[lbo-talk] Moore/Clark: The Bigger ?

nathanne at nathannewman.org nathanne at nathannewman.org
Sun Oct 19 13:29:11 PDT 2003



> Doug Henwood wrote:
>> Not in the same way. When a Dem is in power, radicals of all stripes
>> are more susceptible to the argument that things are structurally
>> fucked up.
>
> This is, I think, true. What its implications are for the practice of
> left activists and orgaizers is, however, a separate question. (One can,
> passively, hope for a DP victory just as one hopes for good weather when
> planning a picnic -- but that is all that is obvious.)

If by all the potential picnickers could do something to improve the chances of good weather -- say pull a particular lever every two years-- one would expect those who enjoy picnics to strongly urge everyone to pull that lever.

It's this passivity on electoral politics that has always seemed so odd on these debates. I understand the "worse the better" third party advocates and I understand the "don't vote, it just encourages them" anarchists like Chuck, but this larger swath of anti-Democratic advocates who actually want the Democrats to win has always been bizarre to me.

I kind of understand the theory-- they think the masses will be confused by "critical support" statements that identify leftists with "capitalist parties", so they want a strong rhetorical position even as they hope the masses ignore them on election day. The cynicism is large but I just think it tactically sells most people short.

Most voters can understand that voting is about limited choices, so advocating the best of results is not a fatal ideological compromise-- it's just a pragmatic issue. Like suggesting people bring an umbrella. Umbrellas don't mean you are against sunshine-- it just means that you need to make pragmatic choices sometimes.

-- Nathan Newman



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