On many critical issues they are basically the same, and as we know this goes back to the broken system and money.

Of course they aren't identical. Having Sotomayor on the court versus yet another corporatist (see Citizens United ruling) is huge, and reason enough to prefer having a Dem president. And of course there are the social issues. I know, they shouldn't even BE issues, but they are, because they're used to keep at least 1/3 of the country voting against their own economic interests.

Speaking of which, on economic issues Dems are slightly better. For example, there are a few good things in that credit card legislation, although yes, the critical piece (a cap on interest rates) was missing, as usual. The question is if enough people will ever reach a breaking point to refuse to vote for anything but strong progressives, or at least non-corporatists?

In the short run we're better off with the half-assed credit card bill and federal funding of stem cell research (etc.), but in the long run voting for half a loaf only results in crumbs for the vast majority of Americans. And no, that's not a "purist" position, it's pragmatic if anything, because I'm thinking long term. The short-sighted "something is better than nothing" approach enables our broken system.

by Tom Hanc on 03/16/2010 04:38:04 PM EST