I'm Voting For...

No matter what happens on Tuesday, progressives will not have unfettered control of Washington, just as we have not the last two years, the last decade, the decade before that, or the decade before that.

We will have to fight for more change. The question is: who will we have to fight? more »

African-American voters are once again in a pivotal position to decide on November 2 who controls the House of Representatives, and by extension whether the economic damage done to African American families in the past decade will be repaired in the foreseeable future. more »

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Still looking for a reason to vote? Here's a three word answer: health care reform. I'm not sure why Democrats aren't running on it, but it's a big step towards "change we can believe in" — the kind that some 66,882,230 (53% of the popular vote compared to Bush's 47.9% in 2000 and 50.7% in 2004) voted for in 2008. Parts of it are already in effect and making a difference in live of millions of Americans, and some of its biggest changes — expanding coverage to millions of Americans, lowering costs to seniors, and prohibiting some of the insurance industry's worst practices — are yet to come.

That's why the GOP is promising to do all it can to repeal health care reform, take away the benefits Americans already enjoy, and block future benefits. That's also why health care reform has to be defended. It represents not only change we can believe in, but change we still believe in.

I get it. Believe me, I get it. Every day I talk to people - especially progressives - who are deeply disappointed with the leaders they worked so hard to elect. The litany of letdowns seems endless: Guantanamo. The public option. Don't ask, don't tell. Too big to fail. And, looming over all of it, the battered economy and a sense that the case for more government action wasn't made when it should have been.

Many of the hard-working activists I've met, people who can usually be counted on to encourage others to vote, aren't even sure they'll go to the polls themselves this year. They're saying that we've learned in the last two years just how corrupt the system has become. They're asking, what's the use? Even I, Mr. Glass Half-Empty, have been a little surprised at the level of pain and disillusionment.

The disaffection among core voters is there, and it's real. more »

In August 2009, I wrote a piece titled Fascist America: Are We There Yet? that sparked much discussion on both the left and right ends of the blogosphere. more »

Are you progressive? Young? Person of color?

Well, then the pollsters say you are not a "likely voter." more »