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Oregon Daily Emerald
Friday, November 12,2004
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■ In my opinion
Aprogressive movement
wake-up call, part two
Given the realities of the Ameri
can electorate — outlined in last
Friday’s column — will our pro
gressive vision ever take hold
amongst the majority of the citi
zens of this country? I say, yes it
can; and, if progressives get their
act together, it absolutely will.
What we need to do is exactly the
opposite of what the Democrats are
currently doing. In the wake of their
humiliating defeat, the blue party is
mapping out a strategy for 2006 that
would make them more appealing to
the red state “values voters” (read:
“Christians”). This means the DNC
platform will move even further
away from our progressive ideals,
much as it did after Walter Mon
dale’s defeat in the ’80s.
If this strikes you as an asinine
strategy, given that the number one
criticism of the Democratic Party is
that they don’t stand for anything,
then congratulations — you just
might be an ex-Democrat.
Before they destroy what little in
tegrity the party has left, the Demo
cratic leadership would be wise to
look at the “values voters” already
under their tent. White Protestants
might vote overwhelmingly Repub
lican, but black Protestants vote
overwhelmingly Democratic. It is
one of the more interesting partisan
divides in the country: Same basic
religion, same problems with ho
mophobia and sexism, same evan
gelical tendencies and yet vastly
different politics.
Sure, historical eccentricities play
a large role in this, but there is a
progressive streak underlying black
religiosity, speaking in general
terms, that the Democrats and pro
gressives have all but ignored. The
black community proves that
DAVID JAGERNAUTH
CRITICAL MASS
Christianity doesn’t have to be dis
tilled down to little more than a list
of behaviors that we should or
should not do (as the right-wingers
have done). Christianity can also
trumpet our progressive values of
serving the poor, spreading equality
and fighting repressive institutions
in order to maximize individual
freedoms; after all, these are the
same progressive values expressed
in the story of Jesus.
We needn’t start bashing gays,
banning abortion, ridiculing
the separation of church and state,
legislating school prayer and hang
ing the Ten Commandments
in public areas in order to connect
with religious-minded voters. Ours
is already a values message;
we just need to start talking about
it as such.
The second bloc of voters that
should be receptive to our progres
sive message are Libertarians and
libertarian-leaning secular Republi
cans who are not happy with the
Biblical agenda of those now in
control of the Republican Party.
These two groups, more than any
thing, fear the influence of big gov
ernment in their lives, and rightful
ly so, as we have witnessed during
the last four years.
Some progressives forget that a
healthy capitalist system is an im
portant and necessary counterforce
to the government’s tendency to
over-regulate our lives. In turn,
some libertarians forget that the op
posite is also true: Big business,
like big government, can limit our
freedoms in the marketplace when
it seizes too much power. The one
institution protects us from the oth
er and vice versa. When in balance,
the system works. Sometimes regu
lation is the answer and sometimes
deregulation is the answer. We
might not always agree on the
specifics, but at the heart of the
matter, libertarians and progres
sives share a common goal: to max
imize our individual freedoms, in
cluding the freedom to “sin.”
The Democratic Party will be dis
tancing itself even further from its
base in the next few years, so now
is the perfect time for the Democra
tic base to distance itself from the
Party. We can build a strong pro
gressive movement if we work to
bring secular libertarians and liber
al religionists into our fold. In addi
tion, we should continue to work to
solidify the youth vote, not by re
lentlessly selling the ridiculous be
lief that voting will change the
world, but by giving young people
a candidate worth voting for and
believing in.
If we take these steps, not only
will we force the momentum of the
Democratic Party back to the left,
but we will begin to force the pub
lic conversation back to the issues
that matter most to us: taking Big
Brother out of both big government
and big business, fostering fiscal re
sponsibility, adhering to a less hap
hazard foreign policy and maximiz
ing our individual freedoms.
dauidjagemauth® daily emerald, com
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INBOX
Marriage initiative supporters
displace their own inadequacies
To the surprise of many pollsters, moral values
played a crucial role in the 2004 election. Millions
of Americans turned out in support of marriage
initiatives that restrict the definition of marriage
to heterosexual couples. Apparently, they hoped
to solidify the place of the “traditional” family in
American society. But many betrayed their own
frustration in bringing about those values by re
sorting to a most immature tactic: shifting atten
tion from their own failings toward homosexuals.
This political finger pointing — now loudly
and shamefully amended to the Oregon Consti
tution — is a distraction. To erroneously claim
that same-sex partners might make poor parents
or that same-sex unions are not worthy of the
marriage title rests on the dangerous assumption
that traditional familial structures automatically
inherit a kind of mystical sanctity. In reality, the
dignities associated with the family extend only
to those who provide nurturing and loving com
munities for their spouses and children — char
acteristics that describe many kinds of families.
Unable or unwilling to create family values,
those who came out to vote for the marriage
initiatives have consoled themselves with the
belief that, should they themselves not meas
ure up to the ideal, no one else should have the
chance to succeed either.
Jose Bernal
Eugene
America's youth vote
mistakenly underestimated
While it may seem senseless to drone on
about this year’s election, especially a week and
a half after the fact, there is one point which
bears repeating: Young people voted, and they
voted in record numbers.
The youth vote naysaying began even before
the election was decided. Major news outlets ran
stories citing disappointing turnout among the
nation’s young people. Most of these accounts
were misleading, if not wholly inaccurate. More
young people age 18 to 29 voted than four years
ago (around 4.6 million more) and it was the first
time since 1972 that a majority of eligible young
people voted.
Youth voter turnout isn’t an isolated, kooky
liberal Eugene phenomenon. A record number
of young people nationwide made it to the
polls, in red states just as in blue. Perhaps with
just a bit of gentle prodding from the more
civic-minded among us, our generation will de
mand greater accountability from the officials
we’ve just elected, and the issues that concern
us most will begin to be more fairly addressed.
Dan Platt
League of Conservation Voters
Education Fund/Pmject Democracy
ONLINE POLL
THIS WEEK'S RESULTS
Now that the election is over, and George W. Bush has been
elected to a second term, what are you planning to do?
1. I’m happy Bush won. I plan to sit back and enjoy four more
years of Bush's leadership -17.9%
2.1 can't believe Kerry didn’t win. I’m moving to Canada -19.4%
3.1'm happy that Bush won, but this is not time to rest on laurels - the
next four years are the time to step up my political activism -13.4%
4.1 can't believe Kerry didn't win, but this is not the time to run
away - the next four years are the time to step up my political
activism - 47.8%
5. Election? What election? Politics are not for me -1.5%
Total votes: 67