Editorial: AnybodyButBushers Unite! (More barfs from Berkeley)"it’s dangerous to vote for greens"

berkeleydaily.org ^

[chance33_98]

Editorial: AnybodyButBushers Unite! Becky O'Malley (01-23-04)

People from around here who went off to Iowa to stump for their candidates of choice could be feeling pretty discouraged right about now. I’m on e-mail lists for Dean, Kucinich and the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, so I’ve been reading about how bad some are feeling. It’s safe to say that not many Berkeleyans were trying to persuade Iowa Democrats to support caucus winners Kerry or Edwards. A few points to keep in mind before you feel too bad about the primaries:

1) It’s Anyone But Bush, remember? This might explain the recent spate of letters touting General Clark which I’ve gotten from all kinds of folks: Michael Moore from Michigan, George McGovern from South Dakota, and my friends Nelle from West Virginia and Bobbie Sue from Arkansas. All of them are heartland people, natives of what we coast-dwellers call, snobbishly, the Fly-Over States. To beat Bush, we need to win these Fly-Over States. As a Fly-Over State native myself, I can’t disparage their instincts about who can win—they could be on to something that writers for The New Yorker and The Nation don’t understand. Though Clark skipped their primary, Iowa Democrats seemed to agree with Clark supporters that Dean and Kucinich don’t have curb appeal in the heartland. Even Edwards, totally discounted by the publications Berkeleyans read, did fine there. (Texan Molly Ivins says some nice things about Edwards.)

2) Primaries are good because they keep the Democrats in front of the cameras. That’s Kevin Phillips’ idea, and it makes sense. Primaries can be bad if the candidates cut each other up too badly, but a modest show of controversy builds ratings. There’s plenty to say about Bush, and a few good topics Democrats can debate with each other without doing any harm.

3) Unions won’t save us now. Gephardt got their support, and it didn’t do much for him. No one should count on unions alone anymore to win elections or even nominations.

4) It really doesn’t matter which of the four remaining viable Democrats wins the nomination. It will certainly be Yet Another Boring Old White Guy (YABOWG), like all of the winning candidates in my lifetime. Turns out, though, that there’s YABOWGs and YABOWGs, and some YABOWGS (Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Ashcroft) are a good bit worse than others. Dean, Kerry, Clark, Edwards—all pretty much cut from the same cloth, none of them all that bad, really. They all have their bad points, but let’s not talk about that, okay? Makes no difference in this race.

5) It’s fun to vote for outsiders, and when you live in California, it usually doesn’t matter. Be glad that none of these people actually win, however. Many who know Ralph Nader think that he’s a jerk, on a personal level. I voted for Eldredge Cleaver, and it’s just as well he lost, given his subsequent political history. (Though I also supported Shirley Chisholm, and she would have made a great president. She got five percent of the vote in the 1972 Michigan primary, better than Kucinich in Iowa in 2004.)

6) No third party is ready for prime time. Until Greens can put forward candidates who actually come from their ranks and participate in party organization, it’s dangerous to vote for them. Celebrity candidates like Ralph Nader are potential (and in his case actual) loose cannons.

So what do we do now? Me, I’m saving my time and money for the main event. Let those who know and love the current version of the Democratic Party choose their candidate if they want, on their own time. (I trust they’re not stupid enough to choose Lieberman.)

When the Dems make up their minds, we AnybodyButBushers in secure Northern California should consider heading off to work in those Fly-Over States which are in the swing voting category. Planes do land in mid-America, trains are possible, and chartered buses might be fun. The weather in the fall will be much nicer than it was in Iowa. We could help out the locals with basic stuff like voter registration and taking people to the polls.

If we can’t travel, we should turn out our pockets and shake down our friends for campaign contributions, because Democrats are always behind in fundraising.

Prayer, if it works for you, probably wouldn’t hurt either.

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Daily Planet.

[chance33_98]

I am sending serious $$ to the green candidate :)

[Viking2002]

Vote Green in '04! :-)

[MEG33]

I'm pinging you to a thread where we need solidarity help!I weep if the Greens don't field a candidate.

[NYCVirago]

I was thinking that this was a column by an ignorant college student. Then I saw this:

I voted for Eldredge Cleaver, and it’s just as well he lost, given his subsequent political history. (Though I also supported Shirley Chisholm, and she would have made a great president. She got five percent of the vote in the 1972 Michigan primary, better than Kucinich in Iowa in 2004.)

[Theresawithanh]

I still think this was a column by an ignorant college student! She's from Bezerkely, CA, in my part of the country. Nothing but nutz.

I'd never heard the YABOWG thing before, and that was actually pretty funny.

[dirtbiker]

I was thinking that this was a column by an ignorant college student.

Then, you realized, it was just plain, old-fashioned, stupidity. (Ignorance is temporary and curable; stupidity is permanent...)

[Izzy Dunne]

They all have their bad points, but let’s not talk about that, okay?

'nuff said.

[Verginius Rufus]

This is the first I have heard of the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, but people like this should be encouraged to write in Paul Wellstone's name.

[Thom Pain]

Go Green!!

[Volunteer]

I liked this post, not for what it said, but for the real truth it contained:

"Though I also supported Shirley Chisholm, and she would have made a great president. She got five percent of the vote in the 1972 Michigan primary."
TRUTH: Becky smoked a lot dope in the 60's & 70's and is terminally attracted to stupid political views.

If we can’t travel, we should turn out our pockets and shake down our friends for campaign contributions, because Democrats are always behind in fundraising.
TRUTH: The left ALWAYS has the same idea, don't make your own money, just shake down people who have gone out and made their own money.

Prayer, if it works for you, probably wouldn’t hurt either.
TRUTH: The left, who find God offensive & seek to remove any mention of him in any public place, are now so desperate that they are willing to seek him out. Personal note to Becky on this one - Sometimes God says "no", so just get ready to accept that one Becky.

Becky O’Malley is executive editor of the Daily Planet.
TRUTH:This lady is so nutty she thinks she is Perry White from the Superman comicbook. Becky, on this planet - Earth - Bush is going to crush your candidate in a landslide.

Finally, "Yet Another Boring Old White Guy (YABOWG)"
TRUTH: The left discriminates based upon race, age, and views. The left is where intolerance lives.

[opinionator]

It will certainly be Yet Another Boring Old White Guy (YABOWG), like all of the winning candidates in my lifetime.

You can call Bill Clinton a lot of adjectives, but I don't think 'boring' is one of them.

[SunkenCiv]

well summarized:

Unions won’t save us now. Gephardt got their support, and it didn’t do much for him. No one should count on unions alone anymore to win elections or even nominations.

Of course, unions are run by partisan shills who get paid off in kind by the Demagogic party. But the decline in organized labor has more to do with the diminishing returns -- heavy union dues go to support highly paid professionals and their staffs, who mostly do nothing.