Staying put

[madamesilverspurs]

Last edited Thu Jul 14, 2016, 04:53 AM - Edit history (1)

One of my Facebook friends, a former candidate whose campaign I worked hard for, has chosen to leave the Democratic party. He remains an ardent Bernie supporter who, in the waning days of the Sanders campaign, became increasingly angry and bitter. His decision is supported, unsurprisingly, by some who share his disappointment, while others are sad to see him go but have no intention of joining him. My own brief “you will be missed” was met with immediate derision by one of his fellow departees.

After taking a bit of time to think about it, I decided to give a longer response to his original post; he’d taken care to explain his decision, I felt he deserved a more thoughtful response from me. Here it is:

Deciding that I had no affinity for any organization that places people at the bottom of the priorities list, I left the Republican party many years ago. It was no longer the party I was raised in by parents who were active and committed; in some respects the parting was quite painful, but change often has that marker. Since joining the Democratic party, I have come to a fuller appreciation of the many facets of the human race. Whereas my former party operated in a top-down obedience driven manner, I’ve grown to truly love the bottom-up purpose driven manner of the Democrats.

We are a rambunctious bunch, often fractious. But if there’s a human need that must be addressed the likelihood of meaningful action increases exponentially on the Democratic side of the aisle EVERY TIME. There’s no such thing as the “perfect party” because there’s no such thing as “perfect people”, and if I’m demanding the “perfect candidate” I’m clearly barking up the wrong species. Heck, I’ve now been tossed under so many buses that it’s hard to remember which one’s underside I’m speaking from. The point is that, as a Democrat, my voice has a much greater chance of being heard; it’s often disagreed with, but that’s called conversation. So, I’m serving notice to the Democratic party that it’s stuck with me. Guess they’ll just have to deal with it.







.

[bluedye33139]

1. Coalition

Thanks for this. Myself i believe in coalition politics, and my life does not have the luxury of allowing me to only hang around with people who perfectly mirror my ideals. I envy people with that much control over the universe.

[babylonsister]

2. Rec'd. It pays to explain yourself

(and so eloquently!). We're stuck on you!

[padfun]

3. I am glad you said this

I too, believe you cant get all you want, and the world is probably better off that way. Especially since nobody is a total match with someone else, or rarely so.

I also believe that change comes slow. Bernie did a lot better than I imagined he would when he started. We don't want to lose that now, which will happen if Trump wins. The Dems have already made a lot of progress in just the last few months, and will continue to do so if they win this year, especially if we win the Senate and make large gains, if not win the House outright.

So it is time to get behind who you want to win, and my choice is also with the Democrats.

[SCantiGOP]

4. Add a rec

Well-said.

[Wounded Bear]

5. Well said...

As an older gent, I have come up many times against that old truism immortalized by the Rolling Stones in song so many years ago...."You Can't Always Get What You Want."

I get enough accusations of "ideologue" from righties on boards I hang on, I don't need that around here. I've always considered myself a center-left moderate. The Repubs have been careening so far to the right over the years, that their supporters look at me and scream leftie/commie/socialist...whatever leftie insult they care to toss out. I've learned to more or less ignore it.

As for Bernie, he did the Dem party, and the country a huuuugggeeee service by running, and by staying in so long. I've long felt that the country has needed a solid lurch to the left just to get back to the centrist country we mostly were up until the Reagan "Revolution" started with their identiy politics and theological movements. A pox on the Repub party.

I know we need a solid center-right party in this country for long term stability. We don't need any more drift to the right. It's past time for the pendulum to swing back. I do think that Bernie supporters that pull the stay home or go 3rd party cards disappointing, but it is their choice. I suspect most of them will pull the lever for Hillary come November, and hopefully for some Dem down ticket seats, too.

[fleabiscuit]

6. K&R

[calimary]

7. What a terrific post!!!

DAYUM, madame! Eloquent as all-get-out! What a wonderful piece. You just kept hitting bull's eyes, sentence after sentence. Delicious to read!

[Surya Gayatri]

8. Massive K & R. Thanks for posting. So spot on.

[LWolf]

9. Irony

I'm not sure if you recognize the irony in your explanation, specifically this: Whereas my former party operated in a top-down obedience driven manner...

The political revolution, the passion of Sanders supporters, is rooted, in part, by the reality of the Democratic Party and it's top-down, obedience driven manner.

For example, the demands that people shut up, get in line, and vote for Democrats regardless of the particular Democrat's position on issues, level of corruption, or likelihood of stabbing voters in the back once in office. We are hammered with this exact thing from partisan bullies every presidential election.

One of the beautiful things about the masses of people supporting Sanders is that they are not a monolith, they don't march in lock step. Sanders galvanized people from all walks of life. They won't all respond in the same way. And, in reality, it's not about him. Many of us have been sick of the neo-liberal takeover of the party and disenfranchising of the left wing of the party for decades. It's a Clinton legacy that many simply cannot stomach any more.

I understand. I understand staying to work from the inside, and I understand those that see working from within as simply enabling more neoliberal atrocity.

The reality is, that if you are a member of the Democratic Party and you are not a neo-liberal, the only time or place you'll be missed by the party is at the ballot box.