Reply #3: I consider myself pretty far left [View All]

[Cirque du So-What]

Hell, I'd even join the socialists if they had anything resembling a coherent structure. I'm enough of a realist, however, to recognize that nothing short of another economic disaster on the scale of the Great Depression will engender a viable socialist movement. Therefore, I am a Democrat, and I will work for change from within that party. Tilting at windmills is a fool's errand, IMO, and I will not waste my time or energy trying to field a 3rd-party candidate that will only siphon votes from the Democratic candidate.

I will always vote for the Democratic candidate, but I will also endeavor to get the best Democratic candidate out of the primaries beforehand. By the time of the general election, it is well past time to put aside childish notions of 'punishing' the Democratic leadership by staying home on election day or by voting for some Quixotic 3rd-party candidate. This only punishes the people, as the Democratic party leadership against whom you 'tilt' will live to see another election cycle - regardless of whether or not their candidate gets elected.