- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
After reading so many letters and seeing so much rancor within the Democratic party, I'm starting to have genuine fears for what will happen in the general election. I am especially disturbed by some of the comments made by Obama supporters that they will under if she wins the nomination. Some said that they would vote for McCain (if he's the Republican candidate), others will sit the election out. I just need to ask any of them if they learned a single thing from the past eight years under Bush.
The results of elections are not just about making a point with your vote - there are real life, painful consequences. I know a lot of people who voted for Nader because they wanted to send "a message" about the two party system. They didn't see Al Gore as being any different from Bush and knew that even though Nader would certainly not win the election, and that Bush would very likely win, they case their votes for Nader. What resulted was a needless war, the decemating of our economic security, the Supreme Court tilted now heavily to the right, a setback of years in getting a handle on our environmental issues, the assault on our civil liberties... the list seems painfully endless.
The point that I'm trying to make is that there can be huge consequences to voting for an "ideal" when there is no chance for that that candidate can win. Nader supporters were all too quick to discount the differences between Bush and Gore, but we certainly know better now. And make no mistake in thinking that the Republicans, for all their bickering right now, will not fall right into line behind whatever candidate squeeks out a victory in the primaries. And don't fool yourself into thinking that selecting Obama will render the Democrats immune from the Republican slime machine. Don't forget how they were able to make Gore look look like a sanctamonious egghead against the more congenial Bush, or how they managed to turn support away from a genuine war hero (Kerry) in favor of a draft dodger who never finished his time in the reserves. No matter who the Democrats pick, the right-wing machine will be read and waiting to chew them up and spit them out.
However difficult and sometime ugly the primary process becomes, it's critical for those who believe in the basic ideals of the Democratic party to come together after our candidate is selected and support them every step of the way. Because while a few religious conservatives might stay home if their candidate isn't "ideal" the rest will surely come out against whoever the Democrats put into the fight. Unless we want another four years of Republican incompetance in the White House, we need to stop acting like a bunch of school kids and vote with our heads and much as our hearts. Otherwise we might as well just hand them the keys to the White House and give up now.
