originally posted at Liberal Street Fighter
So, you say you want change, you voters in Connecticut? You think that you live in a DEMOCRACY, and that you should be able to influence the way you are represented in Washington? If your elected official works against your interests, do you Democrats actually believe you have a right to vote for a primary challenge without the national party working backroom deals to subvert your wishes?
Silly, silly voters! Boss Schumer is going to set you straight:
Schumer said the Dem primary voters want winners and are focused one electability. He couldn’t resist adding even “in 2008,” which pricked the ears of reporters who thought he was sending a message about the relative electability of Hillary Clinton. (He wasn’t, apparently.)
Schumer said that the DSCC “fully supports” Sen. Joe Lieberman in his primary bid, and he refused to rule out continuing that support if Lieberman were to run as an independent.
There were degrees of independence, Schumer said. “You can run as an independent, you can run as an independent Democrat who pledges to vote for Harry Reid as Majority Leader.”
Schumer said he had neither sought nor recieved assurances from Lieberman that an independent bid would not ensue if Ned Lamont tightened the noose.
Is it sinking in yet?
As Senator “Holy Joe” Lieberman continues to threaten to run as an independent, one has to wonder when leftists will get it. For years the center-right Vichy Dempublicans have bullied and threatened leftists who try to mount primary challenges, or vote third parties, yet here we are, with one of them whispering that he’ll do just that unless you re-annoit him to his apparent seat-for-life in the US Senate. “Look at what happened to McGovern,” they sneer, glossing over the fact that the right wing of the party refused to support the winner of the primaries and thus the party’s chosen nominee. “Nader is to blame for Bush in 2000,” they whine, refusing to accept any responsibility for a party unwilling to take chances, unwilling to protect the suffrage of the African American citizens in Florida, unwilling to actually work for the voters and not for the corporations leaning on them through an entrenched cadre of hack consultants. They will do EVERYTHING, including throwing races to the Republicans, to maintain the grip of the center-right pro-corporate cadre that has been destroying everything that this party claimed to stand for.
Do you GET it yet?
As J.S. Paine over on “Stop Me Before I Vote Again” puts it:
But at any rate, since the cutting edge of pressure is threat threat threat, the more credible the threat, the better. And consequently, the higher the chance respect will turn into substantive accommodation.
Now as for influence, which comes from money and volunteer time — nobody reading this, I’m sure, has enough money to make much of an impact — not even all of us put together. So it comes down to our time and energy.
Just as the withheld vote is ambiguous, the withheld effort is ambiguous. If you really want ’em to miss you, you have to let ’em know what they’re missing, by putting it elsewhere — referenda, independent runs, activism outside the electoral arena… lots of possibilities.
Do you GET it liberals, progressives, lefties? Back Lamont, don’t give into their threats, and repay them on other ballot lines. Work for third parties. If, as has happened in Virginia and Pennsylvania, you get stuck with some troglodyte “former” Republican who shares NONE of your values but just loves him some corporate cash and an increasingly militarized culture, DON’T work for him. DON’T support him. Find a third party candidate who does share your values. Find a local school board race to work for … something. This will take time, and it could very well lead to another win or two for the Republicans. So what? “Bi-partisan” hacks like Lieberman and Clinton and Schumer help to lock in the increasingly feral nature of our current social climate. In fact, in many ways they are worse than the Republicans, as their seat of the table requires them to pretend to give a shit about liberal values, at least when it comes to writing up fundraising emails. You can thank them for passing NAFTA, for confirming Clarence Thomas, for crossing the aisle to vote for CAFTA and Bankruptcy “reform” and so many other betrayals of the average working American. You can thank them for the Defense of Marriage Act, for the sad, banana-republic-like state of our elections, for our ridiculously huge prison/industrial system and our obscenely bloated military/industrial complex.
Both parties have helped create an America that is a modern mirror of warlike Sparta, a state where the police have powers akin to those of avowed dictatorships. Both parties have worked hard for years, through the “wars” on drugs and terrorism, to utterly shred the Bill of Rights. Do you REALLY think the Democrats are going to help reverse this nightmare as they increasingly recruit the likes of Webb and Casey, and continue to protect and promote the likes of Lieberman?
Do you GET it yet?
