Alas my love, you do me wrong…

1920s magazine cover of woman with ballot

Yesterday afternoon the Democratic National Committee called. A nice volunteer somewhere was working the phone lists and trying to squeeze money out of registered Dems for the upcoming campaign. I know the run down all too well. I still feel the pain of the 2004 election. Oh, 2000 was an outrage to be sure; a right seizure of the White House by the courts, but 2004 was a loss, plain and simple. The Democrats couldn’t beat a man who stole the White House and started a war.

“Um, no, I’m not actually ready to give you any money,” I said to the woman on the phone. “Listen, I feel totally let down by the party. In the face of everything that’s happened, it looks to me like Congress has just rolled over and let the Republican leadership wreak havoc on — well, just about everything. Until I feel that the party actually represents my values and my causes, I can’t promise that I’m not going to vote Green in the next election.”

I have, in the past, been a staunchly loyal Democrat. While I do support Green values, I have primarily taken them on as a lifestyle choice, not a political one. But yesterday, as I was talking to the volunteer on the phone, I realized that what I was saying was true. I am thinking about voting Green.

Over the past two years I’ve been rather impressed with Maria Cantwell’s efforts around environmental issues. She was elected in the 2000 race, so it’s concerning that it took her nearly three years to become active on issues that are so important here in the Pacific Northwest. Still, I’d thought she was coming around. But we part ways at the “war”. And she’s really been getting up my nose about gas prices.

My view of Washington State’s political leanings is admittedly skewed. After all, I’m in the liberal ghetto, the heart of it. I still don’t trust that she’s representing the people, though. Our other two voices in Washington, Jim McDermott and Patty Murray, have been consistently against the war — which I believe really IS a partisan issue. But Maria had protestors camping outside her office to plead with her to change her stance.

Cantwell’s response to rising gas prices was to call for anti-gouging legislation. While gas companies are likely guilty of exploiting the situation for their own gain, gas isn’t a state owned concern. I think we’re subject to the capitalist economic laws of supply and demand. If Americans had been paying attention, we’d know that the supply lines in the Middle East were interrupted by the war(s) in Afghanistan (remember Afghanistan?) and Iraq. We’d know that Katrina nailed our supply lines in the gulf. We’d know that China’s demands on the market are diverting resources to the other side of the Pacific. We’d be adding all kinds of other information to the equation about gas prices. Cantwell’s anti-gouging proposals didn’t seem to account for this. And they weren’t accompanied with calls for alternatives.

Cheap gas is not a civil right and I take issue with anyone — politicians or otherwise — who acts as though it is. For perspective on this, insurance rates skyrocketed after 9/11. Where were the calls for anti-price gouging legislation on health insurance?

I discussed all of this with the volunteer on the phone. She suggested that I was not seeing positive action by Democrats because of The Media. “Nope, I’m not buying.” I said. “If I was the kind of person who only watched Fox News, you might have me. But I’m not. I read the alternative press. I seek my news from other sources. I read voting records on the web.” She sighed. “You wouldn’t believe how much I’m hearing this,” she said, diverting from her script. “Well, I hope you’re passing it along. Because I’m telling you, right now, I can’t promise that I will vote Democratic in this upcoming election. I’ll be watching to see what happens, you can guarantee it.”

As self important and tiresome as I am, my paltry vote may not matter one whit. Given that, if I vote for the party and they still let me down, why should I vote for them again? Oh, sure, Patrick Leahy and Ted Kennedy and Jim McDermott are blustering around in Congress, making noise of outrage and disgust. But where’s the action? Sound and fury, boys. Sound and fury. Meanwhile…. Wiretaps. Guantanamo Bay. CIA prisons in Central Europe. Phone records. Civil rights. 46 million uninsured Americans. Haliburton. The Patriot Act. Weapons of Mass Destruction. Donald Rumsfeld. Dick Cheney. George W. Freakin’ Bush. God help us.

Republicans impeached Clinton over a lie about a blow job. Democrats have… what, exactly? I haven’t switched allegiances yet, because if the Dems are ineffective, the Green party is invisible. But the Democrats have not delivered. Where is the fight? I am willing to be convinced that my perception of the Dems as rolling over and showing their bellies to the Republican leadership is wrong, but the party better hurry the hell up. November is not that far away.

7 thoughts on “Alas my love, you do me wrong…”

  1. Well said. I had almost exactly the same conversation with the young woman who called me for a donation. I wonder…am I still a democrat? If not….just what am I?

    Reply
  2. And the realistic options that won’t send more Republicans to “work” are….?

    I hate it that I have to choose between tweedle dee, tweedle corrupt, and tweedle doesn’t stand a stinking chance in hell. Options, I tell you. I want options!

    Reply
  3. Sure, but check it out. If Landguppy votes green and Flummel votes green and Pam votes green and we tell two friends, then doesn’t stand a chance in hell DOES stand a chance. Plus, given the results – not the rhetoric, but the actual results – I am having a hard time telling the difference between voting Democrat and voting Republican. It looks to me now like the choice is between the Theocracy Party, represented by the elephant, the Republican Party, represented by the Donkey, and the Green Party, represented by the Invisible Man.

    Do I vote my conscience, which is greener by the day (probably from the nausea) or do I vote for strategy? If I felt voting strategic would make a difference, I’d be more inclined to do so.

    FYI, I still ain’t voting for Nader, I think he’s a dink. And oh, great, Aaron Dixon [Green Party Senate candidate: http://www.dixon4senate.com/%5D is a former Black Panther. Like that’s a quality that will get him in to office. What else ya got?

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  4. I hear you. Although I don’t watch much anymore, Jon Stewart says the same sort of thing about the Dems all the time on The Daily Show. I mean, really, what the hell do Bush, Cheney and gang have to DO to get the Democrats to MOVE?! I don’t get it…

    Reply
  5. Great site, Pam. Another interesting option is the one taken by two of my friends in Corvallis. They’ve started the PEARL project (People Energizing a Republican Left) a movement to shake-up the two-party system. They managed to get >200 registered Democrats in Corvallis, Oregon to switch to Republican and are now taking their message on the road to DC. Here is a link to an article on their website (the website is still in its infancy). It was nice meeting you this evening.

    Reply

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