While Biden won the state with more than 618,000 votes, more than 100,000 Michigan Democratic primary voters cast ballots for "uncommitted" in the race, enough to pick up the pair of delegates.
I am part of the progressive base, far left of it on most days, and I vote in every single election for the candidates who reflect my values, but I also think a lot about who I think has the best chance of winning. That means more than I’d like I end up voting with the mainstream neoliberals because I’m pragmatic and understand that progress is incremental and hard. But I always vote.
I think a lot of progressives are realists, and understand that you campaign on what you want, but you govern with what you have. That means always pushing back against and criticizing actual elected democrats, even if they’re my preferred candidate. That’s how a healthy democracy is supposed to work. Of course we’re critical of the other side, but since we actually have the slightest influence over elected officials in our party, it make sense that we’d always try to keep them honest and pull them as far to our side as we can while they’re in office, wielding the power our vote gave them.
I think to some extent we’re saying the same thing, I don’t think people should withhold their vote. Except maybe in primaries, depending on the situation that’s probably fine. But as a part of the base you’re describing, I think most people are pretty smart with how they vote, and at least the progressives I know are all pretty pragmatic.
I am part of the progressive base, far left of it on most days, and I vote in every single election for the candidates who reflect my values, but I also think a lot about who I think has the best chance of winning. That means more than I’d like I end up voting with the mainstream neoliberals because I’m pragmatic and understand that progress is incremental and hard. But I always vote.
I think a lot of progressives are realists, and understand that you campaign on what you want, but you govern with what you have. That means always pushing back against and criticizing actual elected democrats, even if they’re my preferred candidate. That’s how a healthy democracy is supposed to work. Of course we’re critical of the other side, but since we actually have the slightest influence over elected officials in our party, it make sense that we’d always try to keep them honest and pull them as far to our side as we can while they’re in office, wielding the power our vote gave them.
I think to some extent we’re saying the same thing, I don’t think people should withhold their vote. Except maybe in primaries, depending on the situation that’s probably fine. But as a part of the base you’re describing, I think most people are pretty smart with how they vote, and at least the progressives I know are all pretty pragmatic.