Sam Smith – Given that I helped to start what became the national Green Party you might think that I’m delighted to learn that Cornel West is seeking to be its presidential candidate next year. I admire both the Greens and West but I also learned at an early stage of life that politics, unlike religion, was not about gaining and displaying one’s personal virtue but about working collectively with others to move things forward as much as the reality of the time permits. It’s not about defining and displaying who you are but working with those who are may only be right on some things but who have the best chance of turning such views that into an election victory. Cornel West can only hurt progress by taking votes away from Joe Biden. This has nothing to do with his or his supporters’ virtues but rather reflects the reality of the politics we’re trying to affect.
3 comments:
Unfortunately I have to agree. I remember a time 2 decades ago when both you and I advocated strongly for 3rd party candidates both in local races and for the Presidency itself but it became clear, especially after Citizens United that this tack was folly. While I still think it is very important in local politics to build 3rd party foundations that might be able to build to a greater national theater, when it comes to DC and the Presidency specifically we must remember that governing is a "team sport".
Though there was a time when the "2 teams" seemed to be able to come together for the greater good of the nation, one party has began to state openly that their very reason for existence is to consolidate the power to "hurt" the left, to eradicate the "social justice warriors" to create the place where "woke-ism comes to die".
Just as you would never send even the very best quarter-back into the Superbowl to stand alone against 2 opposing teams, it is clear that we need to rally behind whomever the standard bearer is for the one and only party that still seems to want govern for the entire nation.
It is a sad comment that in the twilight of your public career you've chosen to embrace the most indefensible iteration of "vote blue no matter who." Biden is a catastrophe waiting to happen and Harris is a manifest idiot. Local Dems and big money donors know it. If he stays in the race he WILL be primaried, As things stand now he is likely to lose IA & NH. If Trump gets the GOP nomination there WILL be a "serious" (i.e. corporate funded) third party candidate either "no labels" or "Forward" serving for all the 1% "centrists" and neo-cons exiting the GOP. How this affects Biden's already shaky chances is anyone's guess. Cornel West is the least of their concerns although he'll make a convenient scapegoat if things go tits up again. Me? By the time Biden tapped Harris for VEEP I gave up. It's time to recognize that this quaint experiment in self-government is coming to an end. The only question is will we take the rest of world with us. #sendforCromwell
As of now, Dr West gets my vote.
I'd rather it were Dennis Kucinich primarying Biden, but if I can't have that then I'll take what I can get, which is Dr West.
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