General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRegarding Elections: 2014 & '16
If something is yours by right, then fight for it or shut up. If you cant fight for it, then forget it.
-- Malcolm X; London School of Economics; February, 1965.
Reading through DU:GD last night, I realized that I had not really made much comment on last weeks elections. In a nut-shell, I view events such as these as temporary set-backs, rather than utter defeats, so long as one learns a lesson from it. Thus, I began considering what quote to use at the top of an essay, to introduce that general theme.
Initially, I thought about Jim Morrisons infamous rant while on stage in Miami. The old, What are you gonna do about it? rallying cry might well be as appropriate today, as Jims presentation was deemed inappropriate by the Miami police and court, way back when. But I didnt want to risk offending DUs community standards, so I kept my trousers zipped, and thought some more.
The Declaration of Independence came to mind. It is a power document, one that I think that liberals and progressives should read from time to time. In fact, it reminds me of the type of statement of purpose that Malcolm X might have made in his final year of life.
In the two short sentences quoted above, Malcolm says fight for it twice. That suggests it is a key point. He doesnt say that the fight will be easy. Nor does he hint that if you do fight, you will achieve a clear victory. But he makes very clear the reality that if you dont fight, there is zero chance of making progress, much less winning.
I am confident that very few, if any, members of this forum view last Tuesday as a good day for the Democratic Party. It definitely wasnt. Some of the democrats who ran for office did not appear to be willing to fight. Rather, they seemed to be running from the fight. But the responsibility for the election outcome does not rest entirely upon the candidates.
Certainly, the cycle of off year elections came into play. Equally important is the tension between the progressive/ liberal wing, and the moderate/ conservative wing of the party.The dynamics being what they are, the vast majority of democratic candidates for governor and for the House and Senate were moderate/ conservative. As a result, we didnt have dynamic candidates capable of creating enough tension to convince enough potential voters that these contests were important enough -- in the context of their lives -- to vote.
So, if one wants to, they could engage in finger-pointing at a wide range of people who likely bear some portion of the responsibility for the election of so many republicans. If you didnt vote, dont complain seems a fair statement. But it does not provide the entire answer to the problem, and thus offers no promise of resolving the problem in the future.
I believe it is equally fair to say that too many democratic candidates ran weak campaigns. More, I think the partys leaders promoted too many weak candidates. And that there were too few serious primary challenges, giving voters a real choice. And on and on.
I do think it is important to study other peoples roles in campaigns and elections. And to evaluate how well they accomplish their tasks. Yet at the same time, democracy is something that belongs to us as individuals. Its being stolen, of course, by powerful forces on the national level. And that theft trickles down to the local level, where all too often, jackasses who really arent very powerful at all are confident that they have license to steal what belongs to you and I. Now, that annoys me.
Ive said -- probably several hundred times here on this forum -- that real change can only be accomplished from the grass roots up. But I know that my saying it doesnt accomplish things. And that I have to fight for what is mine. So there is now two years before the next election cycle allows me to vote.
Between now and then, Im not going to shut up, nor will I forget about it. I wont put it on a back-burner, either, allowing it to cool until the next cycle comes around. Instead, I will be active at the grass roots level. Ill work to register others to vote. Two groups that I will focus on are college students, and the poor. I will work to educate them, on how elections impact their day-to-day lives. And how their becoming active participants in the process translates to power.
I will also be in communication with those who are in positions that allow them to influence which candidates end up running on the democratic ticket -- from the local level right on up.
I want what is mine. And I think that you want what is yours. So I am asking you to be active in the weeks and months ahead.
Thank you,
H2O Man
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)The easy part is staying home and not voting. Yes we may have had some weak candidates perhaps by today's political mess. I hope this results in good lessons, elections has consequences. Unfortunately the less helpers in Congress to pass Democrat ideas.
H2O Man
(73,537 posts)You hit the nail on the head: there are consequences. It was terrible timing, so far as people sitting this election out, because the consequences have the very real potential of being far, far worse than in the average off-year. I think that the next two years will be among the worst, in terms of damage to the foundation of our country -- which was already in trouble.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)Work, and work well in advance of events, is what will get us closer to where we need to be.
Recommended.
charliea
(260 posts)My sons are in their 20's and my view is toward the world they're inheriting. Its not as beneficial to them as the one I arrived in, and I don't want that to remain the case. Elizabeth isn't running, but I think she'd do a good job, hell a great job. But she need the right VP.
Don't settle for Republican-lite, Warren/Sanders 2016!
It won't happen but right now I see that as close to the best as we could get right now.
H2O Man
(73,537 posts)You raise what, for me, has become a central theme. It's not the "same country" that I grew up in. And, of course, I'm not so foolish as to think there weren't always problems. But I do the things that I do for my children and their generation (and those yet to come).
There are times when I feel badly about the world that I'm leaving them. Issues involving the environment, in particular, can be depressing.
Thanks for your contribution here. Much appreciated.
Response to NYC_SKP (Reply #2)
charliea This message was self-deleted by its author.
While I do not have the energy that I used to have, I think that I'm more focused on investing what energy I do have in the areas that make the most difference.
MarianJack
(10,237 posts)PEACE!
H2O Man
(73,537 posts)I'm glad to be on the same team with you!
napkinz
(17,199 posts)ballyhoo
(2,060 posts)Last edited Mon Nov 10, 2014, 08:27 PM - Edit history (1)
for me and people like me who are Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetics it may be when Dear Leader signs off on TPP--and he will! One of the provisions is to allow pharmaceutical companies to increase prices on generic drugs. So your copay on Glyburide and Metformin may end up to be $ 50 to $ 60 a month rather than $10 to $15. The Fascist partnership will have us right where they want us--helpless and forlorn--so they can laugh their asses off with Dear Leader on a yacht somewhere on Mediterranean.
H2O Man
(73,537 posts)associates has shown me how expensive it has become for him -- a retired, single person -- to access the medications he needs daily to survive (diabetes). It's such a high percentage of his income. This guy worked hard his entire adult life. But he is "falling through the cracks."
ballyhoo
(2,060 posts)control and I only take the old generic stuff. The new stuff is dangerous and I won't take it. Plus the new stuff has copays of $300.00 and up. I had a diabetic web site until January of this year. It got to be very large. If your friend wants, I can give him a list of the supplements I take for Diabetes. I take quite a few, but the one that works the best is Chromium Picolinate 500 mcg once or twice a day. It will drop HbA1C pretty quick--at least it did for me. See ya, H2O Man.
There are cracks all over the place now. America fell into one them a while ago
H2O Man
(73,537 posts)Thanks.
Sometimes, I wonder if he was being prosecuted for an obscene gesture, or persecuted for telling the truth. Maybe both.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)From one of the great thinkers, and do-ers, of the 20th century.
H2O Man
(73,537 posts)Thank you very much for adding that.
King had an extraordinary grasp of the benefits of tension. More, he was an artist at creating it. He provided a great example for us to follow.
and he knew as well as anyone, the truth of that.
JEB
(4,748 posts)Malcolm had a way with words. He was a master at communicating.
Some of the best parts of the many books I have about Malcolm are found in two that include sections of quotes ("Malcolm X Speaks" and "By Any Means Necessary: Malcolm X" .
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... prepare our candidates at the grass roots level if we want to be successful nationally.
thanks H2O Man, another great post.
H2O Man
(73,537 posts)Very well said, indeed. Thank you for that.
I remember years ago, when I was fairly new to this forum, debating another community member about the significance of school boards. He did not believe that school boards were important in the context of "party politics." Yet, if we look at the program of those we can safely lump together as the "moral majority," we see that in the late 1970s on, they understood exactly why school boards are hugely significant -- in areas ranging from electoral politics, to what books students will have access to as part of their education.
I serve on a school board; I'm in my second term now. And, as a few here may remember, I had wanted to run for NYS senate this year. I attempted to get the Democratic Party's support, and would not consider, in the current circumstances, running as a 3rd party candidate. While I knew I would be the underdog, I had identified a path that could have led to a victory over the hoodlum who has held the seat for about 16 years now.
But the heads of three of the four counties involved favored another candidate. She had the potential to win in a more conventional contest. I had no problem in stepping aside ....but I hoped to have input on her campaign strategy. For example, there are the three basic groups in every election: those who will definitely support you; those who will definitely oppose you; and the undecided.
In a general election -- especially if the other party has larger numbers of voters -- you need to focus on the undecided. Our candidate failed to do so. Her campaign, while highly active, consisted of frequent get-togethers with the party faithful. Sure, those are nice. There's lots of friendly people surrounding you. But it is necessary to concentrate on those who aren't already in your corner.
As a retired public school teacher, she could have attacked her opponent's recent record on aid for upstate schools. But she didn't. She should also have gone after female republicans, but failed to. And she could have exploited her opponent's history of corruption -- recently indicted in federal court, etc -- but she failed to do so.
There are definitely times to run a conventional candidate. Yet, there are other times, when a more unconventional candidate is needed. So I'm reviewing my own actions, and considering ways that I might have been able to influence the local party more. Not in a hostile way -- I understand why others behaved as they did, and I respect them. But I still think that I could have done more.