For some time I have lost interest in supporting the
Democrats. For years I had worked for various Democratic politicians and “wanna
be” politicians running for office. But as time has passed, it seems the
Democrats have moved closer to the right and what little political left we have
in this country it is disappearing.
Most of the Maoist political organizations
that I work with feel the Democrats are just a faction of the Bourgeoisie. They
do nothing for the benefit of the working class and the poor. They also argue
against voting because it encourages people to give consent to the ruling
classes.
There is some truth to the Maoist arguments, but as usual
such issues are not black and white. The Democrats have supported reforms for
the benefit of poor or working class people in the past. That does not help a
group of revolutionaries who want to overthrow all aspects of the system.
In recent years the Democrats have both moved to the right
and they have failed to put up a serious fight for their positions. They seem
afraid to challenge the Republican arguments.
Greg Orman, running for Pat Robert’s position in the Senate,
is an example of people supporting a rebellion against the
two-party system. He has refused to identify with either party, even
though Republicans want the voters to believe that he is really a Democrat.
They also want to paint him as a liberal, which they believe is a dirty word to
most Kansans.
Most of the Democrat’s arguments seem to imply “we believe
that also, but we have a different solution to that problem.” An example of
that is that Democrats in both Kansas and Oklahoma have dropped their support
for labour unions. Union members in those states and others no longer have an ally
in either party to defend them.
One argument I have is that the Democrats run candidates but
put no money or effort into actually getting their candidates elected. A
similar argument was made by Bill Jenkins, of F5:
Below the top
of the ticket (Paul Davis), however, we Democrats are screwing the
pooch. Consider, for instance, the Attorney General race (if, in fact, one does
exist.) Republican incumbent Derek Schmidt is actively trying to prevent
federal court rulings allowing same-sex marriage from being permitted in the
issuance of marriage licenses in Kansas.
For that and
other reasons, it should not be hard to run against Schmidt. But is anyone
actually running against Schmidt? I'm sure that there will be a name on the
ballot in the Democratic column, but it is almost a secret at this point. In an
election where name recognition is crucial, the Democrats seem to be keeping
their candidate under wraps….
…The Democrats
have nominated Jean Schodorf. Jean is a nice woman and a good public servant
who promises to cut out the headline grabbing crusading and run the office
efficiently. She would be a good alternative to Kris Kobach (is his middle
initial K as well?). Laying aside the argument that she is really a life long
Republican, her campaign and that of the Democrats who support her seems to be
terribly underfunded. Where are the yard signs, the TV commercials? Even a
sitting duck remains seated if no serious effort
is made to unseat him.
I noticed the same thing about the
Mike Pompeo and Perry Schuckman race. The Democrats have put almost nothing
in to support Schuckman. I haven’t seen Schuckman on TV or on signs along the roadway.
What is the point of putting up such candidates if the party won’t actually
support them?
I haven’t entirely sworn off supporting individual
Democratic candidates. I supported Raj Goyle
when he ran against Pompeo for the US House of Representatives. Goyle raised
good issues and ran a hard hitting campaign. I have been supporting Davis
against Governor Sam Brownback since Brownback has personally messed with my
career as a teacher. When a politician helps wreck someone's career they have to vote
against them.
So for the most part I don’t support voting Democrat.
Most never say anything about poor people or the working class. They only talk of
helping the middle-class, just as the Republicans do.
And I vote when it makes sense to do it. Sometimes the “lesser
of two evils” is worth it to stop those who are truly evil—and many politicians
are “truly evil.”
-សតិវ អតុ
Senator Roberts: “He’s
a liberal…A LIBERALLL…A LEEEEBERAL” -Pix from www.huffingtonpost.com
No comments:
Post a Comment