Voting is what all citizens have the right to do (which is not just a right but a duty in some nations though not in the United States), and even if US voters cared little about political parties and candidates on ballots, there would be still many things they should be voting on -- from bond issues, school levies, initiatives, to state constitutional amendments -- about some of which I have posted here and elsewhere, e.g., Colorado's Amendment 36, California's Prop 62, initiatives for constitutional bans on same-sex marriage, civil union, domestic-partnership benefits, etc. in 11 states, etc.
By "getting involved in electoral politics," however, I meant getting involved in the business of production of electoral campaigns, from conception to execution, with a view to achieving specific results that your political party aims for to further social movements on the left, rather than simply voting (which is like consumption of available political products): organizing the core of a political party that serves as an electoral expression of social movements on the left, recruiting new activists to a political party, setting a political agenda, researching issues and constituencies, picking races, doing opposition research, mapping campaigns on electoral and movement fronts, using issue-based petitions and activities to build up mailing lists of potential volunteers and voters, selecting candidates, grooming candidates, fund-raising, producing campaign literature, collecting signatures for party ballot status, collecting signatures to put candidates on ballots, lining up endorsements for candidates, arranging for candidates' campaign appearances, generating media coverage, holding campaign rallies, setting up debates, using social/cultural activities (concerts, film showings, art exhibitions, house parties, etc.) to promote campaigns, designing ads, running ads, going door to door, phone-banking, chalking, providing transportation to voters, and so on -- doing all those things not simply to make your party's candidates win but more importantly to use the electoral campaigns to promote the goals of social movements out of which the party grows. Production of electoral campaigns takes a whole lot more time and money -- especially in the United States -- than what is often called "protest politics." So, it is a mode of politics that gives the rich a lot more advantage over the poor. -- Yoshie
* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/> * Greens for Nader: <http://greensfornader.net/> * Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * OSU-GESO: <http://www.osu-geso.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>