Back when I was a kid and just starting to listen to politics (late seventies/early eighties), the reasons given as to why you should vote for the Democrats were the great strides forward they would make. The New Deal, the Fair Deal, the Great Society- even as late as 1992, Clinton made a real effort at giving us single-payer health care. The Demcorats used to be the progressive party- root word,
progress.
That's changed. Today, the reason given for why you should vote for the Democrats are all about maintaining the status quo. It's the Republicans who are the party of change these days.
Think about it for a moment. What are the reasons given for why we should vote for Kerry?
- He won't appoint justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade
- He won't bankrupt social security, or the federal goverment.
- He won't pass any more PATRIOT acts, further curtailing our liberties
- He won't launch any more wars of agression
On one hand, those are good reasons. The problem is, they're the only reasons. The Democrats have gone into siege mode. We're no longer talking about doing something positive, about moving forward in any way, shape, or form. We're talking about maybe, if we're lucky, not moving too much farther backwards. Maybe. Remember that Clinton gave us NAFTA, the DMCA, and welfare reform.
The lesser of two evils is still evil.
Any arm-chair strategist will tell you that wars are not won on the defensive. They're won on the offensive. The best you can do on the pure defensive is not lose. But if the other side sticks it through, you will lose, sooner or later.
This election is not just about 2004. It's also about the midterm elections of 2006, and the presidential elections of 2008 and 2012. We've seen this pattern before. The Republican get resoundly defeated, and four years later they've slapped a fresh coat of paint and gotten a new front man, and are back in business. They did it after Nixon, they did it after Bush Sr., they'll do it again after Bush Jr.
They'll continue doing it because they're winning. Every Republican administration moves their agenda forward, and the intervening Democratic administrations are at most pauses. Remember that Nixon had to resign over spying on the Democrats. The Republicans do that today, and everybody's like "Who cares?" With some justification- spying on the Democrats surely is one of the Bush administration's least worst crimes.
Maybe the DLC is right. Maybe what the American people really want is a Republican. In which case, we're screwed no matter what we do. Me, I'm keeping hope alive.
Anyone else up for marching on Mordor?