I never intended to vote for her in the primary. That much I have made clear. I'm talking general. I'll vote green or liberatrian if she wins. As one commenter said, there is no difference between her and her husabands policy and that of Bush 1, like it were a good thing. This country needs a complete revamp of it's foreign policy. From the bottom up. And no, I am not a pacifist, or a far lefty. I'm a hard nosed realist who believes it's time to get real about our foreign policy.

^{"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all argument, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance. This principle is, contempt prior to examination."}

is that we are two years out and already discussing holding our noses.

I was always going to have to hold my nose for Clinton. You could make it 8 hours out and it would make no difference.

Sigh.

It's not throwing away your vote unless you live in Ohio in 2004 or Florida in 2000. Part of my voting for a 3rd party candidate is out of protest for my vote not mattering because I live in Texas, and before that, Georgia. The Electoral College is outdated and obsolete. It at least needs to be reapportioned per district if not banned altogether in favor of the popular vote.

The most certain way to "spoil your ballot" is to spend it on a candidate who opposes your agenda.

If the Dems can't earn our votes, they shouldn't inherit them by default. /That's/ why the Dems feel comfortable in pandering to the least principled center 5% of voters while taking the entire American left for granted-- they believe that we will yet again swallow our rising vomit and vote for them anyway. In far more cases than they realize, they are, and have been, mistaken.

If Democrats would only serve as an actual leftist opposition, I think they'd discover that a lot of the apathetic majority who don't vote are not really so apathetic after all. But those folks just haven't had a Democratic nominee worth voting for in almost /forty years/.

I voted for Nader in 2000 because he was the only candidate whose policies approached my own views. I voted for him again in 2004 because (wait for it...) he was the only candidate whose policies approached my own views. If the Dems field another blinkered, corrupt center-rightist in 2008, I'll vote for an actual leftist again-- or maybe not at all. So will a whole lot of others.

The Dems have not only disregarded the leftists among their own party, but they have been complicit in shutting out third party candidates, instant runoff voting, proportional representation, and anything else that would allow the left to make an end run and take an active part in the political process. If this has contributed to their inability to mount an effective opposition to the Republicans, well I for one can't feel sorry for them when they lose. They have earned it, with interest. If Democrats continue with their current display of moral paralysis in the face of an unequivocal public mandate, they'll probably lose again in 2008, against all odds. It will likely go on and on like that until the American left collectively refuse to support centrists, just like the right have mostly refused to do so in recent decades.

When Democrats lose, it is not the fault of the left, nor that of the people as a whole. It is the fault of the Democrats. Their blood pact with the corporate devil is their undoing. They can't be nakedly corrupt and beholden, day in and day out, and also reap the benefit of being righteous-- which is the trust and unflinching support of the people, e.g. common Venezuelans' faithful support of Hugo Chavez. (The Republicans have a natural advantage in that their corrupt means and their corrupt ideals work towards the same ends.)

A vote for Hillary in the general election is a vote for more of the same, people. Don't even think about it unless you really do want more of the same.

I'd be happy to hear them say, "okay kiddies turn off the John Wayne movies. Playing pretend warrior has been a failure. It's time to be real adults." Instead they play into the warrior fairy tale mantra.

I do think there is a good chance Gore will throw his hat in, but it wouldn't come any sooner than August.