By Owen Paine on Friday August 18, 2006 05:42 PM
I notice my home state of Massachusetts
will have a proposition
on the fall ballot that legalizes
cross-candidate endorsement a la Nueva York
It's of course only one of a number of state-level initiatives, all sharing a common popular purpose -- facilitate wider choice by revitalizing the electoral grounds for a new generation of state parties of principle.
To me, this is a welcome expression of anti-Orthrian refom.
Now of course process reform without brave new substance is a barren enterprise, and prolly each one of these measures, considered in isolation, can be shot full of cynical holes; but the great wave of such efforts can only warm the folksy heart of real progressives everywhere.
Comments (3)
Hate to burst any bubbles, but fusion parties here in New York really haven't been "parties of principle." Except maybe the Conservative Party, whose main function these days seems to be running their own candidates in order to fuck up the already-floundering GOP. The Working Families Party tends to back incumbents (because incumbents rarely lose), so their endorsements are a crazy-quilt of Dems and Republicans, usually tending toward the center-left or mushy middle.
Posted by NYCO | August 18, 2006 8:04 PM
Posted on August 18, 2006 20:04
I totally agree with you. Anywhere in the world, the candidates promise before the elections many great things that they will do for warming people’s hearts do. Unfortunately, after their elections only fogginess remains.
Posted by Tony | August 19, 2006 9:23 AM
Posted on August 19, 2006 09:23
nyco
all true all too true
btw
the fusion weas cooked up by new dealers to create lines that permitted voting
for new deal candidates
and avoid voting the dem hackery line
ie
it was all about
the why and where from
of a vote
not the who
and surely as waterlogged
as the WFP
has become
its still not the jack ass lever
the intent here is my point
the intent and only the intent
and the depth and width
of the popular energy
to try to implement that intent
the ocean is restless
the tides are rising
will they flood over
the evil do evil dee barriers ???
we'll just have to wait ......
Posted by js paine | August 21, 2006 4:51 PM
Posted on August 21, 2006 16:51