a few in there who won't be cowed.