Can Someone On The Far Left Vote For Biden? It Turns Out... Yes-- And With Eyes Wide Open

 

Matthew Grimm is a musician who has done a lot of work with Blue America. Maybe you recognize some of the songs on this page. They're all him. Now, you may already know that, although I voted against Trump of course, I could not bring myself to vote for Biden. I'm not trying to persuade anyone to follow my lead. Do what your heart tells you to do. But I thought it would be nice to present a pro-Biden point of view from someone as left-wing as I am. And Matthew already wrote one for his Facebook page. It makes a lot of sense and he said it would be ok to re-publish it.


GOTV Appeal
-by Matthew Grimm

Oh hi, it's me, the most left-wing guy most of you - but def not all of you - know, and, with a week left in early voting before Nov. 3, I would like to make a particularly pointy tl/dr appeal to my brethren of that political stripe, and ALL political stripes, I suppose, as voters.

I don't particularly like some of the modus operandi of the higher-up leadership of the Democratic Party and don't see eye-to-eye with them on some things philosophically. Now here's the but-- BUT-- I recognize we need allies and to make coalitions because what makes me left-wing is not abstract clubby crap or fevered dogma but the policy outcomes I want to see to make people's lives better. That and stopping America's slide into actual no-shit fascism are pretty big motivators for me, but this is not quite a Vote Blue No Matter Who argument. It's an argument that says, whatever issues I may have with certain party apparatchiks, I reside in the Democratic Party because that's where the people I genuinely believe in, who I think are brilliant, smart people, who I think are heroes because they fight for everybody, not just rich assholes who bankroll political parties, reside. As PART of aforementioned coalition. And I every much want them to have roles making policy in America, and this is the big thing I want to impart here: THEY CAN.





If you love Bernie and Rashida and Katie and Ayanna and AOC and Liz Warren and the many genuine progressives (of various shapes and flavors) in congress, guess what? THEY'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE. THEY ARE LAWMAKERS. GIVE THEM ALLIES TO MAKE GOOD LAWS. GIVE THEM INVESTIGATORY POWER AND COMMITTEE CHAIRS. GIVE THEM THE POWER TO FIX THIS SHIT AND A DENAZIFIED JUSTICE DEPARTMENT. GIVE THEM ALLIES, IN MAJORITY PROPORTIONS. Will Joe Biden always be that? No. Will they have to make some compromises with center-right people? Sure, but guess what again? President Ocasio Cortez will have to do that too. That's the coalition thing. But ask yourself how much good legislation, that genuinely solves problems and helps normal Americans, that genuinely addresses criminal justice reform and enforces voting rights for everyone, that doesn't grease the skids for corporate predators and funnel taxpayer dollars to crony capitalists, they will be able to enact if this bulwark of actual fascists retains control of the White House, doing everything possible to make things worse?

I think the odds probably go down, no? To nothing.

Obviously, the downside is bad, even apocalyptic-- Trump has publicly "joked" about a third term, but we know that's not joking because he's the exact kind of amoral, narcissistic piece of shit who thinks he should reign unquestioned and unaccountable, and we know the craven folksy concentration-camp-rubberstamping sociopaths of the Klan rally that passes for the contemporary Republican Party have ceded any honor or integrity in fealty to the most vile human any fiction writer could even imagine-- but even if you just want to stick to the positives here, to vote FOR something versus AGAINST something, it is this. We want policy outcomes, that help our neighbors and that stop our neighbors from being preyed upon, and we want government to play a role in that because times are awful and it should. That is what makes me progressive, not as a label or an abstract belief, but in truly advocating SHIT TO DO to realize the vast potential of our country and our neighbors even in the face of legitimate horrors like COVID and a very real American fascist movement.

A single election won't fix everything magically, and it never does and the weird essence of our blanket fairy-tale conditioning is we still expect it to. It's just the start, and we need to start looking at it that way and, yes, holding our in-party allies to their promises. There will be work to do after. I want Liz Warren and Bernie and Kara Eastman and Jamaal Bowman and Mondaire Jones and Mike Siegel and Katie Porter doing that work, and I want their plans made into real problem-solving. There is only ONE way that is remotely possible.

Give them allies, in numbers too big to fuck with.

Vote like it's pulling a trigger. Thank you.