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Journal freejung's Journal: Lose/Lose or Win/Win? 13

Journal by freejung
There is a tendency on the left to view tomorrow's election as a lose/lose situation, and in many ways it is. For example, snjoseph made the extremely insightful observation in response to my "campaign finance" essay that the outcome of the election will not change who is running the country in any way. I agree with that. Nor will it affect policy in any really meaningful way: Kerry will not pull out of Iraq, he will increase defense spending, he will continue to allow the destruction of the environment, he will continue the American Empire project, etc. This is admittedly a little discouraging.

However, I think there's another way of looking at it. The election is also a win/win situation for the left, if we handle it right.

How could a Bush victory be a win for the left? Well, just look at the last three years. After 9/11, I pretty much gave up on this country. I figured it was going to swing way to the right and stay there. At the beginning of the war, it had something like an 80% approval rating. Things looked pretty hopeless. Since then, we've seen one of the greatest comebacks in history, a truly amazing mobilization of the left which has brought the political situation pretty much back to where it was in 2000. So in a sense, regardless of the outcome, we've already won just by being so active. There is an outbreak of democracy going on which is truly inspiring to watch. A lot of people have become involved in politics who would never have considered it before, something like 18 million new voters have registered, it's awesome.

I have to give credit where credit is due: we couldn't have done it without Dubya. By being so deeply evil, he has inspired the biggest mass-mobilization we've seen in this country since the sixties. Maybe even bigger than that. If he's erected again, you can expect the left to get really riled up.

Furthermore, if Dubya is re-erected, the administration will have to take responsibility for all the horrendous karma they've created -- make no mistake, the next four years are going to be very rough because of the decisions made over the last four years, and no outcome of the election will change that.

Now, in order to turn a Kerry victory into a win for the left, we must exercise discipline. We can't let "victory" take the wind out of our sails. A Kerry victory is only the first step, and it's really a very small step, toward the America we want to create. We have to use the momentum we've gained in the past couple of years to continue to struggle for peace, social justice, and environmental sustainability.

If we can do that, a Kerry victory will be a substantial win. Why so, if his policies are not all that different? It would be a win because of the message it sends, because of what it means about the last four years. As a bumper sticker put it, "if Bush wins, it means we like this shit." We have to tell the world that the last four years of horrendously ugly right-wing policy are not acceptable to us. The people responsible for this shit have to be removed from office, if only for the symbolic value of it. If not, we as a population are giving our consent to war, loss of our civil liberties, and destruction of the environment.

Now, please understand, I'm not saying Kerry will solve these problems. But at least, by electing him, we are saying that we want them solved, that we want something different, that we need a change. Otherwise, we are saying that we actually like this shit, and we want more of the same. That is unacceptable.

Personally, I would like to see Kerry win by a very small margin. That way, the conservatives will say the election was stolen, and we will then have a large segment of the population who has lost faith in the political process. Loss of faith in the process is the first step toward fixing the process, and it definitely needs fixing.

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Lose/Lose or Win/Win? More

Lose/Lose or Win/Win?

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  • Actually, to be perfectly honest, if Bush wins I'd bet he finds a way out, too. A draft would kill the GOP in midterm, and I don't think the non-draft levels are sustainable. It's not rocket science. As soon as he swallows his pride -- and you know he can, you've seen him do it plenty -- then he can get out too. I just think a Bush pull-out would be far bloodier for both sides.

    • No (Score:2)

      by freejung ( 624389 ) *
      I wish you were right. However, the US military is in Iraq to stay. Even if they have to hunker down in their new bases and let the rest of the country go to hell, they're not getting out. To do so would abandon the real war aims, and I really don't think that's going to happen.

      Keep in mind that the people who planned this war, namely PNAC [newamericancentury.org], told us exactly why they were doing it before they did it. It's a strategic move in the global dominance game, designed to get China and the EU by the balls. They as m

  • We could start reforming the process by ticking off the other party so how we elect the President can change with an Amendment. I'm dreaming of course, but it's a start. Something like instant runoff voting, or what I journaled around October 21st. I'm hoping California's proposition for open primaries (for non presidential races) passes. A similar measure in 1996 did, but was ruled unconstitutional for including the presidential race. Also, this will be the first election that San Francisco uses insta
    • It is indeed a start. If lots of people on both sides of the aisle agree that the process is broken, maybe we can start to fix it.

      That said, I have to say that I oppose Prop. 62 in California (I live in California), and I'd be interesting to hear your arguments for it, since I'm not certain about it. The problem I have with it is that it only advances the top two candidates to the general election, which is not what the previous measure in '96 did. Since many more people vote in the general election than

      • I'd like to open a bit off-topic. I only tonight learned about the condorcet voting method, and I like it. As for the spoiler disadvantage of IRV, I think it's over-rated because dems may vote green, and reps may vote libertarian. If only the libertarian party gets significantly stronger, then yes the republican might get eliminated. So what? Enough reps voted for the lib in addition to the libertarian base that it made it to the next round.

        Kay, about the 1996 version of 62: Logically it should have
        • I agree about Condorcet voting, it's a good idea. I disagree about Prop 62 though. I think it ruins the "spoiler effect," thus destroying the little power the alternative parties have, while maintaining the "lesser evil" problem. If more people voted in the primaries I might be for it, but they don't, and they probably won't as a result of this measure, at least not for a while. No, I can't support it. Reducing the number of lines on the general election ballot is not a good idea. Even the Peace and Freedom
  • I'm not sure that we don't have so much anger in this country that we aren't going to be fighting a civil war by Thursday. December 2nd at the latest- if people are willing to trust lawyers.

    But my only real prediction for this election is that 10,000 lawyers today are buying plane tickets for Ohio, and another 7,000 are buying plane tickets for Florida.
  • If Bush were re-elected, he would start considering the right timing to withdraw American troops. People are fed up with, and his main concern( end of dictatorship) was over. Kerry is not Clinton. We are totally unsure whether he takes an environmentally conscious measure. It's better for you not to hold an illusion.
    • I'm afraid that the president will view his win as overwhelming and proof that his view of the world is shared by the whole of America. I would really like the man to look at all sides of the issue and try and determine the best solution instead of his tendency to look at two conservative sides of the issue and take the best of those. I don't think that his re-election will change him, and if anything, he will use it to continue down the path that he has the US headed (nearsighted, neo-con/christian cente
      • American troops have been fighting with insurgencies. We are not sure they are either from Iraqi or from foreign lands. In this term of deployment, I hope soon will be ended. ...Sure you are right. American troops are anywhere... In Europe under North Atlantic Treaty, in Japan under U.S. and Japan Security Treaty. It has already passed more than 50 years since the end of late World War, but certainly still U.S. presence in many parts of the world. President Bush doesn't have to think when to leave but how t

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