Let Obama lose — and open the door for a third party

An editorial by Paul Boerger, Green Party of California

For liberals and progressives, it has become painfully obvious that Barak Obama has betrayed the voters who elected him; those who actually believed he would bring change, fairly represent the interests of the people and uphold the ideals of the Democratic Party. The question arises whether they should, by either not voting or voting for a third party such as the Green Party, allow Obama to lose. A look at the voting demographics clearly shows that they can.

Obama beat John McCain in 2008 by seven percent of the vote, not exactly an unbeatable margin. The youth vote ages 18 to 29 went for Obama at 66 percent. As evidenced by the Occupy movement, the youth disenchantment with Obama is profound and wide. Obama won the youth vote on the basis of the young harkening to his call for change and fairness. They are not buying it this time around. Many of those young voters simply won’t bother to cast a ballot because they just don’t believe in him anymore. Many will vote third party. First time voters went 68 percent for Obama and a majority were among the young.

The heart of Obama’s support came from 89 percent of liberal voters. That would include a huge number of baby boomer Democrats who felt they had finally found a candidate who would have the courage and conviction to right the wrongs of the Bush administration. That hope, of course, has been utterly destroyed and it is this group, combined with the youth and first time voters, that could defeat Obama if they simply do not vote or cast ballots for an alternative party like Green. Note that, as a matter of conscience, voting for a de­structive fool like Mitt Romney is simply out of the question.

So why take the chance of allowing a Re­publican to become president? Below are 10 reasons why Obama should not be re-elected and is evidence that such an outcome might just be the lesser of two evils. An Obama loss has the potential to shake the electorate so hard that third party candidates and their ideals, such as the Green Party, become not only viable, but also their platforms vault into the political mainstream.

10. Obama has taken the Democratic party so far to the right it is not even recognizable as the liberal, progressive party it used to be.

9. Obama has institutionalized torture as an instrument of American policy by refusing to prosecute, or even meaningfully in­vestigate, those who promoted, ordered and carried it out.

8. Despite Roe v. Wade being the law of the land, Obama has done virtually nothing to contest the unconstitutional state laws that are amending and restricting the landmark Supreme Court decision that gave women the right to choose. Obama signed an executive order that forbids any federal funding for abortion.

Congress refuses to punish financial fraud7. There has not been a single criminal prosecution of any Wall Street executive for the unconscionable fraud that brought down the entire world economy.

6. Despite clear pronouncements to the contrary, Obama has not eased the unjust and counterproductive drug war, but has intensified the federal assault on medical marijuana with doctors and practitioners serving years in prison.

5. Instead of acknowledging that the Iraq war was based on lies, should never have been fought and immediately begin pulling troops out, Obama prolonged that agony to the last minute, pulling troops out only when the Iraqi’s refused to renegotiate the Status of Force Agreement and demanded we leave.

4. The president has sold massive amounts of arms to egregious human rights violators such as Saudi Arabia that beheaded two people for witchcraft last year and Bahrain that violently suppressed a democratic movement in 2011.

3. Despite a majority of Americans op­posing the war in Afghanistan, Obama ordered 50,000 additional troops to a conflict that is not winnable, sustainable or capable of being turned over to a corrupt, incompetent Afghan government.

2. Despite his opposition to Bush Patriot Act policies during the campaign, Obama has greatly expanded the Act’s most in­trusive and unconstitutional surveillance, arrest and warrantless provisions.

1. Barak Obama signed a Defense Auth­or­ization Act that allows the government to arrest American citizens and hold them without charge or trial for an indefinite period without any protections of the Bill of Rights.

The case against Obama is clear. By any measure, he does not deserve a second term. What can be debated, however, are the consequences of allowing Obama to lose. On the obvious down side, we would have to endure a Republican president for four years. That might not be as bad as may ap­pear. I suspect, and hope, that a Republi­can president will see such obstruction from progressive Representatives and Senators that in comparison the Tea Party will look positively cooperative. In addition, Obama has moved so far right that there is not much further damage a Republican president could do.

On the positive side, by allowing Obama to lose we teach the Democratic Party, in­cluding those senators and represen­tatives who have mindlessly supported the president, that if they ignore campaign promises, progressive and liberal voters, the law and the Constitution, they are out of here.

Or better yet, an Obama loss could open the door for massive support for a third party that has the integrity and courage to bring social and economic justice to America. Is there such an alternative? There is and it’s called the Green Party. So, vote your conscience, vote your ideals, vote Green.