I am a liberal, a progressive, and a member of the party base.

[MineralMan]

I vote in every election, and always for the Democrat. I attend caucuses. I work for candidates I support. I donate to the party and to its candidates. I communicate with those whom I have helped to elect.

I realize that I will not get every candidate to share my passion for progressivism, but prefer having a Democrat in an office instead of a Republican. I do not expect every Democrat to agree with me 100%, nor to vote the way I would vote on every measure.

I have been a Democrat all my adult life. I've stuck with this party when we were down. I've stuck with this party when it seemed like we weren't making progress. I will continue to stick with the Democratic Party and its candidates, while working to make the party more progressive and helping to select more progressive candidates.

That's who I am. That's what I will do. That's what I have done in the past. That's why I'm part of the Democratic Party base. That's why Al Franken is now a Senator. He would not be had it not been for all those people who do all those things working hard for it.

I will not vote for a third-party candidate. I will NEVER vote for a Republican. I will work within my party to help make it a better party.

You may do what you want. I am simply telling you what I have done and will do.

[NJmaverick]

1. I feel the same way

:toast:

[MineralMan]

3. Thank you. We will succeed.

:toast:

[NJmaverick]

21. I hope you're right about that

[flamingdem]

2. +1 for common sense nt

[liberalmuse]

4. Yep...

though I did go Independent for 6 months back in 2002 after I perceived the Dems weren't fighting hard enough. That lasted until I realized I couldn't vote in my state's Democratic primaries. Other than that, all you've expressed in your post applies to me as well.

[WonderGrunion]

5. You rawk!!!

Keep on fighting the good fight.

[MineralMan]

6. I just felt like I needed to stand up and say that.

I will not apologize for being a Democrat. I will never apologize for that.

[Skidmore]

7. Yup, yup, yup!

K&R.

[dajoki]

8. K&R

[MineralMan]

10. Thank you very much!

[dajoki]

57. You expressed...

my feelings better than I could have, thank you!!:hi:

[H2O Man]

9. Recommended.

Thanks for this.

I think a person can be a liberal, with some progressive beliefs; or a progressive, with some liberal stances. But that the two represent distinct political positions. Still, I like the OP, and thank you for posting it.

[HughMoran]

11. I see things very much the same way

The Dems are the good to the Republicans 'evil' (to put it in black/white terms). There are more liberal groups in this country than many Democrats, but they are rarely viable political candidates. Promoting non-viable political parties only serves to weaken the Democratic Party and strengthen the Republicans. I think that DU is considered a bell-weather indicator for other blogs & some television organizations (MSNBC/TYT etc.) - I don't dismiss out-of-hand the influence that DU, as a representative of a large cross-section of liberal Democratic thinking, has on the political scene in this country.

[FSogol]

12. Me too. n/t

[boomerbust]

13. Me too MineralMan

Thumbs up from your neighbor to the east. This country has been so completely trashed by the great conservative revolution of course we have to stand with Obama. Its going to take more than eight years that our President will have.

[MineralMan]

14. I agree with you completely. This is not the time to drop the

ball and walk off the court. It is the time to build on what is already there and move to advance liberal and progressive ideas. President Obama is limited by the Congress we have elected. That's where we need to exert our influence, and in every election, from special elections to off-year elections to Presidential elections.

If we abandon the Democratic party now, we may never get back to our current position. If we keep working, we may be able to make the right the minority for many decades to come. I see no option.

[boomerbust]

20. One more thing MineralMan

And this is coming from a lifelong Packer fan, GO BRETT AND THE VIKINGS, crush those filthy Cowboys.

[MineralMan]

23. Yah! I'm about to head up to watch the game.

But, no public funds for professional sports stadiums!

[Codeine]

15. Damn right! nt

[MineralMan]

17. We can either stand together or fall apart.

Me? I'll be standing.

[azmouse]

16. Same here.

I couldn't even imagine ever voting for anyone other than a Democrat.

[MineralMan]

18. Thank you for being a part of the Democratic Party base!

And for being a DUer, too.

[blondeatlast]

19. Word. nt

[anonymous171]

22. I vote for the politician that represents my views and promises to fight for my interests. nt

[onestepforward]

24. K&R

I feel the same way. :)

Oops! Posting to OP.

[treestar]

30. One has to go a little broader than that

No two human beings agree 100% of the time. There are many issues. You could agree on one thing and disagree on another.

It would help if you could consider others, too. Politics cannot be just about you and your interests. That's just physically impossible. Unless you are King other peoples' interests will clash and have to be taken into account.

[anonymous171]

31. If they agree with me on 75% of the issues, I usually vote for them

Strategic voting is anti-democratic. America is a Representative Democracy. You vote for politicians because they represent you, not just because they are "better than the other guy."

[treestar]

37. Let's say I live in a state and have a Senator

Let's call him "joe biden."

I know damn well he has to represent the state, not just me.

There are people in the state that have different interests.

I just have to hope Sen. Biden represents the good of the state and that since I live here, what is good for the state is good for me.

[blondeatlast]

34. "...MY interests." 'nuff said. nt

[MineralMan]

36. I'm more concerned with the interests of society than with

my own interests. Given my own preferences, I'd much prefer a socialistic form of government. That is not achievable in the USA today, and probably never will be. I'm going with the best available option, and that is to establish a solid Democratic majority, both nationally and at the state level.

I'm an old man. I will not be here in 20 years, and I leave no offspring. My work, perhaps, though, will do some good. I hope so.

[anonymous171]

38. Then the interests of society are your interests.

See? It's that simple. Everyone has interests. In American politics, you must fight to make sure that they are heard and addressed properly by the government. The only way you can do that is to elect politicians that agree with you.

[bertman]

25. Blind loyalty is not a virtue even if you are a Democrat. As the party leans farther and farther

to the right under the corporate leadership of the DLC and DCCC this 40-plus year Democrat is becoming more and more disillusioned. The influence of corporate money is canceling out the votes of us little people and our options for Progressive policy implementation are more and more restricted.

If you can live with that, so be it, but there are a lot of us who are tired of beating our heads against the corporate party wall. Last election cycle I voted against a Democrat for the first time in my life due to the frustration of that person not representing my interests. That saddened me a great deal, but unfortunately the explanations my Democratic rep gave me for his votes sounded more like those of a Republican than a Democrat and I won't support that kind of crap.

This liberal, progressive member of the base is tired of being ignored. After emailing, calling, working phone banks, advocating for Democratic candidates, and giving my hard-earned money, I have reached the end of the line and will not support another Democrat who I feel is working for the corporate agenda and against the interests of the people. If I think a third-party candidate reflects my values and my political leanings better than a Democrat, I will exercise my right and obligation as an American and vote for her/him with no regrets.

You may do what you want. I am simply telling you what I have done and will do.

[treestar]

29. It is not blind loyalty

The party is a big tent and you can work together with people who dont' agree.

The corporate line is a cop out. If you don't agree with a policy fine, but come up with a better reason and quit being so weak in your support of the party that is at least basically right. You have to convince voters and get them to vote, that's what we have to do. Just whining about "corporations" as a handy scapegoat gets people nowhere.

"disappointment" and "disillusionment" is a luxury only idealists too good for this world can afford. We have to buck up and keep working, not give way to negative emotions and giving up. that's how all of life is, but especially politics.

[bertman]

42. If being in the "big tent" means I have to keep moving my sleeping bag farther and farther

toward the fascist, corporatist right, then I might just try sleeping under the stars for a while.

"Whining"? Excuse me, but your ignorance of corporate influence is showing, treestar. We convinced voters to vote. They voted. The party is now backpedaling and the President is doing the opposite of what he campaigned on.

I'm no idealist. If I had been an idealist I would have dropped out of the Democratic party and politics a long time ago. I'm a realist. And now I'm seeing that the reality of my Democratic big-tent party is that it's a centrist party that is more worried about serving the corporations who are its largest donors, than serving the American people.

As far as bucking up and keeping on working, I refuse to work for people who are working at cross purposes to how I feel things should be done. Let them find some other starry-eyed sucker who still refuses to acknowledge the facts that are staring him in the face.

[MineralMan]

32. That is, of course, your decision.

I am not telling anyone what to do. I'm just telling them what I do.

[Scurrilous]

26. "I will not vote for a third-party candidate. I will NEVER vote for a Republican. "

Amen! :thumbsup:

[treestar]

27. Good for you and for us!

We at least have the maturity to see that it is a long and historical process. And that governing is hard and getting bills passed harder. It takes persistance, not walking away when things don't go well.

[MineralMan]

35. Thanks for that, and for your continued support for the party

that can move America towards the goal.

[madamesilverspurs]

28. Standing ovation!

[MineralMan]

33. Thank you very much!

[hfojvt]

39. that does not sound very democratic, small d

You say that you will never vote for a Republican or 3rd party candidate. That does not sound open-minded either.

Look at it this way, I live in a Republican county in a Republican Congressional district. I work for the election of candidates from the Democratic Party. I think that all voters should at least look at all candidates before they make up their mind. I don't have much respect for somebody who says "I will never vote for a Democrat." I keep an open mind and look at all the candidates and I expect others to do the same.

Same thing about issues. I don't make up my mind like "I love tax cuts" and then stubbornly stick to it. I try to look at the facts and the arguments of both, or all, sides. Just because a Democrat or a Progressive proposes a policy does not mean that I will be ready to carry water for it. I have my own ideas, but I try to keep an open mind towards people with different ideas.

[MineralMan]

40. One man -- One vote.

I have described mine.

[hfojvt]

41. I didn't say that you don't have a right to be closed minded

only that I don't respect you for it.

[MineralMan]

43. But, you see, I respect myself for standing strong. Your respect

for me is not a major concern of mine. Truly, it is not. You know nothing whatever about me and how my mind works, other than what I post here.

Look to yourself.

[hfojvt]

44. I wouldn't expect your mind to be open to my correction either

but that's my opinion anyway. My comment is about your post here. I disagree with what you said. It is close-minded and dogmatic.

You stated that your mind was closed, that you would NEVER vote for the other party's candidates. So I don't have to claim some sort of inside knowledge about how your mind works because I am going by what you said.

As for whether you care about my opinion, nobody posts here without wanting lots of people to think 'she/he's right'. My vote is that 'he's wrong' and I have explained why. I certainly hope that some, or even most, people will agree with me. If you disagree, you are certainly free to say so and explain why, but 'look to yourself' is not an argument.

My last post was probably too much of an attack, but I was trying to make the point that 'yes, you have the right to be wrong (an answer to 'one person one vote' comment that you made) but that does not make you any less wrong'.

"But that's more like an opinion"

[MineralMan]

47. The post button is always available, so you can post as you

wish. Either as a reply to mine or as your own OP. So far, what I said is getting considerable support. You say I'm wrong. OK. I can live with your saying that.

[tavalon]

49. The other poster didn't say you were wrong

He said he disagreed. I also disagree, but I get that your worldview and my worldview can exist under the same big tent I call liberal. Let me tell you a small bit of how I came to my worldview. When I was 18, my grandfather (I was raised by my grandparents. We lived in the deep south) said, "just pull the Democratic lever!". That sounded stupid to me so I started early with researching each candidate and voting based on their views rather than the letter after their name. Funny thing, though, by the time the 90s came, I was voting all Democrat with the occasional independent. Bush really pushed me, to the point that I was on board with the "pull the Democratic lever" (even though such levers no longer exist and barring that, my grandfather, were he alive today, would be voting Republican since he was actually a Dixiecrat, God rest his soul). I did vote for Rob McKenna for my state's AG based on an interview he did on a local radio station and my subsequent research of him but if he really is using the AG position to leverage his ambition to be Governor, he'll not get my vote for that.

I'm a Democrat, registered as such, though I'm finding that Democratic Socialist fits me better, but being a pragmatist (who also gets painted with the idealist brush quite often) I know that we have a two party headlock and nothing appears to be likely to change that so I must change the party from within.

[dflprincess]

60. Mindlessly voting for a Democrat regardless of the positions they take makes no sense

and, be honest, the DFL has been known to endorse some real losers at times at both the state and local levels.

I will confess to having voted for Dave Durenberger the the first time he ran because he was actually more liberal than Bob Short who had won the DFL primary and who the Central Committee endorsed after that primary. Short had narrowly defeated Don Fraser who was wonderful by running as a "prolifer" and hammering northern Minnesota about how awful the BWCA would be for the economy up north.

I only wish the there was a way we could split the DFL back into two parties.

[spanone]

45. k&r

[bobbolink]

46. And *I* voted for Shirley Chisolm... write in vote... and am more proud of that vote now than

I was then.

If the same sort of situation presented itself again, I would vote for someone like her again in a heartbeat.

Yet, I will get trammeled with criticism for it.

"You were a spoiler", etc, and worse.

You do as you wish, and I will do the same.

[tavalon]

50. I went to one of her speeches when I was just a kid!

I adored her with all the fervor of a six year old. I'm unsure who took me to see her, but I remember her!

[bobbolink]

58. And its a strong memory all these years later!

Yes, she was one of a kind.... how lucky we were to have her.

On this day, I remember people like her, too.....how they influenced all of us so much.

I envy you....I would have LOVED to have heard her in person!

Well, I heard Cynthia McKinney....does that count?

[tavalon]

59. I think Cynthia McKinney counts

A friend of mine from college just found me on facebook and we were reconnecting. We started talking politics and pretty quickly found out that while we differ in some things, we are both bleeding heart liberals. He voted for Cynthia McKinney for President in this last election. He thought he would have to explain to me who she is, but then I explained that over the years, thanks in a large part, to DU, I have become very politically aware and often aware of things most people don't know about.

[havocmom]

48. Me too, but I insist on the right to point out when DEM pols are behaving badly

I take that citizen oversight responsibility pretty seriously. I want bad DEM office holders primaried by candidates who will actually work toward party planks. Lip service in front of the cameras and then back room deals selling out the people doesn't cut it. I want pols who pull those stunts primaried.

[applegrove]

51. Thanks for sharing.

[Maru Kitteh]

52. K&R.

[eridani]

53. I haven't always been where you are, but I am now.

If I don't get the policy I want from conservadems, I'll help primary them where feasible. If my primary candidate loses, I'll still soldier on for the winner. (Which is a fuck of a lot more than the establishment does when the shoe is on the other foot.)

[change_notfinetuning]

54. For the first time in my life, I agree with something that Ronald Reagan said:

"I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left me."

They're trying to, anyway. And it seems hopeless that they will change their mind. At least he had the Repugs to go to. I have no viable option, and that's what these asshole "Democrats" are counting on. People shouldn't be treated like door mats, in any relationship. No one should feel they must stay in an abusive relationship, or be blamed if they do stay, and can't muster the energy to go through all the motions for the sake of appearance.

[Zhade]

55. Good for you. Your dedication enables their betrayal.

NT!

[Politicub]

56. Right on -- right there with you!

:kick:

[MadHound]

61. In other words you are part of the problem,

You're willing to accept anything and everything, no matter whether it is good, bad or indifferent just so long as it has a D behind it.

That is what keeps moving this party to the right, this is why it continues to become ever more corporately corrupt because people like you say "My party, right or wrong" and do nothing, just keep blindly voting.

Congratulations on being part of the problem.

[tabbycat31]

62. I feel the same way