It seems kind of silly to even be having this discussion here 8 days before the presidential election, but I have seen enough vote third party and Obama=Bush comments here the last few days to compel me to share this.
Bob Cesca wrote a most excellent piece for The Daily Beast today, "Anti-Obama Progressives are Voting for a Romney Disaster". In it he specifically tackles 3 major pleas for progressives to vote against President Obama.
My favorite is the dismantling of John Cusack’s discussion with Jonathan Turley in which they discussed why they just had to vote for a third party candidate this year. Don't get me wrong, I heart Cusack but IMO he has gone off the rails. Cesca goes into great detail, but this simple and hilarious comparison says it all:
When I wrote about the Turley/Cusack discussion, I compared it with the South Park “Underpants Gnome” episode in which a race of gnomes devised a three-pronged business model: 1) Collect Underpants, 2) ????, 3) Profit. Likewise, Turley and Cusack seemed to suggest the following: 1) Vote against Obama, 2) ????, 3) Progressivism! Of course the “????” is the biggest concern here. There is simply no plan for what comes between voting against Obama and winning a more progressive America. No plan.
Cesca also address the importance of the popular vote and the misconception that if you're are in a solid blue or red state it doesn't matter.
The lesson of 2000 and, indeed, all democratic elections is this: your vote isn’t just about your personal whim or guilty conscience, it’s about millions of other citizens. Real-life people. If you can’t abide drones or the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki, then use your vote to endorse providing Medicaid for millions upon millions of your fellow citizens who would otherwise lose it under a Romney presidency. Endorse the reversal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Endorse the passage of the Matthew Shepard hate crimes law or the expansion of SCHIP or the advancement of income parity for women. Endorse the ending of the war in Iraq...
Anyone that thinks that it doesn't matter should talk to a police officer or teacher in Wisconsin, or a person with brown skin in Arizona.
His closing is what I have been saying for months, but far less eloquently.
One of the character traits which most liberals possess and too many modern conservatives lack is a sense of compromise and reason. I fear reason is being abandoned in pursuit of a destructive, misguided agenda marketed by fringe leftists with questionable motives and sketchy, incomplete plans. Millions upon millions of our fellow American citizens require that Mitt Romney not be allowed to ascend to the presidency. It’s as simple as that. The only reasonable solution is to prevent it from happening. It’s up to you.
It really is a great read, check it out, and
GOTV!!
Also, it goes without saying that I hope everyone in the path of Sandy has had time to prepare and is out of harms way.