Stephen Jones: Keeping to an Independent Path

This is a post by contributing writer, Stephen Jones, who is a progressive political activist and a resident of Las Cruces, New Mexico.

There is an old saying in Democratic Party circles that goes, "I'd vote for a yellow dog if he ran on the Democratic ticket." This expression places party loyalty over either personal integrity or allegiance to the good of the nation. I am no “yellow dog” Democrat, I am a progressive.

I believe progressives, Democrats and otherwise, if we are to be an effective voice, must retain both our integrity and our independence. We need to build and support our independent organizations, but need not abandon our registrations in the Democratic Party. In fact to do so, will only serve to marginalize progressives rather than built on our strengths.

Events of the past few months have soured many of us on a seemingly unredeemable majority party, and further enraged us over the repulsive and hateful ideology of the other party. While the partisans of the Republican Party gleefully mock us, let me admit, that whatever is transpiring in Washington, D.C. these days is a far cry from the “change we could believe in,” or more accurately, had hoped for.

The so-called “manager’s markup” health insurance bill presently nearing passage in the United States Senate is everything most of us, as progressives, have long opposed. It is anything but reform, but rather a massive give-away to the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries, complete with Christmas tree ornaments attached for the likes of Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. This massive monument to corporate greed has been engineered, in the interest of both a “political victory” and in creating more profit for its financial donors by the Obama White House. For expediency, or worse, what few cost containment measures the original bill had have been tossed under the bus.

The losers will be us, the average citizens, who will be mandated to pay private insurers for escalating premiums, while receiving less. Contrary to what some may argue, there is nothing in the Senate Bill that will lead us down the road to real reform.

The leadership of the national Democratic Party simply believe that we, progressives, have no place else to go. So they pander to their corporate sponsors rather than responding to us, and wrangle endlessly and viciously with the corporate Republicans for control of the larger share of the money flow from those corporations that own both political parties.

We do, in fact, have elsewhere to go. Some of us may call for some third party. Most of us realize that this is not a very effective route. The more effective road is the Primary election, and we ought to be preparing to fund and work in the primary fights ahead.

Above all, however, we need to retain our integrity and independence as progressives and continue to build our independent political organizations outside of the Democratic Party, and to force change. Large and active locally-based political organizations, independent of the Party structures, are the only viable way for us to build a progressive government that is responsive to the citizens who elect it and not the corporate interests.

Everything is not entirely as bleak as it seems, of course. With one notable exception, the New Mexico Congressional delegation has done an admirable job in the past few months, has responded to the people who elected them back home, rather than the big money donors who grease the wheels in Washington. This is both a testament to them and the people back home who have worked so hard to send progressive representation to Washington.

Representatives Heinrich and Luján and Senators Bingaman and Udall have proven themselves more than worthy of our past support and our votes. They have worked for real health reform, for jobs and economic development for New Mexico, and to protect our environment, among other reforms. We need to support them in the coming elections.

For the others, here in New Mexico and elsewhere, the judgment of the voters outside of the Washington beltway, both progressive and otherwise, may prove to be brutally painful in the months ahead.

To read more posts by contributing writer Stephen Jones, visit our archive.