On Fri, 30 Jun 2000, Eric Beck wrote:
> >But given the major
> >differences between the prospective Democratic and Republican nominees,
> >there is no driving logic for a third-party candidacy this year, and the
> >public deserves to see the major party candidates compete on an uncluttered
> >playing field.
>
> Nathan, did you write this?
No, since the elite desire for an "uncluttered" playing field has the simialr condescending attitude towards the public that most third party people have when they worry about people being "deluded" into supporting Democrats.
But the usual tarring of my argument as being a corporate sell-out is why I have increasingly moved from being agnostic to third party efforts to being hostile. Back in 1992 I was appointed to the Berkeley labor commission by Donna Spring, one of the first City Counil people elected as a Green Party representative. I voted for the Green candidate against Dianne Feinstein in 1994. And I have worked continually over the years with third party advocates for local politics efforts.
But the problem with most third party advocates, at least the intellectuals (actual organizers are displomatic), are personally and politically abusive against those who disagree with their strategy. And they extend their abuse to union and other progressive leaders who for their own strategic reasons choose to support Democrats over guaranteed losses on a third party line.
There is an intellectual intolerance as if every progressive supporting a Democrat is either an idiot or a corporate sell-out. Instead of just dealing with the fact that there are strategic arguments for both third party strategies and supporting Dems, with pluses and minuses on each side, folks substitute abuse and caricature for reasoned argument.
I've supported third party efforts and thought deeply about it, since many of my friends have been some of the most committed and sophistcated third party organizers int he country. And I respect their work and strategy, even if over time, I was not convinced that it was the right direction.
Hey, I know in politics it's always fun to play the purer-than-thou role, but it's a loser strategy. It's the kind of sectarianism that does your position little good and just creates hostility where ambivalence existed before.
-- Nathan Newman