(Blogging is a habit that, once abandoned, proves far too difficult to resume.)
Many people with more acumen, time and access than I have fully covered every aspect of the 2006 elections, and I am proud to share space in Blogtopia with them. There’s little left to imagine besides how large our margin of victory in the House, and whether the Senate will split 50-48-2 or 49-49-2 and giving Joe Lieberman far too much power; but even so this is one of the great election seasons of my lifetime, and even though I haven’t yet commented on it here, it’s not for lack of interest and love of the process. But the time has come, and I will contribute the only thing I can: thoughts on the Illinois gubernatorial race.
For the both of you still reading, my thanks.
It’s not news that Governor Rod Blagojevich’s administration has been fraught with corruption and scandal, nor is it surprising – this is Illinois, after all. But I know I’m not the only one who has been let down by his utter failure to capitalize on the opportunity of restoring dignity and respect for the rule of law in the wake of the nightmarish George Ryan. Polls show him leading Judy Baar Topinka, but not by much, and while I have no wish to see a Republican in control of my state, I can’t say that he doesn’t deserve it.
Here is my private dilemma: there is a third candidate, Rich Whitney of the Green Party, and I’m sorely tempted to vote for him. He has lately been polling at around10%, not enough to throw the election to Topinka, 2000-style, but enough to make the Democrats sweat. The thing is, I’m a Democrat. Like many other young people, I had a passionate affair with Ralph Nader in mid-2000, but like all summer flings it was just a passing fancy, and I happily cast my vote for Al Gore.*
When the progressive grassroots spurned the Greens, I joined in. And despite my sympathy to many, if not all of the Green program, I was and am a proud advocate of the idea that the only hope for progressives is to reform the Democratic Party from within. In the eight years since Nader ensured Bush’s victory, I have not swayed from this belief, until this moment.
We live in a two-party country. It has not always been the case, and it will perhaps not be the case forever, but right now that is the reality and it must be…I was going to say, “respected.” Let us instead go with “tolerated.” And at this moment in history, when our country is being served to oligopolistic corporations and scavenged by the Religious Right, fealty to the “correct” party is something of a moral obligation. Standing for your principles is no way to repeal torture legislation.
The Green Party is a punchline, a pathetic collection of losers. I have to pause and wonder: what happens if a Green candidate really pulls in 10% of a vote, any vote? The Greens are still losers, but are they still pathetic? I cn’t explain why, but somehow I find that idea troubling – today Illinois, tomorrow America! And if there is really a progressive grassroots party with strong support, that can only mean an unending series of Y2K Floridas.
I hesitate to call the Greens an embarassment to progressive activism, but it’s hard to think of them any other way – starry-eyed idealists who lose elections that we can’t afford to lose. I know the same can be said about the Democrats, without the starry-eyed part, or the idealism; but we can all feel the change in the weather. This is an important election, our first chance to rebrand and rebuild the Democratic Party, and I want to be a part of that.
Realistically, I know that my one vote is not going to hand Topinka the election; it is not going to kill the progressive movement for decades to come; it is not going to lead to the Green Renaissance. But my vote is my vote, and I will always know for the rest of my life that I voted for Whitney in 2006. I can’t let voting my conscience weigh on my conscience that way. I have not decided – I will probably not decide until I am in the booth on Tuesday, my finger hovering over the touch screen. No matter what I choose, I won’t be proud of the outcome.
Anyway, that’s where I stand.