The Democratic Ticket

I think Hillary is wrong on most issues. I certainly don't trust her.

I would probably like to see Richardson as President for his experience and his positions on the issues - especially immediate troop withdrawal in Iraq.

I admire Kucinich for his courage in presenting a consistent left-wing policy, year after year, when it was not respectable or credible to do so.

And in fact, anyone the Democrats put up would be an order of magnitude better than anything the R's have to offer.

But in the end, most of them (most especially HRC) are Corporate candidates, and even those who aren't (Dennis?) must still operate in the Corporate context. No matter what they say or who we elect, we will not really get what we vote for.

Then it struck me yesterday: we can beat the R's on their own turf -- the symbolic level. Politicians may lie, and policies may shift, but symbols persist and penetrate with Jungian power. Clinton/Obama. A woman and a black man. Regardless of how the candidates themselves may ultimately fail or betray us, what will it say -- to ourselves as well as the world -- if the US elects a woman to the highest office in the land, with a black man as her second in command?

We can wring our hands over the details of policy positions or who we can trust or whether it's better to vote one's convictions versus electability and lesser evils. But, short of an actual revolution, we're really going to get mostly incremental change on the ground. We need hearts and minds, and I think the best path to that is through symbols, not intellectual persuasion.

Once again, it can be "morning in America" -- but not a greedy right-wing morning. And that must be right for the world.