U.S. Elections: Republicans win control of congress

But does it matter? It is difficult being a socialist in a two party system. On the one hand, the Democratic party is not a working class party -- it does not represent the interests of working people. But on the other hand, there is a difference between the Republicans and Democrats. Democrats are better than Republicans on many issues. Democrats tend to be pro-choice, more supportive of environomental regulation, not quite as war hungry, and slightly better for labor rights and social services. Should a socialist support the "lesser of two evils"? I don't think there is a simple, unequivocal answer. In many cases, we should provide critical support but we should devote our efforts to building real alternatives to the Democrats. Critical support means voting for the "lessor evil" in some elections, but we must be vigilant and vocal about exposing shortcomings in the "lessor evil's" policies and political practices.

The two party system has been effective in containing progressive political opinion by excluding leftist theories as "impractical." The system works so that one must either take a "centrist" approach and work within the system of the two parties or else be considered "fringe" -- or worse, a "spoiler" (like Ralph Nader). This means that basic progressive ideas such as national healthcare and living wages don't even register on the radar screen in "mainstream" American politics. Socialists and other progressives must work to redefine the "mainstream" of American politics. We can do so by relentlessly voicing our opinion. We must support and build independent media such as this site and (more importantly) sites and publications like the World Socialist Web Site, Workers World, and Socialist Worker (just to name a few). But it is also important to be active locally. In a way the centrists are correct in arguing that it is "impractical" to elect a leftist to important political positions. We need to ask ourselves why it is impractical and develop strategies for making the impractical practical.

Related articles:

• Attention, Small-D Democrats: The Party's Over (The Village Voice, November 12, 2002)
• US midterm election: the meaning of the Democratic debacle (WSWS, November 7, 2002)
• Political Dreaming: If Only the Democrats Were Better (AlterNet, November 7, 2002)
• Rampaging Republicans (The Nation, November 6, 2002)