Even Republicans will vote for true Democrats

[MannyGoldstein]

I was just reading http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8587810&mesg_id=8587810">a nice post about Alan Grayson, one of the handful of elected of elected Democrats at the national level who speaks with candor and holds firm to basic Democratic values. It reminded me of an article I read a few weeks ago:

Grayson: I would win Republican primary

The Democratic congressman whom the Republican Party loves to paint as a far-left pinko is bragging about his popularity among his Republican constituents.

Today, Alan Grayson touted the results of a poll commissioned by his campaign that he said shows he has more support among Republican voters than all seven of his Republican opponents.

Here’s what Grayson’s campaign said in a news release: “In the poll, Grayson won the support of 26.5 percent of registered Republicans, virtually the same figure as three months ago. None of Grayson’s seven Republican opponents scored higher than 11.2 percent. 41.8 percent of registered Republicans remain undecided.”

If Grayson has the support of 26.5% of registered Republicans, then one can only imagine that he also has the backing of most independents (and almost all Democrats).

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we need more of if we want to win big and take back our country. If we run real Democrats, we're unstoppable.

[monmouth]

1. He's from a very red area here in Florida also. Good on him...n/t

[Andy823]

2. True, but

The problem is who do we get "real" democrats on the ballot? There are way to many DINO's in congress who vote for the corporations that give them the most money. Until we can stop this we can't get "real" democrats because they can't come up with the kind of money needed to run. We need to make the playing field even, but we can't do that until congress pass some laws, and as long as most of congress are in the pockets of those big corporations, well they sure as heck won't vote to cut of their supply of the "MONEY"!

We need public financing and we need term limits. The longer a politician is in office, the more corrupt most of them become.

[Child_Of_Isis]

9. Then we get rid of the corporate electronic voting machines

that rig votes in favor of the corporate politicians.

[bluethruandthru]

3. That's because true Democratic values

are what a huge majority of Americans want. They want a safety net for the poor, mentally ill and elderly. They want good healthcare that won't bankrupt people, they want clean air and water. They want safe roads, good schools, affordable colleges for their kids, they want women, minorities and gays to be given the same rights as everyone else...etc., etc. The problem is, these issues have all been distorted beyond recognition by republicans and their right wing talkers.

[drmeow]

4. We have a winner!

{we need a 'hit the nail on the head' smiley}

[Mimosa]

10. ^ TRUE! ^ n/t

[Laelth]

12. I fully agree. A true, strong liberal can win almost anywhere, despite what the DLC says. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[glitch]

16. Only if the votes are truly counted.

There's a reason the right wing had to buy up the media and vote-counting industries.

[AlinPA]

5. I totally believe that if we run Real Democrats, independent voters will vote for them.

Maybe even a few old time republicans (not many of them left, though).

[Mimosa]

11. ^ True ^ n/t

[Laelth]

13. Hear, hear! n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[stray cat]

6. but Obama is not a progressive according to many DUers and repubs voted for him

[MannyGoldstein]

7. *Candidate* Obama was a Progressive, more or less

And he won HUGE! A black guy winning the US Presidency by an overwhelming margin! Unbelievable!!!

Entirely different Obama, these days - and his poll numbers are entirely different, as well.

[postulater]

8. That's why Feingold gets elected.

He makes sense and there are a lot of Republicans who are sensible.

(Of course there are a lot that aren't also.)

[Laelth]

14. k&r for Alan Grayson!

He tells the truth.

:dem:

-Laelth

[William Z. Foster]

15. yes

This is an interesting paradox.

People who vote Republican will vote for a "far left candidate. Why? because they are working class, and the "far left" represents the interests of working class people. They will not however vote for a "moderate" Democrat. Why? because moderate Democrats represent the interests of a gentrified and upscale segment of the population.

The moderate Democratic party politicians know this, and we should saw a massive landslide win because people thought there was a chance of getting another FDR, not because millions of people suddenly converted to become upscale Seattle liberals.

In order to suppress the left - in other words to suppress the working class people, to keep the rabble in their place and make sure they don't get any ideas about democracy, equality and justice that could upset the apple cart for those at all levels of society who control the rest of us - a phony left-right "spectrum" has to be imagined and people need to be beaten over the head with that relentlessly. That gives us two parties that are merely two different approaches for achieving the same goals, for keeping the same people in power and for preserving the system that keeps them in power. We are to then imagine that these are the two opposite extreme poles of all possible political thinking. This makes the system of partisan electoral politics - falsely called "democracy" - into a feud between two wings of the aristocracy, and most people in the country have little or no stake in who wins that feud.

If it were not true that the left could not and would not gather the support of 70% of public or more there would be no need for the ferocious effort that is always going on to marginalize and attack the left. If the Democratic party were a serious alternative to the Republican party, there would be no need for Democrats to be engaging in that. Yet every discussion is dominated by attacks on the left. The left is a threat to those in power, and to all of those who identify with and carry water for the powerful in exchange for receiving some status and perks and comfort.

The degree to which the intellectuals, the educated professional and middle management people, have been co-opted as spokespersons for the powerful and as defenders of the murderous system under which we live, may be the most significant and important feature of modern American politics. As the Democratic party has increasingly become the creature of the corporations and Wall Street - of the wealthiest people - it has become the perfect vehicle for intellectuals to "have their cake and eat it too." They can defend the rulers - and that is what their comfort and perks and status are dependent upon - and yet still maintain a fiction that they are somehow in support of justice and equality, that they are not betraying their fellow working class people. Turning political stands into a matter of "beliefs" facilitates this. A person can do or advocate one thing - calling that "realistic" or "practical - yet claim to "believe" in the right things. There is no way to get inside their heads to find out what they "believe," so there is no way to challenge them on that, yet they get angry and resistant should you challenge them on what they are actually saying and doing - "we have to be practical!" or "now is not the time!" or "you are going about it wrong!" or "it can't happen overnight!" or "how dare you suggest that I am (bigoted, racist, right wing, homophobic!" or "at least we are better than the Republicans!" or "you are advocating violent revolution!" are some of the responses.