Coventina's admonishment to those who didn't vote or are threatening not to in 2012

[Coventina]

A few threads I've seen here today have inspired me to write this:

I just cannot believe that ANYONE who supposedly is dedicated to the idea of democracy would choose to not vote. Especially for a childish, yes I said it, childish reason that their demands, whatever they may be, were not met.

Guess what? You have as much responsibility as anyone else. This is still a democracy and that means YOU have to participate. Not participating undermines the fragile roots of a delicate flower clinging to life in the desert of human history. Modern, liberal democracies are a relatively new and fragile thing in the grand scheme of things.

Granted the system is not FAIR, that just means that YOU have to work HARDER! People lost their lives in the streets of Paris, Boston, Warsaw, and Budapest just to have the right that you peevishly want to throw away to "send a message".

I challenge any of you "non-voters" to walk into your local Democratic Party office and offer your services. If ANY of them tell you "no thanks, we have all the help we need", please come back to this thread and post their phone number so I can call them and give them a Skittles-style verbal ass-kicking. But guess what? I'd be willing to bet a week's pay that won't happen. YOU ARE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY! You want it changed? Get involved and change it! Hold the elected leaders responsible by contacting them and getting involved. IT'S EASY! And they will hold you in respect (even if they don't outwardly show it) because they know that for every person who calls or emails about 100+ people who feel the same way don't bother.

I know this basic message has been posted over and over again by the Admins on down. BECAUSE IT HAPPENS TO BE TRUE! If you don't like what the party stands for, get off the sidelines and get involved.

You have two years to change what the Democratic Party stands for. Don't wait for someone to do it for you. It's your responsibility to build this party AND COUNTRY! Yes, money & special interests are against you, and it will be difficult and change might come very, very slowly. But if people took the attitude of "it can't be done" we'd all still be living in slums under the rule of despots. WHICH IS WHERE WE ARE HEADED AGAIN UNLESS YOU GET TO WORK! Those early democrats were up against much more than we are.

Thanks for your time.
:rant:

[Zenlitened]

1. Haranguing people for their support does not seem to have been a very effective strategy.

Perhaps it's time to try earning their support?

:shrug:

[Coventina]

2. My point was that universal sufferage means universal responsibility.

EVERYONE has to participate. If someone doesn't like the system, they are responsible for getting involved and working to change it rather than standing on the sidelines saying "I'll get involved when my demands are met."

Not voting is giving up power. Why would anyone want to do that?

[Zenlitened]

4. I think many (non)voters feel that they have no pwer to give up...

... or that whatever power there once was in voting, it has been taken away.

They seem to me to be coming from a place of "What the hell difference will it make anyway?" They're exhausted, they're running full-speed on a treadmill, they've learned that cynicism is a useful strategy for the powerless, as least in day-to-day terms.

And if they feel they are being lectured, they will shut you right out, believe me I've seen it.

None of my post is to say they can't be reached. In fact, I have long maintained that connecting with the vast pool of non-voters is the key to success, rather than haggling over "swing" voters.

What's needed, IMO, is something anything to point to, that shows their concerns, their lives, their well-being is on the radar. Not that they've gotten What They Want. Just that What They Want is even part of the conversation.

It was a very tough sell this time around.


(Edited subject line)

[Coventina]

5. I think you are referring to a different group of people than I am.

My comments are addressed to people here on DU posting that either they did not vote or will not vote in 2012.

The people you are referring to I doubt are here posting.

And believe me, I am sympathetic to the people you refer to. I am working more than full-time hours for part-time pay to try and put food on my family in this disaster of an economy that Bush left us with.

So I get that there are a lot of people out there that are just trying to get through each day as it comes without the luxury of thinking beyond this month's rent & utilities. We, and I mean the Democratic Party more generally, need to do a much better job of reaching out to those people to bring them into the process. I completely agree with you that we could really turn the party and the country around if we would address their bread-and-butter concerns.

[Zenlitened]

6. Sorry for the mix-up. :)

I'm still decompressing from campaign season, I guess. :)

[Coventina]

9. I can understand how that happened. I should have made my OP clearer.

:pals:

[treestar]

8. LOL! They have no power to give up!

Well by not voting they gave it up themselves!

This kind of cynicism is so "cool" these days. Well the "cool" above-it-alls are the most powerless people in the country.

And we don't need to earn a vote they aren't giving. They just are no longer included.

[Zenlitened]

12. Please re-read my post. "Cool" has nothing to do with anything.

People who have learned the hard way that their vote counts for nothing can't really be accused of giving away their own power.

But they can be convinced that they do indeed have some power after all, if the conditions are right and the arguments are sound.

Though that's all a bit beyond what you're willing to contribute to the conversation, I can see.

[treestar]

13. I go and vote, why do I have to work so hard to get these other

people to vote? If they don't care, they don't care. Why we have to make them care is beyond me. I care enough about the country to do something so easy as vote. I don't count my vote as useless because it does not translate into immediate benefits.

I'm sick of the idea that I have to cater to these people. They will change their minds at the drop of a hat, too.

If they don't care, let them stay home and be powerless. they had equal rights to vote as everyone else did.

[Zenlitened]

15. No one is asking you to do anything, believe me.

No one is asking you to earn anybody's vote. It's politicians who must earn people's votes.

The less you do to "help" the Democrats, the better off we'll all be.

[treestar]

7. It is a CIVIC DUTY

Your country does not have to EARN it from you! Enough of that spoiled child theme already!

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[Zenlitened]

11. What are you talking about? Who is voting for a *country*?

And stop projecting your "spoiled child" nonsense all over the place, would you? It should be pretty clear by now that castigating people as whiners is a strategy doomed to fail, no?

[treestar]

14. It is a CIVIC DUTY to vote.

If you don't care about your country, I'll call you a whiner all day! I don't care if they are going to now cry that I called them a whiner!

How passive aggressive. You have to court me for my vote or I'll just withdraw it from you even though it renders me with no say in the political process!

Why do we have to court these people? They can just stay home and not vote. And their complaints can be ignored.

[Zenlitened]

16. Again, it is politicians who must earn votes. No one is asking you to court...

... or cater or anything else. It's obviously not a strong point anyway.

Regarding civic duty... I would argue that it is a civic duty to vote wisely.

If someone decides that the wisest course, in their estimation, is to cast no vote, then that's their right.

You might not agree, I might not agree.

But to jingoistically insist that it is a civic duty to vote for whomever the parties put forth, whether we feel the candidate is worth voting for or not... that's just empty bleating, every bit as whiny and ineffectual as the behavior you decry.

[Bitwit1234]

3. I do not believe that with holding a vote to send a message is

very very child est. Look what it got. Republican rule to tear up what this administration did manage to get. ARE THEY PROUD OF THAT. They won't get jobs, the economy won't be fixed and nothing but back to the tax cuts for the super rich and more control by corporations. OH and trying to impeach Obama.

[blondeatlast]

10. I think that those who did this and remain on DU need a gentle, respectful reminder

that they did absolutely nothing to move this country forward,

I won't risk a tombstone for them, but I don't think I need to tolerate their complaints, either, and I've yet to use the Ignore function for more than a week or so.