Lesser of two evils

I've read a lot of bloggers who are fed up with our two party system. They complain that corporate money and influence is so pervasive that both parties are corrupted, with the people suffering from neglect. While I would argue that there are more decent politicians around than is sometimes acknowledged, I will concede that neither major party has done nearly enough to move our country forward. I'm very sympathetic to the frustration many progressives feel in choosing the "lesser of two evils" on election day. The most courageous response to this problem would be to work hard for years building up a viable alternative party-- that could elect candidates to office and help to improve government. In the meantime, disappointment with both parties is not an acceptable reason to stay away from the polls. When one evil is clearly far more destructive than the other, allowing it to triumph is truly unconscionable. Even if you're not very impressed with the gains of the last two years, you need to be thankful that we haven't yet erased all progress made in the last eighty years. We need to face the fact that the Republicans have moved so far to the right that they are openly advocating a return to how things were before Woodrow Wilson. Yes, even Herbert Hoover was too much of a socialist for these crazies. So, by all means protest and push back against the rightward drift of the Democratic party. But please don't surrender this country to the plutocrats pouring money into Republican coffers without a fight. Follow the example of the unions, by working hard for more progressive Democrats and let the "blue dogs" beg their corporate masters for help.

Tuesday will see a lot of lukewarm voters deciding whether they should be bothered to vote. The last thing this country needs is for them to be persuaded that it doesn't matter if the Republicans are in charge.