W.J. Astore
Here we go again
A friend of mine is calling out his progressive friends for saying they’ll vote third party in the 2024 presidential election. Basically, his argument is this. We know Biden isn’t perfect. He leaves much to be desired, notably in obvious signs of his mental and physical decline. But we also know Trump is a monster. And, since Trump and Biden are currently running neck and neck, at least in the polls, your only real “choice” is to vote for Joe against the monster.
In sum, a vote for a third-party candidate of deep integrity and strong character like Cornel West is really a vote for Monster Trump.
As I told my friend, telling people they’re making a big mistake by voting for a candidate like Cornel West is not the most effective way to win their hearts and minds. Telling them they’re throwing away their vote or that they’re really voting for Trump is hardly persuasive. In fact, it’s alienating and insulting.
If Joe Biden and the DNC want to win my vote, I want to see promises kept, progressive policies enacted, and corruption stymied and reversed. I want to see concrete results. I want changes in policy. I don’t want what Biden promised CEOs when he decided to run in 2020: that “nothing will fundamentally change.”
On so many issues, Biden has reneged on promises or otherwise failed to deliver for the working classes. He’s not a pro-union president. He hasn’t raised the federal minimum wage. He’s failed to deliver on student debt relief. There is no public optionfor health care. He’s approved oil and gas drilling in the most sensitive areas. Meanwhile, military budgets continue to soar as the Biden administration postures for a new Cold War with Russia and China. And I’m simply supposed to ignore this woeful record and vote for Joe because Trump is allegedly worse.
My friends tell me I expect too much from Biden and the Democrats. That they’re hamstrung by the Republicans. That Joe is doing the best he can. That I need to give Joe more chances. And so on.
But Joe Biden and the Democrats couldn’t even protect abortion rights. Barack Obama promised to codify Roe vs. Wade into law as his “top priority” but then abandoned his promise once he took office in 2009. Biden, of course, was his VP and has a long record of being critical of abortion rights. Again, however, we are told that Biden is the best hope for restoring rights that he’s never been keen on supporting, let alone protecting and extending.
If Biden loses in 2024, let’s be clear. It won’t be because some progressives voted third party. And it won’t be because of Putin or Russia or rigged voting machines or what-have-you. It will be because Biden simply couldn’t win enough votes in the right places. Because not enough voters believed in him. That’s not on people like me. That’s on Biden and the DNC.
Bracing Views 
Well said Sir, and thank you.
LikeLike
When did voting in America change from: “Voting for someone you hope will make your life better” to “Voting for someone you hope–a sliver of hope–will not make your life shittier”? That is a definite sign of a country in twilight while its inhabitants have neither idea nor power to reverse the downfall.
I fully understand the argument about damage reduction. But anyone making that argument should also understand that they are not even supporting half-measures. They just want a slower decline, slow enough that their lives are not immediately affected. But theirs will be affected regardless, because the leadership is not sincere at fixing the problem.
The more self-aware of the bunch see through the above and say: “It will give us enough time to do something by ourselves”. Well, if I follow your advice, I expect you to take up your end of the bargain. Where are you when the workers go on strike, when the activists barricade houses to keep the inhabitants from being evicted, when the volunteers use their bodies to shield the homeless from cops. If you can’t even show up to these things, then you are just all talk and no walk, and politic boils down to a spectacle to you.
LikeLike
THANK YOU
LikeLike
I plan on voting against Biden in both the primary and the general election. He is vile!!
LikeLike
I will not vote for anyone who supports the war in Ukraine. Period. I would also prefer a steep reduction in military spending. For me, other issues, though important, pale in comparison to these.
LikeLike