General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The imminent backlash of the Democratic Left. [View all]Blanks
(4,835 posts)But when you break it down issue by issue - there is disagreement.
I think the number one issue is the top marginal tax rate. Does that mean that if I can't find a candidate that supports my position (which is return to the income tax rates of the 1950's) I shouldn't bother voting because the candidate is too right leaning?
It's the same thing with all of these issues. Once you get into the nitty gritty - who gets to decide what left is. I don't agree with everyone on the TPP, and I don't line up with the folks who want to eliminate the charter schools. By some definitions I would be too right leaning, but I'm a democrat and I don't have any realistic expectation that even if the democrats control both houses of congress after 2014 that they're gonna be as left leaning (on taxes like I mentioned above) as I think they should be. So should I not be encouraged to vote because I'm not gonna get my way.
We have to compromise, and a lot of things like LGBT issues and education issues and trade issues aren't the defining issues in my life. If I want more spending on infrastructure and someone else wants more money for schools; I will pick infrastructure because it creates more jobs in the industry that I work in (schools can fend for themselves).
We can't have it all. That doesn't make me against schools or against LGBT issues - it makes me a democrat with different priorities than some of the other democrats. I don't have a personal stake in LGBT issues, I don't support any kind of discrimination, but the amount of effort that I can put into supporting an issue that doesn't personally effect me is minimal. Sure I sign petitions supporting the folks who are being discriminated against, but you won't see me in any parades or picketing. That's human nature, that's reality.
The bottom line is that we need to elect candidates to office because they have some plan for what they're gonna do - we need to evaluate the specifics of those plans, how committed they are, and more importantly, how realistic it will be to make those plans become a reality.