Scott Galindez begins: "I am tired of reading about how the election of President Obama has taken the wind out of the anti-war movement. Protesting and voting are not mutually exclusive. We can take to the streets to hold the Democrats' feet to the fire and still vote against the Republicans in November."
File photo, a hand with a peace sign is raised at an anti-war rally in Washington, DC, 06/15/09. (photo: Anti-War Movement)
Return to the Streets, Then Vote
07 September 10
Reader Supported News | Perspective
am tired of reading about how the election of President Obama has taken the wind out of the anti-war movement. Protesting and voting are not mutually exclusive. We can take to the streets to hold the Democrats' feet to the fire and still vote against the Republicans in November.
A massive anti-war rally will not aid the GOP; a huge labor rally will not hurt the Democrats. To the contrary, energizing the base should be a part of any get out the vote effort. One example of this is Jerry Brown's caucus win over Bill Clinton in Nevada in 1992. The party establishment in Nevada was behind Bob Kerry and Bill Clinton, then Kerry dropped out, leaving the party activists in the Clinton camp.
So why did Jerry Brown beat Clinton? Some say it was transplanted Californians. The truth, however, is it was the endorsement of a union that was on strike. Jerry Brown went to the culinary union picket line at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, and a few days later the caucus rooms were full of Culinary Union jackets. If the strike was not happening at that time, many of those rank-and-file union members would have stayed home. Jerry Brown won because those voters were engaged.
A mistake that progressives make every time a Democrat takes the White House is to stop organizing street heat. Progressives hold huge rallies when the Republicans are in office even though they will not listen. Progressives should continue to organize those rallies. They are not a waste; they energize the base and get people politically active, increasing the odds that they will vote in November. The same could be true if these rallies are held during a Democratic administration.
On October 2nd, United for Peace and Justice will be marching in Washington, DC under the theme One Nation Working Together. The goal is for peace activists to come together with civil rights, labor, immigrant rights, environmental and other progressive organizations to call for ending the wars and focusing on our nation's needs. If a coalition like this truly comes together it will not be good news for the GOP.
While many Democrats have disappointed their base, the truth is that there are many who deserve our support. Some of them are in tight races. On the Senate side, Russ Feingold, Patty Murray and Barbara Boxer are in tight races. And the GOP is throwing the kitchen sink at Congressional reps like Alan Grayson.
When pollsters identify likely voters they are seeing an enthusiasm problem among Democrats, while Tea Party rallies have energized the Republicans. With two months to go until the midterm elections, Democrats need to become engaged. Instead of wallowing in our disappointment with the Obama administration, progressives and liberals need to organize.
The benefits of organizing will not only be felt at the polls in November, we can also affect the policies of both the administration and Congress. A vibrant anti-war movement in the streets will give the administration the cover it needs to wind down the war in Afghanistan. A vibrant labor movement in the streets could lead to more stimulus.
America's future depends on progressives and liberals flooding the streets as soon as possible, and the ballot boxes in November. We can't afford to not do both.
Scott Galindez was formerly the co-founder of Truthout, and is now the Political Director of Reader Supported News.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
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Comments
Activists elected large majorities for the Dems in 2006 & 2008 and won the White House, yet "healthcare reform was written by K-street, Afghanistan is a Vietnam quagmire, Wall Street got the 2000+ pages of "reform" they can abuse, no Carbon Tax Credit bill ...etc ....etc. Why should Obama or the Dems leadership change when progressives vote for them regardless as the lesser of twin evils ??? Activists have been debating this conundrum built into winner take all elections for generations, this is nothing new.
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Door-mats have no power. Progressives must devise a voting strategy to punish bad behavior while rewarding good. Try voting "write-in". Our votes will be withheld from Dems, not go to Republicans, but still be counted as protest votes so Dem strategists can see what they can have in the future.
Just an idea.
And then WE SURELY WILL ALL BE SORRY, FOR EVERYTHING WILL SLIDE BACKWARDS.
We gave the Dems commanding majorities in 2008, what got done? Sadly, the Republicans accomplished far more legislatively under Bush in any two year period with smaller congressional voting margins. Admittedly, their caucus is traditionally more disciplined, but I maintain the Dems in power have no reason to vote progressive (since we don't hold them accountable) and a significant minority of congressional Dems have $-millions of reasons to do as K-Street wishes.
No Drama Obama, has ceded issue after issue. Again, if you vote for Dems in Nov why would they change? Why?
I am willing to suffer 2 more years of Repubs with Obama's veto holding back the worst of their foolishness in the hope of forcing better behavior from Dems in 2012. We survived, ...barely under 8 years of Bush AND 6 years of Repubs.
Genierae wants to educate "all those ignorant voters". Well we did in 2008, winning huge Congressional majorities AND the White House ...so what good did it do? For me Bush-lite is not good enough, nor for you I imagine.
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Obama never had 50 votes for real healthcare reform in the Senate because too many Dems were bought by lobbyists. So Rahm faked the "necessity" to get 60 votes. This watered down the bill until K-street bribed Dems could vote for it too. Allowing a Filibuster for a good public option bill would have lead to a simple majority vote which the Dems still would have lost. Only a bad bill under the cover of needing 60 votes worked. Look up the history of passage of the Voting Rights Act in the 1960's. LBJ allowed a filibuster because he had 51 votes, Obama didn't.
Why not bring out MORE THAN A MILLION people (that should be pretty easy if Glenn Beck can organize a COUPLE HUNDRED THOUSAND), for a candlelight vigil for peace, in support of the middle class, and in SUPPORT of PRESIDENT OBAMA and Democratic candidates this NOVEMBER.
I am an Independent from Nevada and I DO NOT want to return to what we had before. I would show up in Washington for that rally.
If the TEA PARTY can make themselves this visible, INDEPENDENTS, MODERATES and PROGRESSIVES (not just progressives) should be able to overwhelm Washington and then the midterm elections.
A rally like this may give Obama and the democrats the confidence and the guts to move forward with an agenda of peace and helping the middle class.
In my opinion, just marching in-mass would have no real effect, as there is no practical way to apply protest pressure directly on Obama and the Dems. They are the ones making decisions and allowing the Republicans to have influence because that suites the Dem strategists very well. (see some of my comments above)
I suggest paper bags with eye holes for demonstrations -a statement in itself!
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