I’m sure you know that Progressives are often silenced within the Democratic Party, exemplified by the current health care situation in Congress. Yes, most of us want Single-Payer or at least a strong Public Option; however, even that seems like it may be compromised away.
Solutions to this constant brow-beating are floating around the blogosphere, such as defunding moderate Democratic organizations, aggressive primaries, and even pushing the Progressive Bloc to vote against a compromised health bill that does not include their demands. Overall great ideas and I hope that they are effective. However, there is one solution that is only rarely touched on in comment threads or an offhand remark in a blog post.
First, I quote political analyst Lawrence O’Donnell from the documentary "An Unreasonable Man"
If you want to pull the party--the major party that is closest to the way you’re thinking--to what you’re thinking, you must show them that you’re capable of not voting for them.
The logic that many of us use to justify our vote for the Democrat is that, well at least it’s not the Republican. The Democrat may be in the pocket of corporations, but at least not as much as the Republicans. The Democrat may compromise away our civil liberties, but the Republican would do much worse. The Democrat may have voted for the war, but at least he is pro-choice!
This, my friends, is the recipe for a dangerous status quo and leads to a very "centrist" Democratic Party that seems to be prevailing today. I am a Progressive first, and a Democrat second; that is why we must use our vote to send a message to the Democratic Party that they have lost us. We no longer support their weak positions on fair trade, universal health care, environmental protection, and social justice. They have compromised away their base, and we will punish them electorally.
Self-identified Progressives are not a large percentage of the electorate, and you may brush off my diary as a pie-in-the-sky hope. But time and time again, the American people support us overwhelmingly on key issues such as Single-Payer, Afghanistan War opposition, raising taxes on the wealthy, approval of labor unions, and greenhouse gas regulation. I’m sure there are more, but with an effective message and a principled platform, our movement has the potential to grow exponentially.
As to where to direct our efforts, fundraising, and votes, the most natural fit from my perspective is the Green Party. They are incredibly Progressive, somewhat established, and stand by their principles resolutely. What we need is a party that could be our Reform Party. What Perot did to the Republicans in the 90’s, we can do to the Democrats now. Join me in changing America. Peace.