The Gooder Democrat: A Manifesto
We all want to be good Democrats, right? Well, I'm a very good Democrat so I think I can help. I'm not saying I'm the goodest Democrat, but I am gooder than most.
Let me give you some background. I became a man the day Alan the Horse Ameche took it in from one yard out to......
Hold on. That's someone else......
What I meant to say is: I have been a Good Democrat since 1978 when at five years old, I played the role of cute onlooker as my parents overturned what could only be called a Jim Crow law. The law was being used to keep my mother - who just so happened to be a woman oddly enough -from running for elected office in my town. (And, for the record, it was Democrats who were keeping her off the ballot, but we were good Democrats and won the day). Her case is fairly important. I discovered it in law school and still look it up from time to time. It goes through periods were it is cited a lot - often when Republican-dominated state legislatures start getting obnoxious with voting laws.
Since then, I have been a gooder Democrat. I vote. I support campaigns. I try to get to know my representatives. (My former Senator - a good Democrat - knew me my name at one point and talked about his son's college decision once. My alma mater was chosen). As a "good Democrat," I believe I have wisdom to share. So, I'm sharing it.
1. All politics is local. One of the goodest Democrats said that. If you really want to change the political process, you can't bitch about the president and you can't suddenly decide to support some insane candidate in a presidential primary. You need to be responsible for building the bench. If you live in a small town, run for local office. There is no one whose beliefs line up with you better than yourself. If you live in a larger town, get involved in choosing council members, mayors, etc. I currently live in Texas - a state that makes a lot of DUers throw up in their mouths. Yet, my congress person is Shelia Jackson Lee and my mayor is a Progressive Lesbian who just got married. I like to think that I live in a beach head.
2. Vote for the most liberal Democrat that can win. A Republican said something like that and I stole it. But it's a good idea. Shelia Jackson Lee can win my district. She cannot win a Senate seat here. This is not something that can be argued. Kos may think that replacing Democrats who agree with him on 60 percent of the issues with Republicans who agree with him on 0 percent of the issues is a good thing, but I do not. We are not in a parliamentary system and you cannot force change as a sizable minority. You need to win elections and hold a majority to govern, and even then, it is difficult. My current favorite Democrat is Elizabeth Warren. But she would not beat Ted Cruz in a state-wide election here. We need to use some strategy and develop some tolerance for those who will support a lot of our ideas but not all of our ideas.
3. It is easier to change the ideas of people who agree with you on a lot of things than the ideas of people who agree with you on nothing. In 1992, I was a Freshman in college. It was my first real exposure to LGBT people, let alone LGBT politics. And it was a little overwhelming. The campus LGBT group (and I'm vaguely aware that this acronym is now out of favor but I'm 40 and have kids and I can't keep up with this stuff) had what they called a "Gay Jeans" day. All you had to do was wear jeans to show support. I - a good Democrat then and now - wore Dockers. Today, I would slap that punk. But I evolved. And I was capable of evolving because I was a good Democrat. So, purity tests are destructive.
4. Just because someone is not passionate about your pet issues does not make them the enemy. People are busy and can only invest so much time in so much. My #1 issue at the moment is economic inequality. To me, the very fate of the nation is at stake if we don't start seeing a course correction on this issue. My #2 issue is healthcare reform. If your issue is the NSA, I'm mostly on your side (with maybe a few differences) but it is not an issue I am dedicating time to at the moment. I'm not a full-time activist. We need to accept a very basic economic fact: not everybody can do everything. Maybe if I work on mine and you work on yours, we could, like, build a better world or something.
5. Acting like an asshole just means that you are an asshole. I got news for you: you are not Bill Hicks. (I've got more news for you: If Bill Hicks were alive today, he would probably be making regular drunken calls to Alex Jones's show but that's for another post). You are not. You are not Hunter S. Thompson. You are not George Carlin. You are not the warrior poet leading the new revolution. If you so happen to become the warrior poet leading the new revolution, you can then become an asshole - and in the words of Crash Davis - the press will think you are colorful. Until that moment, you are a crank on a message board or blog and you aren't changing anything. Effecting change in politics means being political. Get some manners.
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