Truer Words were Ne'er Spoke
Okay ... so ... they were written. Cribbed in it's entirety from Atrios:
As the season progresses and I read my 4 millionth "I CAN'T POSSIBLE VOTE FOR AND/OR SUPPORT CANDIDATE X" post/diary it's useful to remind us all that presidential politics is not a contest to woo your little narcissistic self, it's a contest to get 50%+1 of the electoral college votes.
And most people do little to "support" any of the candidates. Many do, of course, give money and time. But most don't. It takes away from all that time spent bitching about the world online.
That being said, you are free to stay home and not vote. You are free to withhold what time and money you may have otherwise been willing to give for a different candidate. But nobody gives a shit. It's not about you.
The notorious MarkT might wish to pay particular attention to paragraph 2 next time he goes off about his disdain for Democrats 'supporting' useless candidates who aren't *really* Democrats because they don't agree solely with him.
And one helluva lot of Republicans out there might want to remember how embarrassed they feel having screamed at the top of their lungs that they WILL NEVER VOTE FOR THAT AWFUL McCAIN!!! now that they're twisting in knots to justify their intent to vote for that awful McCain. As if anybody thought they would do any different than vote for whatever Republican got foisted on them in the first place. As if anybody but themselves truly gave a shit.
And that's really the problem. Bold and absolute pronouncements serve no one, (unless that one is God). I have attempted to remind some of my fellow Democrats of that fact as regards Senator Clinton. Some appeared to have listened. That's a good thing.
That's how I feel about the endorsements of late, by the higher-ups in the party - on either side. For me, it's about the substance of the candidate, not who is supporting them. Can't people think for themselves?
I wonder what all of those endorsers are going to do when their endorsee doesn't make it? At least half of them are going to be in that position. Then they have to backtrack and talk about how the ticket is the best candidate for the job? Lotta good that's gonna do.
Posted by: jhwygirl | February 08, 2008 at 05:57 PM
That's what Ralph Nadir and the soon to be third party of Rue Paul are for, those who swore they'd not vote for Hilary McCain.
"As god is my witness, I'll never vote stupid again". is usually only as good as the next hopeful mark on the ballot.
Posted by: dew-r-lite | February 09, 2008 at 10:11 AM
An example of what I'm talking about: McCain's latest endorsement.
It seems to me that people think its all about picking a winner - without any regard as to who is the best candidate.
Posted by: jhwygirl | February 09, 2008 at 10:25 AM
Here's the deal: Under Bill Clinton, we didn't get part of what we wanted, we weren't partially satisfied. He openly and actively worked against us. But he garnered support for the worst of policies becuase he was a Democrat - I just wrote about repeal of Glass Steagall . A Republican could not have gotten away with that.
With that as a backdrop, I invite you to scrutinize Democrat candidates closely with an eye not so much on winning for winning's sake. Instead, ask yourself if said candidate is really one who will work for our goals. It could be that by electing Hillary, for example, we do worse than treat water. We could go backwards. She could be a DINO.
Posted by: Mark Tokarski | February 10, 2008 at 08:56 AM
Note well: Bill Clinton was also planning to privatize Social Security , and was only stymied by the Monica affair.
I'm not a purist. I only want something and will not settle for nothing with a "D" behind it. Don't be so quick to stigmatize me.
Posted by: Mark Tokarski | February 10, 2008 at 09:02 AM
What's a voter to do? I find Obama to be a good speaker (though he really says little) and seems to be a genuine fellow, but his policies are too far left for me. Hillary is, well, Hillary. I wouldn't vote for her if you put hot irons to me. McCain is a guy I've never found to be likeable. He would fight terror, but I don't see him as very trustworthy. He'd spend money just like Bush has.
I think I lose in all three cases. There is nobody I would enthusiastically support. I'm tired of holding my nose in the voting booth!
Posted by: Rocky Smith | February 18, 2008 at 09:08 PM