Arthur Camins writes about the importance of voting Democratic in November. He says he supports Senator Sanders but recognizes that he is unlikely to win the nomination, given the double-digit losses sustained by his personal choice. The stakes are high, he writes, and he’s prepared to support former Vice President Joe Biden.
He begins:
“Short of some unexpected dramatic development, there is a high potential for Joe Biden’s nomination. I want Bernie to win, but the delegate numbers are not just media hype. It is real.
“I see a lot of non-voting, 3rd party and write- in sentiment. I have no idea if this is widespread or just a feature of a few websites or bots out to suppress the vote. Either way, I find it alarming. I hope it is in-the-moment anger and disappointment rather than long-term resolve.
“I have supported Bernie. I’m furious and frustrated too. So, I’m writing to persuade, not condemn.
“To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven ….
“A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing
“To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
“And a time to every purpose, under heaven
“A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late (Peter Seeger)
“Now is not the time to count on an alternative progressive 3rd party win, never done before in a substantive way at the national level. That takes years of grassroots organizing at the local level. It cannot be done in time to prevent Trump from being elected.
“Now is not the time for a symbolic protest vote. Stopping Trump’s reelection is essential. Lives depend on it.
“For me, a lifelong progressive, that means that anyone who cares about human and political rights must vote for whoever is the Democratic nominee. There is no moral equivalence between Trump and Biden. Even if Bernie wins the nomination, that organizing would be essential for him to implement his agenda. That is what “political revolution” means. If Trump wins– the assured result of non-voting, 3rd party, or write-in votes– his authoritarian impulses will be unleashed and uncontrolled.”
Please read on.
I agree 100%, this should be obvious, we can not do a replay of 2016 in which the progressive purists voted for Stein or refused to vote. I will vote for Biden in the general election.
I’ll hold my nose and vote for Biden just like I did in 2016, but I won’t like it one bit. I’m tired of voting the lesser of 2 evils. The whole election system is rigged to put in candidates that best serve the interest of business/money. Democracy is supposed to be about “people” no matter what party is in charge. It’s the “people” who pay the taxes for governments services. The way it’s set up now is “taxation without representation” and it’s time for another “Boston Tea Party” right here at home.
Thank you Arthur Camins. I know this is not an easy decision for some people, and I wish that life choices were all really black and white. The truth is we cannot afford four more years of Trump’s incompetence. We all need to be doing whatever we can to defeat him in the coming election. It has never been more obvious that Trump cares for no one except in how they affect his own well being.
I don’t know why Bernie and others say repeatedly that Trump is the most dangerous president of “modern times” or “recent decades.” What other president of olden times was more dangerous?
Diane, I think Bernie and others repeat the message because so many people have developed shorter attention spans. I think they need to hear the message repeatedly until it sinks in.
Although our present office holder has some time to dig deeper, I will cast my vote for the presidency of James Buchanan. His inactivity as the country dissolved was nothing short of subversive to the interests of any hope of union. He split the Democrats over the slavery issue, refused to act even as the states of the deep south led by South Carolina seceded, and let the crisis deepen. Decisive action on the part of a diplomat, and he had such experience, might have at least kept Tennessee and Virginia in the Union. Avoiding a catastrophic Civil War seemed not to interest the man. Active searching for compromise was still possible in the time when this nation could have avoided the “…lightening of his terrible swift sword…”
Oh, James Buchanan was pretty awful. So was Andrew Johnson. Harding was awful too. I think it’s historically hard to compare presidents from before the 20th centurty, or even since World War II, to presidents of today. So they hedge their statements.
Trump is horrific.
Andrew Jackson (and the Indian Removal Act) is a contender.
Jackson was cruel but was he also stupid?
Of course, you probably know that Andrew Jackson is Trump’s favorite president. I doubt he ever heard or read about Jackson. Steve Bannon probably told him. Trump’s knowledge of history is zilch.
We know Joe Biden is an empathic and experienced leader. We know Joe has the knowledge and skill to govern and care for each of us and to use the powers and agencies of government to deliver what we need and we know he knows us. Read his book, Promise Me, Dad, learn how to climb out of horrendous emotional pain and how to live and survive. Joe Biden is our leader for this Season.
Of course, America must choose Blue.
When religious, red states like Ohio and Indiana, which are governed by evangelicals, Catholics and ALEC, require federal mandates to save them from COVID 19, Trump may give them help. However, oligarchy won’t help its political enemies, the Democratic states, e.g. Calf. and N.Y.
Morality is meaningless to the Republican religious and despots, allied in their pursuit of power. As example, a couple of years ago, Chris Christie’s team jeopardized lives by closing the bridges that Dem. voters used.
Charles Koch made possible, implementation of the vision of Paul Weyrich, a Catholic, who founded ALEC, the Koch’s Heritage Foundation and the politicized religious right.
The goal was a power base from which resources could be rationed among the subjects of the American theocratic colony. The clergy built that power base by aiding in the economic deprivation of citizens through Republican policy.
Absitively, posolutely. And should the Dems win the White House, I’m under no illusion that it will be an end; it’s part of a never-ending process. I expect there will be a lot of fights, but they will be of a different character. We’ll probably have a Ed Sec who may think charters are public schools, but we won’t have one trying to decimate public education. We’ll still have to fight overspending on the military. And of course, it will all depend on the makeup of Congress. If the reactionary cult wins one or both houses of Congress, Pyrrhic will be the 2021 word of the year.
Where has Joe been? He’s not put in a single appearance since he stole Illinois, Arizona and Florida (tell me those were fair elections in the midst of election judges calling off in droves, polling stations closing randomly, voting equipment and supplies not being delivered, etc.) on Tuesday. Where is the leadership we need right now? If he’s going to go AWOL now, how can we count on him for the next four years???
Trump, on the other hand, has been showing up. I’ll be the first to say it would be better if he wouldn’t, but he is, which matters to his base.
And when he does show up, what exactly do we expect him to say? Will he remember the word “coronavirus”? Or will it be “the thing”? Will he be able to finish a coherent sentence?
And what do we think his handlers will do behind the scenes? Have we seen the Democrats mobilizing to protect jobs/worker rights? To get out cash payments? To demand universal free public healthcare in the midst of a global pandemic? To nationalize the banks to provide for people out of work? To halt foreclosures/evictions? In fact, the Republicans have been ahead of the Democrats on some of those issues, albeit their “efforts” are woefully short. But a thousand dollar per taxpayer cash payment may not be enough but it’s better than no cash payment, which is basically where the Democrats are at.
This is a time when we need the bold leadership that Bernie offered, but this was the time the Democrats chose to shut him down and silence him. And for this the Democrats think they deserve my vote? They have endangered us all by not providing any sort of opposition to the lunatic in office. They can rot in hell. I can only hope that some bold third party visionary will emerge or else we’re all f***ed, whether we get Biden or Trump. A plague on both their festering houses.
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/03/where-is-joe
Don’t bother to hate on me. I won’t be back.
Dienne, I, too, notice that Biden has been AWOL, although MSNBC continues to have regular guests on from Biden’s “Coronavirus Task Force.” Not a single mention of Sanders.
Bernie has truly been leading in this time of crisis. The MSM is doing their best to ignore him. Meanwhile, Biden, the candidate with a decades-long history of lying and promoting cuts to SS, Medicare and the safety net, continues to be a media darling.
I really hope Bernie stays in the race; if he drops out now the corporate Dems will pay lip service to our issues, and as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic blows over, Biden will be able to live up to his promise to veto a Medicare For All.
We are at the tail end of 40 years’ worth of austerity and neoliberalism. We have seen what the Obama-Biden-Duncan administration has done to public education. Biden has already told Wall Street honchos that “nothing will change.”
If there ever was a moment for change, it is now.
Hang in there, Bernie!
Third party?! Ha, ha, ha, ha. Been there, done that, a total flop. No contest in Biden v Trump. I vote for Biden without a doubt.
I reposted this on social media. I too am a disappointed Bernie voter. I am not so delusional that I would waste my vote on a third party. This is not a time to “split hairs.” If there was ever a time to unite, this is it. Lives depend on it.
Many people believe Bernie should concede. Bernie is holding out to keep his power to try to leverage the platform to the left. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/17/bernie-sanders-not-going-quietly-132641
Don’t just take it from me. Here’s True Blue HuffPost saying the same thing: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nancy-pelosi-joe-biden-coronavirus-response_n_5e74fc86c5b63c3b648fdda1
dienne77 If Trump is elected the “plague” will literally be in all our houses. Not using your vote to prevent that will kill more people. Do you imagine that he would not suspend constitutional rights making organizing impossible. I am not a Biden fan, but he would not do any of that.
Thank you Arthur Camins for speaking the truth and the only sensible course of action under the present circumstances.
It would certainly help if the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, state Catholic Conferences and, the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints didn’t give the appearance of favoring Republican politicians over Democratic politicians. But, that would require vocal dissidents in the pews- an unlikely event in white, male-governed, authoritarian religions.
Few have an expectation that evangelicals are rational.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leadership assiduously avoids supporting ANY party. They will not say anything one way or the other. I actually agree with that. Let’s not mix church and state.
Is there a. politician who belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who is Democratic?
Utah does have elected Democrats.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Democratic_Party
And Hillary Clinton won Summit County, Utah with 50.9% of the vote to Trump’s 35.6%.
She also had the most votes in Salt Lake County.
https://www.politico.com/2016-election/results/map/president/utah/
It might seem counterintuitive, but many of the Democrats in Utah are actually more Democratic — and more democratic — than those that you find on the east or west coast. Certainly more so than those in my state (CT) where warmongering Joe Blubberman was a Senator for ever.
But the predominant Church definitely influences politics, perhaps not directly by telling people which party to belong to or whom to vote for, but certainly the influence is there.
Sometimes one does not need to say anything because the group(s) one belongs to can have a powerful influence on the things one believes and the way one behaves.
Because of that, the separation of church and state in Utah (if there is one) is very blurry.
On that note, I read a piece recently that attempted to reveal who the real Joe Biden is”
… “It is therefore a mistake to assume that Biden merely stands for “Obamaism without Obama”—and even more so to think that his campaign constitutes a reiteration of Clinton’s failed bid for the presidency in 2016.” …
… “he remains firmly within the American tradition of secularism, which posits a strict “wall of separation” between politics and religion.: …
“Biden might succeed in defeating both Sanders and Trump. But his presidency would probably end up being rather weak and aimless, without doing much to address the United States’ deeper social and political problems. For this year’s voters, however, that may well be enough.”
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/16/joe-biden-election-liberal-moderate-christian-democrat/?utm_source=PostUp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20376&utm_term=Flashpoints%20OC&
So little to hope for- secularism. Jefferson wrote the founding document for the country to prevent the alliance of clergy and despots.
Why would Joe seek communion from priests who withhold it from those who believe in American democracy and separation of church and state?
If Biden selects Warren as VP, it would appease progressives somewhat. It would also signal a willingness to accept certain progressive policies in his White House. Frankly, we don’t need Obamaism without Obama, particularly in education.
Joe Toothbrush it is.
Vote the blues, no matter whose.
I vote for BB king
But pretty much any blues will do
“Vote for blues, no matter whose”
Vote for blues, no matter whose
Vote for Johnny Hooker’s booze
Vote for Elvis’ blue suede shoes
Vote for any that you choose
Just make sure you vote for blues
One Biden, One
Scratch, one BernieHow about “I Put a Spell on You” sung by Angelina Jordan, when she was 6 or 7 years old.
Vote for Jordan’s “Spell on yous”