06/17/2002 Archived Entry: "French Elections, postscript"

Taken from the North Coast Times Eagle, a longtime local publication that's not online, but should be, this was a letter sent in to the NCTE from a former resident living now in Hawaii.

ELECTION ACTUALITIES

Actuality remains that "progressives" or whatever fail to vote in massive numbers thereby turning the system over to those who do vote while whining and whinging and wailing as well as raving, ranting and raging (mea culpa) -- all most impotently. As long as the W thinkers vote, we will have a succession of Ws. Until those who think otherwise vote, they remain politically impotent no matter what. Free speech includes freedom to ignore.
Getting people to register has been a very big effort of many factions for many years. Statistics reveal again and again that people who might be called Conservative or Right Wing or Republican register and vote. People who might be called Progressive, Left Wing, Moderate even, much less Democratic or Green or Libertarian may register but whether they vote is questionable. All of which is particularly actual in terms of people who may also be grouped in lower quintile socio-economic classifications. Poor people are the worst and most apathetic voters. Followed closely by protesters and activists of the more radical persuasions.
Politicians know all this in great detail and pay attention almost exclusively to 1) those who contribute to their campaigns either with money or effort and 2) those who vote for them as tracked by polling station statistics. The people you nay not like who have taken over the system did so by learning the mechanic of the system -- especially party organization and candidate selection processes. Study voter statistics and learn a lot about your area. All parties have voluminous information on voting patterns, analytical methodologies, etc.
~MILO G. CLARK

That's Milo, just pointing out the facts of the matter. Defeatists. The, "it's gotta get worst before it gets better" crowd. It all reminds me of reading Nietzsche description of transformation into and away from nihilism... and so many are stuck, halfway-- The camel in the desert, having left the scene of the action, the left wanders, aimlessly looking for... something. Something tangible, something spiritual, who knows, but it's defintely not political, right! The scant attention the left gets are those few lions who have remained in the arena --ripping to shreds the lemmings and the laggards-- like Carville, Buzzflash, MWO, and Begala. For the most part, their audience isn't watching, isn't listening, and sure ain't voting. And even fewer are these, the laughing child --coming back in from the journey into the wasteland-- who know that politics and voting is the essence of our community participation. Of course, so is the right not to as well, which is the essence of isolate ignorance. That's not in the pejorative sense either that I mean this, just the matter of fact.

Replies: 2 comments

I don't share the pessimism about the fate of the "left" in American politics. The political base is still there, and demographically, growing. Remember, the combined Nader and Gore vote totals in 2000 were well over 50%. Gore simply blew what should have been a relatively easy win.

In my mind, the problem is a lack of leadership. The Democratic party has become a mere shell, serving essentially as an echo for Bush on civil liberties infringements and on the widening war. Fortunately the Greens offer progressives an alternative, although the increasingly corporate media doesn't want to go beyond the GOP/Dem dichotomy. The growth of the Greens, therefore, must be grassroots.

I expect that Bush will stumble badly by 2004. Whether the American "left" will be able to capitalize on his errors and ineptitude is still an open question. Considering the failure of Daschle, Gephardt, etc. to offer an alternative vision I expect that Nader may once again fill the void.

Posted by Eric Karnes @ 06/17/2002 01:52 PM PST

The "pessimism" felt in this post dealt mainly with the recent French elections, and the American election of 2000. Nader may have indeed filled a "void" for that election, and could will do so again in 2004 (though I doubt it).

However, it's a void that has no real substance. It's similar to the ultra-conservatives pushing through their Simon's and Schundler's in their primary wins, they are good for nothing-- except for giving the election to someone else.

That said, I think you are correct about the Democratic base growing. And it's doing so at a time when the Republican base is shrinking. This means there is a place at the table for the left, either in the Green pary, pushing the agenda; or in a big tent Democratic party.

2004, who knows. The problem with Daschle & Gephardt is that they do not reflect the Democratic majority as it is forming. Gephardt has totally lost his compass (which might be a good thing for winning back the House), and Daschle is not a 'big picture' kind of leader(he's damn good at what he does though, which is driving the agenda). I think Dean has the stuff, we'll see if he can cause a political earthquake in 2004.

Posted by myDD @ 06/19/2002 09:25 PM PST