Reply #46: You really don't have much of a choice. [View All]

[BzaDem]

The time to pick what kind of Democrat you want to be the nominee is the primary. We do actually have primaries even when an incumbant president is running. You are free to vote for Kucinich (or write him in if he doesn't run).

But assuming Obama becomes the Democratic nominee anyway, the only way that you would have much of a choice in the general election is if the Republican nominee would be more likely to prosecute than Obama. If that were the case, you could certainly influence the election in way you would want by voting for the Republican.

However, in the much more likely scenario where the Republican nominee is equally likely or less likely to prosecute, the vote becomes a vote on the other issues (and a no-vote would either be against your interests or it would mean you don't think there is any difference between Obama and the Republican nominee on all other issues).

If you think that somehow enough no-votes by (purported) Democrats would convince Democratic candidates in the future to run further left, that is simply wrong as a mater of numbers. In any two-party system, there are always more votes to be gained in the middle than from irrational people on the left who claim they are Democrats. People who deny this and still don't vote (or vote third party) are people whose beliefs are not based upon facts (similar to people who deny, say, evolution or global warming). It is never in a politican's interest to cater to these people.