Voting 3rd Party and the future of the Democratic party. Dean has it right

[cheezus]

The way to move the democratic party in a progressive direction is to work within the party. I think Gov. Dean was correct in not running as 3rd party, and urging his supporters to back the democratic nominee instead of a third party candidate.

Protest votes and strikes won't move the party to the left. When the party loses those votes from the left, they move further to the right to pick up swing voters. This has the effect of moving the "center" to the right.

A grassroots organizion like Dean proposes is the best way to "send the party a message". The larger such organizations get, the louder the progressive voice will be, and the party will start to listen.

[cheezus]

1. hmm... no bites?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. I completely agree.

I hope Dean and Kucinich are talking as they are both committed to this and that is how synergy works.

[unfrigginreal]

3. Place the blame where it belongs

When the party loses those votes from the left, they move further to the right to pick up swing voters.

And what a brilliant strategy that has turned out to be. That is exactly why the Democratic Party must be changed. You state it as though the Party has no choice in the matter.

I've been voting straight line Democrat for many years now and it hasn't changed a frikken thing in the party. Maybe they'll start to wake up when folks like me decide we're enabling this move to the right by supporting any corporate suit that they put out there.

[Old and In the Way]

5. But you do agree with Dean, right? Stay engaged and change from

within.

The internet and, ironically, this administration has helped to energize and activate the progressive agenda of Democrats. I really believe that our politics will never be the same, we now have a real opportunity now to participate and drive the agenda from the bottom up.

And I think we have Howard to thank for showing how the internet can be leveraged as the most powerful political organizing tool that democratic politics has ever seen. Personally, I think he ought to take over the DNC and expand his ideas to build the Party of the future.

[JVS]

8. Staying engaged in this party and voting for another are not mutually ...

exclusive. In fact one could see it as a good cop/ bad cop routine.

[einniv]

4. And the party had better listen.

The progressive voice is already here. The progressive voice shaped the messages of this campaign season.
When John Kerry takes the oath of office he had better remember us. If he takes the office and governs from the middle, ignoring the progressive wing of the party, I predict the Democratic party will crumble. Protest votes will work just fine in building a new party to take its place.

On Edit: I feel compelled to add that I think there is a good chance John Kerry will listen.

[waldenx]

6. you don't 'send a message' by rewarding them

the Democratic party needs to be punished if they nominate Kerry.
If they move more to the right, the more they deserve to lose.

[library_max]

7. You're absolutely right.

Also, the more power the party develops, in the WH, Congress, and the judiciary, the more it can afford to listen, and the more it can do about what it hears.

[no name no slogan]

9. I like the Michael Moore approach

MM has a two-pronged approach to this:

1) Work within the Democratic Party to move it back to its liberal roots. Elect progressives to public office and also to leadership positions within the Democratic party ranks.

2) Work outside the party to create a viable progressive third-party alternative.

It sounds like a contradiction in terms, but sometimes #1 just isn't possible because of the entrenched "good ol' boys" network. At those times you have to take the #2 route, especially in local elections.

Either way, we progressives need to stick together and take back the party, no matter which candidate we've supported this year.

[Iverson]

10. theory, practice

Dean has the theory spot on. Regrettably, in practice it doesn't pan out. The corporate wing of the Democrats equates Kucinich with Rumsfeld, surely knowing that that's a sick joke. The New York Times declares Kucinich and Sharpton unfit for debates, and even on a progressive website they have broad agreement.

Working within the party assumes that centrists want something from the left other than mute votes. Without the perceived threat of the Green Party, there's no motivation even to pretend, and even so sometimes they still don't.

If Dean and friends do it their way, I say more power to them. But let's be honest about what really happens.

[arwalden]

11. Moving Further Center And Crossing The Center Line

"Protest votes and strikes won't move the party to the left. When the party loses those votes from the left, they move further to the right to pick up swing voters. This has the effect of moving the "center" to the right. "

Perhaps this crossing-the-centerline phenomenon can be attributed directly to the 2000 vote... and it's being exacerbated by the angry sanctimonious threats of 2004. It's a self-destructive and self-fulfilling prophecy.

-- Allen