friends, voting is not what will bring about a more progressive nation.

[ulysses]

Now, before anyone gets their knickers in a twist, voting *is* important and a duty of citizenship, so go vote. I'm not saying we shouldn't vote. I'll even say this - there are indeed differences between Dem and Repuke, even when HRC is the Dem under discussion, so I don't think any progressive need feel badly about voting for Clinton in the general if it comes to that.

But it certainly isn't going to do much, at least in the forseeable future, to really change much of anything. I suspect it'll be more a matter of degree, particularly since "centrist" Dems and Repukes are making noise now about an independent run in which both sides can sing Kum Ba Yah and agree to set the status quo where we are right now, after eight years of lurching ever further to the right under Bush. Whoever wins will likely jump to reassure folks like Sam Nunn that they won't try to do anything too nuts...like institute genuine health care reform...

(You've noticed, of course, that the Nader-scolds haven't exactly been apoplectic over the idea of a centrist indie run. I'm still waiting for Eric Alterman to write his "Not One Vote for Bloomberg" article. But that's another thread...)

I keep saying this with some regularity, but I suspect that our energies might be better spent figuring out a way to organize with, and support, each other across issues - gays and teachers, labor and minority communities, peace activists and the poor, etc. Much as we might view the variety of issues about which many of us are interested as a weakness, issues (you know, why you got interested in politics in the first place) are our strength on the left. Might be that that kind of organizing could bear more fruit down the line than candidate advocacy now.

Just a thought...