Be Progressive. Vote For An Old White Guy in 2008!

The rich have money, the poor have crime…the middle class has what? Does Middle America even have a voice anymore? The middle class may be the backbone of society but it’s slowly breaking having to bear the burden of society, while getting mostly ignored. Why is voter turnout so low? Because who wants to choose between Godzilla and King Kong? Elections have become a game of pick your poison due to the structure of our primary system. Who will stick up for those trapped in the middle? I fear this year’s primaries will once again leave us with choices at either pole of the political spectrum.

Far too often the best candidate (i.e. the candidate that represents the majority of America) gets eliminated early because it’s far easier to mobilize those constituents at the poles. It’s far easier to get the zealots out to the polls than the busy or the mildly indifferent. And perhaps that’s the problem with Middle America. There is a growing and overwhelming sense of apathy in the middle class. When neither candidate says anything you care about why would you vote? Why waste your time? And this only functions to perpetuate a cycle that is becoming increasingly destructive to our political system.

If you’re not going to show up to vote why would a candidate support anything you care about? And the politicians will just keep paying lip service to big business and religious fanatics because they show up on Election Day. The middle class is on each candidate’s back burner while bearing the onus of keeping America afloat. We allow this to happen by not showing up, shrugging and staying uninformed. Sure we’re busy with work and kids and the infamous “making ends meet” but something is truly at stake here- our voice…at least in the primaries.

Primaries matter. Now matters. It is this fight to take the party’s podium that will determine who, if anyone, will save America’s middle class. If we get hung up on political whitewashes and smokescreens we may just overlook that our best option isn’t necessarily the most groundbreaking or the one with the biggest bankroll or the nicest smile. We will have ample time in the coming months to hear what the candidates have to say but will anyone listen?

Next November, thousands of people will vote solely on party affiliation. I will admit to blindly filling out my absentee ballot in the past. It’s hard to find time to learn each and every candidate’s platform for every race and in that way political parties are useful. They allow us to vote on blind faith that their party affiliation means their views will somewhat overlap with our own. Everyone’s done it I’m sure but how many people will follow a similar route during the primaries this year?

With increasing diversity among political candidates, it’s even easier to tune out the content of each candidate’s platform. It’s easy to go in and vote for the black guy or the woman or the small town guy that made it from “nothing.” The question still remains will any of these guys (or gals as the case may well be) look out for you?

While many of 2008’s candidates are energizing a great number of Americans that have been hitting the snooze on Election Day for the past few years, the problem of who represents the middle class still remains. I really wish people would stop trying to make a statement with their vote. This has always been the case but this election season may be the worse yet. The mid-west loves voting Republican to make a statement about prayer in school or anti-abortion or some other nonsense while completely ignoring the fact that the Republican Party is largely responsible for the economic ruin in many of these states. Go ahead, make a statement with your vote. Tell the world that America is progressive. The American dream and equality are at an all time high!

Everyone pat yourself on the back. You can tell your kids that you were there the day they elected the first black president. You can also tell them you remember when the first black president bungled our foreign policy so bad America became a laughing stock. You can tell your kids you remember when the first woman was elected president. You can also tell them that you were there when America sold its soul to the devil (hah ok SOMETIMES its hard for me to stay neutral).

Who knows…maybe at the end of the day the best candidate will be groundbreaking and pave the way for greater political diversity (wouldn’t that be nice?). I’m just saying LISTEN. Listen to what all of the candidates have to say. Base your decision on who has your interests at heart. It may be hard to come to terms with but maybe, just maybe, the best guy for the job will just be another old white guy…

How’s that for progressive?