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