Conscientious abstention = Boycott = Active Nonviolent Resistance

Time for clarification. My goal is to achieve a better politics in our country than has been on display this election year. Some people seem confused: they see a refusal to vote the top of the ticket either way as a a refusal to recognize that there will be a result on November 4 (or whenever they finish counting ballots and litigating the legitimacy of the returns). As it happens, a refusal by traditionally committed Democrats to vote for Senator Obama benefits Senator McCain, because historically speaking, Democratic candidates lose when their base does not turn out. This is why Howard Dean and the Obama campaign have been on desperate voter registration drives. They are not stupid. They realize they have alienated many members of the traditional base. But they believe they can make up for that with newly registered voters. Maybe so, maybe not.

My own view is that Senator Obama cannot be trusted - that he is a master of expediency. So I do not trust him to make Senator Clinton or Clinton Democrats an important voice in his administration, just because he now finds it expedient to rely on assistance from President Clinton and Senator Clinton in order to grasp at votes from Clinton Democrats. And I have put time, money, and effort in making sure that Senator Obama's untrustworthiness and zealous commitment to political expediency makes him undeserving of the votes of Democrats who share my desire for a politics that is wretched than what we have experienced in this election cycle. In short, I do not believe Senator Obama's style is a good influence on American politics and, as a candidate who touted his style - far more than any substance - as a reason to vote for him, he is undeserving of the support of anybody who expects even a modicum of integrity and internal coherence from a politician running for President of the United States. (If you share this opinion, you may want to support the advertising efforts of Democrats For Principle Before Party, the general election initiative of The Denver Group. Go here for more information and here to donate).

But please do not be confused into thinking that a refusal to vote for Senator Obama, to conscientiously abstain or vote third party, is not a powerful political act. One need only understand the tremendous impact of political, social, and economic boycotts throughout the world to appreciate this point. For excellent information on this power see this glossary, created by The Albert Einstein Institution. Recent coverage about The Albert Einstein Institution appears in the Wall Street Journal among other sources.

Americans have only limited experience with mass movements of nonviolent resistance and noncooperation. Given what has happened to our mass media and to our political culture in the past decade or two, we must learn to see beyond the binary thinking short term thinking. We need fundamental changes in who gets heard, who gets empowered, and how those things come about.

I recognize the legitimacy of voting for Senator McCain as a protest against the DNC and the Democratic Party; I recognize that some people of good faith will vote for Senator Obama and then work to reform American politics; my own choice is to begin the practice of noncooperation by an act of conscientious abstention.

Comments

[Bud White]

Thank you for the post, Heidi Li. I worry that an Obama election will codify Obama's behavior towards Sen. Clinton and her supporters(Michigan and Florida comes to mind), and turn the Democratic Party into the Obama Party, a place were concerns about sexism, health care, and other HRC issues will take second place to the politics of personality.

[SWPAnnA]

Describing it as Obama's party, makes leaving it no longer a difficult choice. No part of me wishes to be connected to that entity. To leave the democratic party a.k.a. "what you called it," is the sooner accomplished the better.

[johninca]

The Nixon-Obama ad was good.

[kcowley]

Great post Heidi! The 3 AM text to me revealed such a sophomoric vindictiveness at a time when there should have been an effort to make amends, that Obama and the gang will never earn my vote. I know many people can't believe that undecideds actually exist this late in the game, but hereI am still wavering between my 3 options: not vote, vote republican or write in Hillary for History's sake.

[Cyn NY]

kcowley, I, too, was thinking of writing in Hillary until I found out from my BOE that she was not "certified" as a candidate in my State and, due to no certification, write-in votes for her would not be counted in NY. In other words, there would be no way of knowing how many people actually voted for Hillary.

You may want to contact your BOE to ascertain if she has been certified in your state.

[hillarysmygirl]

I mailed my absentee ballot in yesterday. I knew I wasn't going to vote for Obama, but was undecided as to whether I could actually vote for a Republican for the first time in my life. When it came down to filling in a bubble...I left them all empty. I voted for everything else, other candidates down-ticket, propositions, etc. But I just couldn't vote for either one of them. I hope you're right. I hope that my silence will speak loud and clear to the DNC.

[Nancy Krumrine]

Heidi Li--I want to thank you for reiterating for me in your recent post, and Riverdaughter also, that I can vote N.O.T. and feel ok about it. I haven't been able to make the decision yet to vote for McCain. I've been struggling with it. I went to hear him speak today because he was in my area and it didn't really change anything for me. It's not to say that I may not in the end decide to vote for him, but at this time I can't. I'll one of your biggest supporters in the decades long work to get back our democratic party and our country(although at my age it may only be one decade!) I greatly admire you for your knowledge and your work on your blog and everything you are doing. I appreciate what you and everyone of the Pumas are doing for us. Thanks again, Nancy