In 1936, the farthest left President in history -Franklin D. Roosevelt Sr.- easily defeated a very weak challenge from an unpopular Republican Party. In his Presidency, President Roosevelt created the Tennessee Valley Authority, Social Security, and at large, the New Deal. He unsuccessfully attempted to kill the separation of powers pack the Supreme Court and faced severe backlash in the 1938 midterm elections. While he had the Presidency, only for two years did he have a Liberal-Democratic majority in both houses of Congress.
His Presidency ended seventy-seven years ago, and with the exception of 1965-1967 under Lyndon B. Johnson, progressives have not had the kind of strength that they would need to pass legislation that they claim would benefit America. After liberals lost in the Presidential elections of 1968 and 1972, as well as 1984 and 1988, the "moderates" in the Democratic Party won control of the nomination in 1976, 1980, 1992 and onwards.
As progressives in the closely divided Congress watch their proposals tanked by President Senator Joseph Manchin III ("D"-WV), young voters (who lean left) and the activist base have chafed at having to compromise. After all, they have been left (pun fully intended) in the cold for decades. Progressives like to complain about the Democratic establishment, yet so many of them and the liberals still vote for people like House Speaker Nancy D. Pelosi (D-CA), House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-S.C) and wonder why nothing changes. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-DE) and Vice President Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) are going to lead the Democratic-establishment into a blood bath in the midterms. President Biden, just like former President Barack H. Obama II (D-IL), exploited the issue of abortion in the 2020 Presidential election, promising to protect the "right to choose".
Yet, he knows he does not have the support for reckless proposals such as ending the Hyde Amendment or gutting the filibuster that he needs to actually get it done. The promises that he made (and cannot keep) have harmed his standing amongst the activist base of the Democratic Party, and they will hand Republicans control of Congress (by staying home).
When President William J. Clinton (D-AR) took office in 1993, he moved quickly to expel progressivism from the Democratic Party, but still fully expected them to back him for re-election, which they did. And there lies the problem.
Progressives have allowed themselves to be bullied, abused, and neglected by unprincipled centrists. No matter what, Republicans will portray any non-Republican candidate (who is their main opponent) as a vile, sub-human creature. And "centrist" Democrats allow themselves to be bullied by Republicans.
I am not supportive of President Biden's gun control efforts, the progressive attempts to pack the Supreme Court, among other things, but as someone who sees that the two-party system is objectively useless, I say to the progressives, have you had enough?
If the progressives (who make up 6% of the electorate and 12% of the Democratic base) would just leave the Democratic party and join the Green Party (all left-wing parties should merge with the Greens, the only viable left-wing party) they absolutely could impact the outcome of elections.
President Biden, who served as Barack Obama's token segregationist Vice President, you'd think he would have seen how Republicans fought tooth and nail to sabotage President Obama at all costs, and they were very effective in spite of the large Democratic majorities from 2009-2011. President Biden has the slimmest majorities since 2001-2003 under Republican President George W. Bush.
Without a 60/40 Democratic majority, President Biden can't theoretically have his party break filibusters without Republican votes. Progressives say that they are worried about democracy, yet they vote for a party that can't do anything at all. They are marginalized, smeared, ordered to "vote blue no matter who", and other slave tactics. No matter what, as long as progressives vote for the Democrats, they should not be surprised when their ideas on healthcare, energy, taxes, etc., are shelved because the Democratic establishment does not care about anything that their donors disapprove of. President Biden pledged to add a "public option" to the Affordable Care Act and dropped it just before taking office.
Clearly, electing a racist establishment Democrat to be President of the United States was not going to accomplish anything more than ending "mean tweets", and keeping the status quo.
"B-b-b-b-ut voting third party lets Republicans win!!!!11"
No, it doesn't. A candidate who cannot convince a plurality (or majority where required) of voters to pick them, then they lost and it's their fault. Progressives (if they have any sense of dignity) would stop bailing out political losers like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, and vote the way your conscience tells you, not out of this endless cycle of "this election is the most important ever" every two years. Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT) put up an extremely strong challenged to former Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton (D-N.Y), and had he understood how to run a competent campaign, he would have won the nomination, although maybe not the election.
You see, Republicans don't balance the ticket, they nominate conservatives for both President and Vice President. Conservative Republicans run and either win or lose. But no matter what, even if they are reviled like former President Donald J. Trump (R-FL), they have a fighting chance at winning. Even if they lose, they will never get less than 46% of the vote. It's time for principled progressives to leave the Democratic Party, and join a party that is consistent (even if I have my many disagreements). While no party is perfect (and I don't blame you if you're a registered independent), if you do believe in voting, vote for the candidate whose views align with yours, not a desperate establishment hack who will tell you that your ideas suck.
Rather than back a party that pays lip service to things that you care about and not even try to act on them, hit them where it hurts. Threaten their power.
Ciao.
Follow my Twitter: @SkylerSatterfi1
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