> As a white, relatively well-off leftist who's denounced the Dems as
> an obstacle to human progress on many occasions, I have to wonder
> whether that attitude depends on my own privilege. As I recall, back
> in 2000, Rakesh quoted his wife as having no patience for Nader
> supporters because black people look at a Republican and see a
> Klansman's bedsheet, so they couldn't take the "not a dime's worth of
> difference" attitude.... Anyone
> doing political organizing, rather than mere opinionizing, would have
> to take that seriously, no?
It would be presumptuous of me to give any advice to political organizers. I've never done it and don't think I'd be any good at it. But whether you're an organizer or a mere opinionater, doesn't it matter was der Fall ist, as the man said -- what is the case?
American politics partakes so much of the nature of show business that these assessments of popularity seem very shallow and inconsequential to me. The Republican wears his Klan sheet with pride, while the Democrat keeps his (or hers) in the closet, except for special occasions like the Sister Souljah moment or the annual Ricky Ray Rector memorial vein hunt. The Republican is accurately seen to be leading the Klan gallop, while the Democrat tries, more or less successfully, to stay hidden behind the sheets of others. Naturally the Republican looks like the real ogre, and where the choice is presented as an either/or, the ogre doesn't stand a chance.