General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Look further than your own desire to get a left wing progressive in the White House [View all]Martin Eden
(12,847 posts)On that we agree.
I think we can also agree it's vitally important to vote for the Democratic nominee in Nov 2016, no matter who it is. What percentage of DUers who don't like Hillary will withhold their vote in the general election? I strongly suspect that number is much lower than the number who have been highly critical of her. I will not support HC in the primary, but I will definitely vote for the Dem nominee in the general election.
What really bothers me is the mindset that no one else on the Left can challenge her. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy and the product of mass media talking heads who dispense this conventional wisdom. The discussion comes down to WHO ELSE IS THERE.
The discussion is about WHO instead of WHAT. The national dialogue is about well known faces and the horse race of politics instead of the critically important issues that desperately need practical solutions. This election, and every election should be, first and foremost, about IDEAS and POLICY.
I don't think I'm telling you anything you don't already know. I will also tell you I'm a realist who understands the chances of our national dialogue gaining a large measure of sanity between now and Nov 2016 is next to zero. But there's another reality we need to consider: Until we change the status quo and the course of our country, all the things we care so deeply about will not come to pass.
Also for your consideration:
Nearly two thirds of eligible voters did not vote in the mid term elections, and a number that large can't be explained by voter suppression. Compare that with the turnout that brought Barack Obama to the White House. I understand turnout is always greater in a presidential election, but there was more at work than that. There was a surge in votes among young people and others because they really felt they had something to vote FOR.
The American people (even clueless Teapartiers) have the sense that our our country and our government are really messed up. The TPers have been manipulated into voting against their own interests, but they go to the polls. The only way to counteract that is find leaders who inspire greater numbers who have a better grasp of the reality of our situation to go to the polls.
Is Hillary Clinton that leader?
I think not, and I'm not alone among well informed politically active voters.
Let's not set our sights too low, or we'll never see real progress.