Sunday, May 1, 2011

Can Obama win on Election Day? an interesting FaceBook discussion--- join in

Note: I will continue to post the discussion as it continues here, too. All points of view are welcome.

 

http://www.facebook.com/notes/alan-l-maki/can-obama-win-on-election-day/10150235380210086?notif_t=like

 

Can Obama win on Election Day?

by Alan L. Maki on Saturday, April 30, 2011 at 8:04am




Once people feel they have been betrayed by a politician they don't go back. 

If Obama remains in the race it simply means fewer people will be voting. Had people believed Obama and the Democrats were real opposition to the Republicans they would have turned out in droves for the 2010 Election.

In fact, you can talk to people anyplace--- where they are being robbed at the gas pumps, having their pockets picked at the local supermarket, walking down the cracked, crumbling and uneven sidewalks, at work, in community centers or the local union hall, sitting in their cold, unheated living rooms because they can't afford to heat their homes and pay the mortgage or in the state park camping--- no matter where you go these days, you are not going to find "happy campers."

If there are those who don't believe, just do your own survey by going to your local supermarket and stand at the meat cooler near the hamburger and say to someone: "Pretty soon we aren't going to afford to eat any more; these prices are ridiculous." Say this to ten people; let me know what they say. Then go to the fruits where the bananas are and say, "Look at the prices; can you afford these things?" Again, let me know what the first ten people say. Then take your voter survey out to the gas station and say to a few people, "When is this robbery at the pumps going to end?" Let me know how people respond.

Let's be clear-minded here and not influenced by the Democratic Party hacks who are working the social networking sites posing as real people using 40 or 50 phony names bullying, badgering and intimidating people with this crap like, "If you don't support Obama you are going to be saluting Donald Trump." 

Most people never voted for Obama in the first place; they voted against the Republicans because their livelihoods were already deteriorating and they were war-weary and just plain fed-up. Does anyone really believe that people are happier today because their standard of living has improved? Are people any less war-weary? If you want to know the answer, just ask people: 

"How is Obama's war economy working for you?"

Obama doesn't dare ask voters this question; his die-hard supporters and Democratic Party hacks just loathe this question being asked.

Yet, this question is the most honest and forthright question that can be asked of anyone in this country because the answers tell us exactly what people are thinking. 

The fight between the Democrats and Republicans for votes will be for a share of fewer voters. The Republicans are relying on this although the Republicans have moved so far to the right many of their own people are not turning out to vote, either.

Also, Obama by his own admission, is no liberal. 

I am not nit-picking terms here. It is important we understand where everyone is coming from ideologically because it pretty much tells us what we can expect from people and the organizations and movements they "lead."

Obama is a neo-liberal which makes him as reactionary as reactionary can be. 

By his own admission, Obama is ideologically a "pragmatist" very typical of the Wall Street crowd, as is the labor leadership in this country; and, unfortunately, much of the leadership of the peace, civil rights, environmental and women's movements are ideological pragmatists making it virtually impossible for even the littlest of reforms to be won.

In my opinion the entire results of this election in 2012 will be determined by what the liberal-minded voters do; Obama has lost the majority of progressive and left voters for sure and he seems to pretty much have lost the liberal voters who are the most important block in this country when it comes to voting and building movements for progressive change which at this point includes the need to build an alternative party reflecting the aspirations of people who want a United States of America that is for peace, social and economic justice.

This is the very best time for liberals, progressive and the left to begin building a new party that offers a real alternative to Wall Street's two parties because we really don't have to worry about being called "spoilers" even though that tag shouldn't bother us because we have the right to vote for the kind of country we want; but, as things presently stand, it is those who continue to support Obama who are the real spoilers because they cling to Obama--- a loser.

While it is always possible in life for what appears to be impossible to happen, all common sense should tell us a President with three wars hanging around his neck as his major "accomplishments" with rapidly rising prices for food, gas, home heating fuels and electricity coupled with huge unemployment, massive home foreclosures and evictions and the freezing and reductions of wages and benefits is not going to be getting voted in again. Politically the odds of Obama getting elected again are virtually nil. 

Unless you believe Obama can win without liberals, progressives and left voters turning out to vote for him on Election Day, Obama can't win. In fact, the election isn't even going to be close; Obama will be trounced and trampled at the polls.

Even if Obama can win on Election Day he deserves to have every liberal, progressive and leftist working to defeat him because he does not represent or reflect the kind of country we want.

Here is my choice for 2012:


Cynthia McKinney and Cindy Sheehan might not be able to win on Election Day 2012; but, neither can Barack Obama... I will, however, be voting for the kind of country I want as a left-wing working class voter. And this is my right. I am not going to be badgered, bullied and intimidated into voting for a rotten Wall Street war-monger. I didn't tell Nixon to take his Vietnam war and shove it up his ass only to be bullied into voting for another warmonger--- Barack Obama.
 ·  · Share · Delete

    • Michael J Cavlan Alan Mo Chara (Irish for Comrade)- EXCELLENT- Thank You
      21 hours ago ·  ·  1 person
    • Michael J Cavlan I can contact both Cynthia and Cindy.. See if they will do it.
      21 hours ago ·  ·  3 people
    • Ben Patterson Sounds very much like what was said when Lincoln was running for reelection. (Lincoln was reelected.)
      20 hours ago · 
    • Alan L. Maki And we all know Obama is no Lincoln. Had Obama been president during the Civil War the Confederacy would have won and slavery would still be around.
      20 hours ago ·  ·  3 people
    • Sallie Elkordy First of all, I cannot thank you enough for your support and awareness raising for the McKinney & Sheehan 2012 ticket. Secondly I have been thinking that Obama & Trump would be a good ticket to oppose them. Great article Alan. Will put directly up on the site. Much appreciated.
      19 hours ago ·  ·  3 people
    • 'Mike Bartell Its always screw the rich? you ever been given a job by a poor guy and if all the rich leave wont you mis all the liberal movie stars that are such experts in everything.
      10 hours ago · 
    • Alan L. Maki Mike; more like the rich are screwing all the rest of us; that's how they get rich.
      10 hours ago ·  ·  3 people
    • 'Mike Bartell you could confiscate all the money and property the rich have and it would do nothing for the debit Lets get back to self dependency people doing for themselves giving a hand up not a hand out. and by the way my Dad got rich from 0 with hard work not cheating people out of it, but thats ok lump them all into one bunch if you want.
      10 hours ago · 
    • Alan L. Maki How did your dad get rich, Mike? Did you inherit his wealth?

      As for "confiscating" all the money from the rich, we call it taxation. You don't have a problem with rich people paying taxes, do you?
      10 hours ago ·  ·  2 people
    • Carol Green 
      many are rich because their companies work in collusion with government (Fascism). ie. G.E., Bank of America, etc., paying no taxes. These "rich" people offer nothing to benefit this country; they are like parasites taking more and more ...See More
      10 hours ago ·  ·  1 person
    • 'Mike Bartell no I do not I just hate class warfare at any level, I wish everyone paid taxes not just 45%
      10 hours ago · 
    • Harvey Smith Alan,Excellent! Home run Comrade!
      9 hours ago · 
    • Alan L. Maki Who are the 55% who don't pay taxes, Mike?
      9 hours ago ·  ·  1 person
    • Harvey Smith The rich are the one who have outwardly engaged in class warfare
      9 hours ago · 
    • Christopher Alan Driscoll 
      Voting statistics: 56 percent of eligible voters voted in 2008. Of those, 53 percent--that is, less than 30 percent of eligible voters--voted for Obama, 47 percent--that is, less than 26 percent of eligible voters--for McCain. Forty-four percent chose not to vote; that means that of those three choices, the party of the non-voter won the plurality by a wide margin! It was larger than either the Democrat voters or the Republican voters. McKinney and Sheehan are both great voices for the people, moral women who stand up for what's right. I'd love to see them teem up on a ticket representing the party of the non-voter. They should go around the country urging people to refuse to cooperate with a corrupt electoral and governmental system that is run by the rich and by big business. Vote no to all of the above. Vote no to Obama, and to whichever fool the Republicans run. Boycott the elections until we get real election reform, including a total proportional representation system.
      2 hours ago · 
    • Christopher Alan Driscoll Great article Alan, although I'm still sure that Obama and his billion dollars will win the rigged election.
      2 hours ago ·  ·  1 person
    • Alan L. Maki 
      Chris; I don't understand what the point would be to waste time traveling all over the country encouraging people not to vote. 

      I wouldn't waste my time walking around my neighborhood trying to encourage people not to vote; are you presently engaged in such activity? If so, share with us what you are hearing from people in response. Go knock on thirty doors on each side of where you live and let us know what everyone tells you. Knocking on 60 doors is not too much to ask of you if you are going to advocate this kind of position for a nation-wide "action."

      I wouldn't contribute to such a cross-campaign as you are advocating in any way. If there were an organized approach to doing this it could and should be done by people in their local communities only if a progressive ticket can't be found to run. 

      And, to conduct a boycott of the elections if there is a ticket like McKinney/Sheehan would be:

      1.Just plain mean, nasty and disrespectful of their efforts;

      2. Be counter-productive since we need to struggle on all fronts to defend our rights and fight for peace, social and economic justice;

      3. Hand a victory to Wall Street without a struggle. 

      4. Any electoral reforms will only come about as a direct result of struggles at the ballot box and in the streets combined with all other forms of struggle.

      I don't see working people in Greece or Canada or anyplace else in the world taking this position you are advocating; in fact, those organizations leading the most united, mass and militant struggles in the streets are taking those struggles into the election booth while simultaneously continuing the struggles in the streets---- unlike here where the state and national union leadership is trying to help Wall Street get workers out of the streets in order to re-elect Obama. Your position is no better than that advocated by Richard Trumka, Leo Gerard and Bob King--- who, by-the-way, refuse to insist the financing these dirty imperialist wars not be part of any discussions relating to the budget debates.

      But, no matter what method of struggle is collectively agreed upon is going to have to become a national grassroots and rank-and-file effort that will lead towards building greater opposition to Wall Street's domination of the social, political and economic life of our country.

      In my opinion, I think it would be more difficult to organize a boycott as you suggest, unless it is your thinking that this is an excuse for doing nothing, than to try to get support for an anti-war/people-before-profit ticket.

      In my opinion, the most important electoral reform required at this point is easy ballot access in line with the kind of "Jeffersonian democracy" that is touted to every school child every day. 

      In my opinion what you are suggesting could be very dangerous considering what we are seeing developing in Michigan where a fascist-minded and obviously racist Governor Snyder is dictatorially taking over elected local governmental bodies and appointing "administrators" and such a boycott as you advocate would only provide the cover for the unbridled and uncontrolled corporate control of this country.

      Virg Bernero, one of the best candidates in the country who should have been elected but lost to Rick Snyder, made a very important observation regarding what is going on in this country: "Budgets are a reflection of our true priorities." 

      Now, if we give up the fight at the ballot box we are giving Wall Street all the power to determine the priorities of this country and when we do this we can kiss good-bye any idea of ever having the kind of country we really want.

      You obviously are thinking that the worse things get the quicker people will rise up and rebel. Well, it has been proven life does not work this way. And, it is not so easy to shake off fascism.

      I do think it is appropriate to advocate every voter be encouraged to give deep and thoughtful consideration to where each and every candidate they intend to vote for stands on the main and primary issues; where people are voting for the kind of country they want which includes people telling candidates from every party:

      - No peace; no votes.

      - No jobs; no votes.

      - No real health care reform; no votes...

      And so on right down the line of a very modest program like this:

      A program for real change...

      * Peace--- end the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and shutdown the 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil.

      * A National Public Health Care System - ten million new jobs.

      * A National Public Child Care System - three to five million new jobs.

      * WPA - three million new jobs.

      * CCC - two million new jobs.

      * Tax the hell out of the rich and cut the military budget by ending the wars to pay for it all which will create full employment.

      * Enforce Affirmative Action; end discrimination.

      * Raise the minimum wage to a real living wage

      * What tax-payers subsidize in the way of businesses, tax-payers should own and reap the profits from.

      * Moratorium on home foreclosures and evictions.

      * Defend democracy by defending workers' rights including the right to collective bargaining for improving the lives and livelihoods of working people.

      * Roll-back and freeze the price of food, electricity, gas and heating fuels; not wages, benefits or pensions.

      * Wall Street is our enemy.

      Let's talk about the politics and economics of livelihood for a real change.

      This requires encouraging each and every person in this country to ask themselves the question:

      How is Obama's war economy working for you?

      And if they answer, "Not good;" then we need to suggest they consider voting "for the kind of country they want."

      I seriously doubt the American people, especially working people, can get the kind of country they want by not participating in the electoral process, and the more involved people are in the electoral process the more likely they are going to get the kind of country they want--- after all, Wall Street has had pretty much no formidable opposition in the electoral arena for many years since it controls both parties. So, we really can't say we have given electoral politics a chance because we haven't had a working class-based peoples' party.
      48 minutes ago · 

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