I'm here to rap your knuckles.
> Main concerns for me are:
>
> 1) health care,
There is no guarantee that your vote for any of these candidates will help provide access to health care that many of us don't have or can't afford. The Democrats promised health care in 1992. Lots of progressives got excited about this promise and supported Bill Clinton. Look at the situation after 8 years of Clinton I. And if any of these people get elected, odds are that they would give us a state-run health care system that sucks. Yeah, I'd like something, which would be better than nothing, but I see no reason to vote. As an anarchist, it's better to support activism and direct action that at best could win a much better system and at worse provoke the system towards reforms.
> 2) anti-militaristic foreign policy,
Your best bet here is to not vote. None of the remaining candidates are anti-war or, more importantly, anti-military. Obama "opposes" the current war, but he proposes a chickenshit withdrawal. His rhetoric about going after Osama bin Laden suggests that he will support a vigorous foreign policy that will position the Democrats as being "tough on terrorism."
> 3) repealing the entanglement of religion & state that
> Bush has effected,
That shouldn't be too hard to do. Religious conservatives are very unhappy with Bush's track record in this area. The difficult part will be weaning liberal religious organizations off of the government dole.
> 4) strengthening Social Security and supporting,
> hopefully aiding, unions, OSHA, and enforcing NLRB
> decisions in a way that helps the working class,
You should know more than anybody else that the Democrats do nothing for unions. The Republicans suck too. What we need is the elimination of the NLRB, not some kind of backing by a new administration.
Which one of these candidates has a solid track record of backing the program of radical labor? Clinton is part of the system. McCain is pro-business. Obama is saturated with corporate money.
> 5) less likely to play into neo-liberal (much less
> neo-con) ideological free trade ideas,
None of these candidates are going to do anything to reel back the neoliberal program.
> 6) aggressively keeping Roe v. Wade intact.
This issue is the one used perennially by Democrats to scare progressive into supporting their crappy candidates. Yes, after 7 years of Bush II, Roe v. Wade is still intact. The biggest inroads against reproductive rights and women's health care were made under Clinton I.
I live with a pro-life family. They are very unhappy with Bush II.
You are suffering from a crisis of will. Don't do it! You'll feel better after the primaries.
Chuck0