by Glenn Ryan
Glenn Ryan is a progressive activist who believes the Democratic Party is irreparably compromised. He is a member of the PDR Posse, and I asked him to cogently prepare his point of view. Progressives must listen, merge great ideas, and work together, differences and all, as their cause, irrespective of approach, is attempting to get to the correct place.
I am unsure how to approach this so I will dive right in. In my ongoing discussion with Egberto Willies and those who, like him, feel voting for Democratic candidates is the only way to approach elections, we disagree on the effectiveness of voting for mainstream (neoliberal) candidates. Egberto often invokes the idea that voting for neo-liberals is a result of critical thinking, and it does the least harm. I couldn’t disagree more, and the current condition we find ourselves in is proof positive that voting for mainstream Democrats has landed us right here, with a wannabe dictator in the White House. Trump has filled a vacuum created by a disconnected Democratic Party apparatus that is nothing more than Republican lite and is only separated by their degree of corruption.
I will offer a few examples to make the point. Clinton abandoned the roots of the Democratic Party when he alienated the labor movement during his run for president and branded himself as a “different kind of Democrat”. He failed to mention that he was more inclined to align with big business over the working class and refuted class warfare, which, in my opinion, is the natural state of things if you understand capitalism and how our economy works. This approach remains the Democratic Party line up to and including the current party leaders. This is significant because it has, for over a generation now, instilled the idea that Democrats are no longer on the side of the working class. This is not said flat out, which would be more honest, but it is there if you only look just a little past the surface. Biden, for example, was given endless credit for walking a picket line, yet, when it came down to it, he chose the politically safe path of breaking a railroad strike purely for political reasons. This kind of action is embedded in people’s minds, and I submit it shows the true nature of the Democratic Party. Lip service and picket lines are excellent, but actual support would demonstrate that your party supports working people. Joe failed.
Obama also demonstrated how the party has abandoned organized labor and the working class. During his presidential run, Obama boldly claimed he would walk the picket lines with workers. Did you see him on the line with teachers in Chicago in 2012 when his pal Rahm Emanuel was mayor? Yeah, me neither. The party talks a big game to garner votes but caters to the corporate class once they are in office. Egberto and others will claim I am “wasting” my vote, and I tell them, what do you call voting for politicians who promise you support cycle after cycle and don’t deliver? I say you have wasted and continue to waste your votes and efforts.
It is time to start swaying as many progressives as possible to do as I have done for the last 30-plus years and vote for an alternative. I will list a few major policy issues I hope we all agree would encompass a progressive agenda. We need universal single-payer healthcare, universal education through undergraduate degrees (for a start), ranked choice voting, and cutting the defense budget in half at a minimum. If you agree with those points and are still casting votes for Democrats, I say you are wasting your vote. Why? Show me the Democratic Party platform, and please point out where it lists any of those objectives. It doesn’t and never will if you keep giving them your vote up front and then begging for what you want.
Do I think we can elect a Green Party candidate to the office of President in one cycle? No, of course not, but I do think enough proof is available to start getting folks motivated to make long-term change a possibility for our children and their children.
If those with a voice had started this campaign of incremental gain each election cycle back in 1996, for example, perhaps the Green Party would garner 15, 20, or even 25% of the vote today. If that were the case, they would have been up on the stage debating a wannabe dictator and a corporate puppet, and I have complete confidence the American people would start to understand who was really on their side and who had their best interests at heart. I have long believed that there are only two ways out of the duopoly’s stranglehold on our electoral process: one is voting for another option, and the other is armed revolt. Armed revolt is not an option and not something I would support, but short of that, the only way is to vote for an alternative. The Democratic Party is all but dead to the working people of this country and will not be taken over by progressives, no matter what folks like Egberto tell you. The DNC has demonstrated their willingness to lie, cheat, and steal to prevent any real change to the status quo (see Bernie’s run in 2016 and 2020), and they also block any alternatives from even getting on ballots whenever possible.
I don’t see how voting for such a party’s candidate will further the goal of progressive policies and support for working people. Given that, I will continue to “waste” my vote in protest of the Democratic Party that has supported a genocide before our eyes, has not shown up for organized labor, and has sent Sanders and AOC to proclaim resistance to the oligarchy, while Schumer and Pelosi were nowhere to be found. Who are the real leaders of the party? Shouldn’t they be out on these tours shouting from the rooftops about how we will defeat the oligarchy? I guess it is hard to fight the system you helped create, especially when you vote for a Republican budget (Schumer) or promote insider trading (Pelosi). The time for compromise is over with the Democratic Party, and making them the eternal minority party is the only way forward. A friend of mine described it well for me when he said that the duopoly is akin to two cars heading for a cliff, the only difference is the GOP car will get there a little faster than the Democratic car but make no mistake, they are both going over that cliff, and think of the cliff as corporate control of government.
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