I hear people say, all the time and with pride, "I vote for the man, well, the person, not the party," or "I don't care if the candidate is a Democrat or a Republican or whatever, I vote for the one I think is best qualified."
Alternatively, sometimes I hear people say, "If [my preferred candidate in the primary] doesn't win, I'm going to vote for [other party's presumptive nominee], because [non-preferred candidate in the primary] is too conservative" or too untrustworthy or too polarizing or whatever.
Well, that's just crap.
Maybe it wasn't always crap, but it is now.
It is essential to suck it up if necessary and vote Democratic. Stay tuned and I'll tell you why.
I should make clear that while I am speaking primarily about elections for Federal office, and in this diary I will focus on arguments that apply to Presidential and Congressional elections, for the most part the same principle applies in state and local elections as well.
VOTING FOR PRESIDENT
Many people have already made the argument about the importance of a Democratic President because the President appoints Federal judges, who serve for life -- generally far beyond the term of the President who appoints them. But even if you put that aside and focus on the next four to eight years of government operations, it's still vitally important to elect a Democrat.
The President does not run the country. Repeat: the President does not run the country. Who, then, does run the country? The President's executive branch appointees run the country.
And where do these people come from? They come from the various interest groups and constituencies that got the President elected, and that he (or she) is beholden to in one way or another. They come from think tanks and publications that supported the President as a candidate. They are the fellow travelers.
So you're not choosing between Hillary Clinton (or Barack Obama) and John McCain. You're choosing between the NRA and the NEA. You're choosing between NOW and Eagle Forum. You're choosing between the Sierra Club and the Club for Growth.
For it will be from among the ranks of these constituencies that the cabinet secretaries and lower-level, mostly invisible executive branch appointees will come, bringing their predispositions with them.
See where I'm going with this?
As for third party candidates from the left, don't get me started. What I'm saying here is that the levers of government are going to be held for the foreseeable future by one major party or the other. And if you care at all about keeping the Republicans' hands off those levers, you have to vote Democratic. No Naders (well, OK, if you live in Utah or Wyoming you can vote for Nader, as long as we have the electoral college; otherwise, no).
VOTING FOR U.S. HOUSE / SENATE
(or, why we tolerate Joe Lieberman)
In a nutshell: no matter how "good" or "moderate" or "OK" any individual Republican may be, he or she is still a member of the Republican caucus. The majority party caucus selects the committee chairs and legislative branch leadership. When the Democrats took the Senate back after the 2006 elections, the Democratic caucus installed Ted Kennedy instead of Arlen Specter at Judiciary, Dan Inouye instead of Ted Stevens at Commerce, and Chris Dodd instead of Richard Shelby at Banking/Housing/Urban Affairs. And whether you abominate him or not, Joe Lieberman is vote #51 that makes all this happen.
I know it's not always easy to follow this rule. I myself have broken it, although in my defense I will say that I broke it during a time when the stakes were lower. Back in the day, when Democrats held what appeared to be a perpetual majority in the House, I lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (in Ed Koch's old "silk stocking district") and I regularly voted to keep my liberal Republican Congressman, Bill Green, in office. I felt vaguely proud of myself for being so bipartisan, and moved away in 1990, before redistricting made him more vulnerable and he lost his seat to Carolyn Maloney. But when it all went South and the Republicans took over the House in 1995, it became clear to me just how much each seat mattered.
CONCLUSION
Hey, I was (sorta kinda still am) a John Edwards supporter. I see plenty that I don't like in both Clinton and Obama. But I see a lot more that I don't like in John McCain, and voting for him, or voting in such a way as to increase his likelihood of being elected. is out of the question. Progressive disparagers of Hillary Clinton / progressive supporters of Hillary Clinton: observe the fratricide being openly discussed on the Republican side, and learn. This is what parties are for. (Lieberman, are you listening?) We may not all agree 100% of the time, but we know what side we're on.
Just vote Democratic. The country you save may be your own.