When you say “just vote Blue!”, what does that mean?
The color blue?
Oh, I see: The Democrats.
So what does that mean?
Well, it is supposed to be a set of principles: Liberal ideals, economic and social justice, support for unions, opposition to entrenched wealth and privilege, and a voice for the middle class and the poor.
Right now it means We’re not Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.
Fabulous. We’re not actual sociopathic serial killers. Yay team?
For several decades now, the Democratic Party has been running a great experiment. Some within the party believed that 'liberal' was an impossible sell to the electorate. They thought that the way to win elections was to concede the correctness of the conservative position, but to then offer a more moderate alternative.
The result is that the Democratic Party now resembles Reagan Republicans, and the Republican party has gone absolutely batshit crazy.
Two things happen when we elect right-wing Democrats. First, we tell the Democratic Party, 'This is what we will tolerate, while still giving you our votes.' And if the party can get your vote and continue fracking and building private prisons and failing to regulate their Wall Street donors, they'll joyfully continue frolicking in that corrupt system.
Secondly, the Overton Window — the range of what is politically possible — moves again to the right.
It has moved so far to the right already that Donald Trump is a possibility.
Trump is not a thing distinct from Clinton; Trump is a product of the same universe of politics. We allowed Trump — we CREATED Trump — by allowing and approving the constant rightward tack not just of the Republican Party, but of the Democratic Party as well. We enabled society itself to move to the right.
How is Hillary Clinton going to run for president against Trump?
ISIS will be a big topic. She’ll have to say how she’ll bomb ISIS, destroy ISIS, slaughter ISIS, eradicate ISIS, and by God, nukes are not off the table!
Let us be perfectly clear on something: ISIS is not an issue in this election.
Terrorism is not an issue at all.
The fear of terrorism is hysteria.
There are some guys running around in a distant desert in Toyota Tacomas. Occasionally a half dozen get loose and kill someone.
40,450 Americans die of breast cancer every year in the US. 26,120 Americans die of prostate cancer.
Death by Terrorism is right up there with the mortality rates for being pelted in the head with chalk by your daughter’s first grade teacher.
Sure, it can happen. And if it does, the media will spend six days screaming MAN DIES AFTER BEING PELTED IN HEAD WITH CHALK BY ELEMENTARY TEACHER!
That doesn’t make it an issue that should influence our voting decisions.
And yet what happens when Hillary Clinton is asked about terrorism?
Best case scenario, she will say, “Muslims are human beings, just like the rest of us! Besides, we just wiped out two hundred of them at a wedding reception. Doesn't that make you happy?"
What is the effect? Citizens learn that, by golly, we can wipe out a Muslim wedding party, and if that’s okay, why, it must mean that Muslims are evil, and less than human, and if we’re willing to do something so horrible — even the liberal candidate! — we should surely be afraid! We’re at war!
And if we’re at war, why would they vote for someone who is half-assing the hate and death? Why, there are Republicans available — they’ll hate and kill everyone who threatens us! Let’s vote for THEM!
Hillary will say, "You are wrong that Mexicans are rapists and murderers. They are hard-working, family-loving people. Besides, we've deported 2.5 million of them, and are holding tens of thousands more in detention centers without trial or due process!"
In turn, people will simply learn that it’s okay to treat Mexicans like animals. And who wants to do that the best? Why, Donald Trump!
Even if Hillary wins, what do you get in four years, when terrorism and Mexicans haven’t gone away?
Someone who is worse than Trump or Cruz. Because Hillary will have spent the entire time reaffirming these ‘problems’ and conditioning the electorate to accept that they are actual, genuine threats.
There is a reason Nazi rallies are banned in much of Europe. It isn't that they're trying to be mean to Nazis. It is because they know that fascism spreads like fire — and that the flames can quickly engulf a society. There is no such thing as moderate fascism.
Blue is a color, nothing more. And blue without progressive principles is a lie. It is flatly a bait-and switch: Sell you one thing, hand you another.
Some will buy that. Many will not.
There are presently millions of Democrats looking for the exits. We're discussing joining the Greens, or starting a new party entirely. And the flood of Independents Bernie Sanders has brought into the party didn't come for blue, and they're not going to stick around for a color, either.
It doesn't have to be this way.
Did I mention the millions of new Democrats that have followed Bernie Sanders into the party?
The millions of long-time Democrats who are leaving, but haven't left yet?
Or the millions of you who would 'Just vote blue!' — but sure, if we could stand for things, you'd like that too. Better, maybe.
Put those three groups together, and we have a robust progressive bulwark against fascism in the United States. Wouldn't that be grand?
There's nothing wrong with standing for universal healthcare, free college education, regulating Wall Street, and averting climate disaster.
But you can't do those things by voting for a color. You must vote for principles — and have the courage to reject those who reject those principles.