How to play the game
Spent too long on twitter this morning venting my frustration with our crummy choices for November. I know holding your nose and enabling the Dems won't advance a liberal agenda. But giving up and giving it back to the GOPers surely won't advance it either and will in fact set it back to square one. Or worse.
Maybe I'll do a post about it after work tonight, but for the moment Atrios posts another in a long series of similar suggestions that the Democrats routinely ignore.
Which leaves me with my frustration. I want the DCCC to get a message. I want some Blue Dogs to lose. In fact, I want a lot of Blue Dogs to lose. But I'm sure I don't want the GOP to hold the gavel in either house of Congress. Fortunately, I have two good progressive candidates to vote for here. Worry about places that don't. Where do we draw the line without making it much worse?
Maybe I'll do a post about it after work tonight, but for the moment Atrios posts another in a long series of similar suggestions that the Democrats routinely ignore.
The Puppies And Apple Pie ActIt's so obvious that the Dems shouldn't need to be told. And of course, this is the root cause of the frustration on the left. Worse yet, DWT tells me the DCCC is promoting Blue Dogs and ignoring progressive candidates.
The sad thing is that Democrats are just really bad at playing this game. Find an idea that's simple, popular, and easy to sell. Spend six weeks talking about nothing else on the teevee. Then dare the Republicans to vote against it. If it doesn't pass, a few more people actually know that Republicans don't like puppies and apple pie. Wasting time trying to pass small things most people have no clue about is pointless.
Which leaves me with my frustration. I want the DCCC to get a message. I want some Blue Dogs to lose. In fact, I want a lot of Blue Dogs to lose. But I'm sure I don't want the GOP to hold the gavel in either house of Congress. Fortunately, I have two good progressive candidates to vote for here. Worry about places that don't. Where do we draw the line without making it much worse?
Labels: Election 2010
posted by Libby Spencer at 2:13 PM
3 Comments:
I'm beginning to be annoyed at the number of commenters at liberal sites who continually run down the admin, which may be less than perfect but it's waaaay better than the alternative, but that it doesn't crawl on all fours to the left is the theme of the week. Not a good plan. And quite possibly fatal. If we stay home here, Perry continues his tenther mantra.
Since they aren't even hiding anymore that we're just being played ("Vote for us kicking your grandpa, or those other guys are going to kick your grandma!"), I'm no longer going to vote for Dems or give them money. Going to give money to lobby groups I care about, and vote whatever-3rd party or "none of the above".
Just going along *isn't working*. And that just gets more and more obvious, all the time.
Ruth I understand the frustration and I share it. The tactic of punishing them by handing it back over to the GOPers just don't make sense to me. My pal Steve Hynd thinks the GOPers would only get two years majority and then never get one again. Me, I think they could, and would, do a whole lot of damage in those two years and the economy MIGHT improve in that time frame, in which case the GOPers would claim credit and the low-info crowd would buy it.
Anon, just going along isn't the strategy. Criticism is good and vote third party, but work your ass off to get enough others to join you to actually win or it's a vote for a GOPer this round. People who want a third party need to understand you can't just vote. You have to work full time, all year round to build one. Protest voting feels good but doesn't accomplish anything otherwise.
Post a Comment
<< Home