> I've observed a good deal of attacks on Greens and other independents
> from the self-identified ABB quarters on LBO-talk and elsewhere (not
> all ABBers do this -- for instance, you and Justin haven't done
> anything of the sort). One of the main arguments of the
> self-identified ABB is that four more years of Bush will be not
> business as usual but an emergency deserving of an emergency response
> (akin to the Popular Front against fascism) from all non-Republicans,
> even from non-Democrats and anti-Democrats. So, I'm asking a
> question: do the ABBers really think of Bush re-election as an
> emergency? The answer is that they don't -- they merely use the
> rhetoric of emergency as a scare tactic, trying to intimidate or
> guilt-trip Greens and other independents into backing _any_ Democrat.
>
> If the ABB really believed what they said, they should have Plan B.
You're right--ABB should have a Plan B. They don't because ABB's organizational base is the Democratic party. Individual people with ABB sentiments may have plans, and your question has made me think about what mine should be, but there's no organization through which it could all be coordinated.
Agree w/you regarding the attacks on independents, Greens, etc., from hard-core Dem partisans. I was a member of a for-pay on-line community (God, never again!) and was disgusted by the level of hostility the Dem faithful (among them a very self-satisfied writer for Rolling Stone who fancied himself a cultural critic) had towards the Greens and leftists there. And yes, they did hate them more than the Repubs.
Question: who do you think would provide the most/least favorable environment for organizing? Seems to me that Bush would be worst, then Lieberman, but I don't know how to rank them after that.
Curtiss