Picking up your ball and going home.

[smoogatz]

I guess it's inevitable—a candidate drops out and some small number of true believers declare their interest in electoral politics dead forever, inform us that they're voting "none of the above" in the GE, and, flaring their nostrils, storm from the virtual room, leaving an awkward silence and the faint smell of "WTF was that all about" in their wakes. It's normal. It's fine. Maybe it won't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Still, I find it somewhat incomprehensible, given what we're up against, given the disaster visited upon the country by the Republican nitwits who've been running it into the ground the last seven years.

Back in 2000 when Gore was running against Bush, I went around telling people it was one set of corporate-backed douchebags against another, and as far as the rubber-meets-the-road issues went, it was hard to see a RCH-worth of difference between them. I was leaning Nader, but because I lived in Georgia then I didn't even vote: I figured whichever way I went—Green or Dem—my minority vote would just disappear into the big, ugly Republican electoral turd the state of Georgia was sure to pinch off.

What an idiot I was. It did matter (though my particular vote still wouldn't have counted), Gore would have been a great president, and had he been allowed to take the office he was elected to we'd obviously be in a hell of a lot better shape than we are now. I could be wrong (God knows—look at my track record), but my instinct is to tell all the DUers currently posting pissy little diatribes about how the corporatists-have-won-and-none-of-the-other-candidates-give-a-shit-about-us-so-fuck-the-whole-business that they don't know what they're talking about, that Obama (my choice, for now) and even the Clintons are far better choices than bathsit-crazy, bomb-bomb-bomb McCain, who appears to be poised to win the Republican nom. Far. Better. Lookat what the Republicans have done to us, to our Constitution, to the environment, to the food supply for Christ's sake, to our standing in the world, to the treasury, to our national security, to the dead and wounded from 9/11 to this afternoon in Afghanistan and Iraq. You want more war crimes, more crippling debt, more global warming, more of the same shit, different fucking wingnut? By all means, sit out the rest of the election.

I know it smarts. It's disappointing. It sucks. Blame the media. Blame the corporations. Blame the dumbass voters for not being smart enough to see what a great guy Edwards really is. Turn off CNN for awhile. Take a break from DU. Have a drink or two, sing a chorus of "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye." Give it a few days. Then, please, for all our sakes—get over it. We need you and your passion and your commitment to fixing all the incredibly fundamental stuff the Bush/Cheney criminal cabal have fucked up, which is pretty much everything. I'm pretty sure the rest of us can't do it without you.

[Shakespeare]

1. While I understand your point....

...it would probably be better stated a day or two from now. Let people mourn, let them vent. Let them blow off steam, and take it with a grain of salt.

Save the lecture for later--some of us are really hurting today.

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. My interest in electoral politics is definitely not "dead forever"

But since I no longer have a donkey in the race, why should I continue running around the track? I will go hang out at the refreshment stand until this race (primary/caucus season) is over and see who moves on to the next heat.

Why should I do otherwise?

[smoogatz]

3. Perfectly reasonable.

I felt the same way when Gore didn't jump in. All I ask is that we not declare the Democratic party DOA just yet.

[NanceGreggs]

4. Well said! K&R

[smoogatz]

6. Means a lot, coming from you.

Thanks.

[bluestateguy]

5. We have some crybabies in our ranks

No mincing words. And we have a lot of selfish, "me,me, me" single-issue voters too. This has always annoyed me about the Democratic party: that it often appears to be the party of "groups", rather than America.

In 19092 I supported Tom Harkin for president; in 2004, I was for Wesley Clark; I was for Edwards in this cycle and I now support Obama. Never have I picked up my ball and gone home when my primary candidate lost, and I will not do so this year.

[solara]

7. Thank you for saying this so very well.

I am so sad, so disheartened- but I know how I would feel if, on a crisp morning next November, I awoke to the horrifying realization that somehow another Republican had been elected for 4 possibly 8 more years. I simply could not live with that . I really could not. So I will get my head and heart together soon and throw myself once more into the fray.

Thank you



INVESTIGATE IMPEACH INDICT IMPRECATE INCARCERATE :patriot:

[smoogatz]

10. Good on you.

Thank YOU.

[fuzzy otter pop]

8. so you picked another loser and you need my help?

f-that,

last time kerry was the 'electable' one, i help even though i knew he sucked.

not this time people,

you lose on your own

i will stick to congress this general E.

[Birthmark]

9. That's one way of looking at it.

Here's another:

The way I see it the bus that is America has careened off the road and is now headed straight for a cliff. The driver wouldn't listen despite numerous warnings. The driver wouldn't change course or step on the brakes. And it now looks as if the bus is going over the cliff.

In that situation, some may bravely stay with the bus and try to save everyone. That might even work. Who knows. At this speed it's difficult to see everything. Perhaps there's a rock or other obstruction that, combined with the brakes and perhaps a good yank of the wheel, will stop the bus in the nick of time. If that's what happens, good on all of y'all that stayed on that bus and got it stopped. You'll deserve my respect and admiration.

However, there are also those of us who are looking for a soft spot along the road, so we can jump out with relative safety. That is what I have decided to do. And not just for personal reasons. (Like any rider, I have other obligations in life...which is why I was on the bus to begin with. I wanted to improve the bus for everyone.) I'm also jumping out because I believe that I might be of some use after the inevitable (from my perspective) crash. I'll mourn the fatalities and I'll help the survivors.

It's a rather more somber task and is liable to be misconstrued by superficial analysis.