Why Progressive Democrats should Defect to the Green Party (Part 3)

I believe that most of the people who vote "Democrat" are fairly progressive people, so they've got to be fairly disappointed with some of the elected Dems who yesterday helped pass CAFTA as well as the horrible energy bill.

Rather than rant on these particular evils (you can read a good Green account of them on Chlorophyll today by kycolonel), I'd rather try to appeal logically to my Democrat brothers and sisters: [in a loving tone :) ] Do you really believe that if you keep voting for the Dems they'll someday start doing the right thing? Right now there's no incentive for the Dems to move back to the left. They know that progressives will keep voting for them as the lesser of two evils.

The only way to counter this kind of ideological corruption is to build a strong progressive 3rd party. This can do one of two things:

1. A stronger Green Party can put pressure back on the Dems to move left. If moderate or right-leaning Dem continues to vote with the Repubs on horrible legislation, he/she risks either losing their seat to a Green or having a Green candidate "spoil" by taking enough votes that the real Repub wins the election. Ken Sain's blog had a great example of how this strategy can work to pull the Dems back here.
2. If all the truly progressive people left the Dems, it could truly become the centrist party it's been striving to become. This way you really will be able to vote your conscience and you have a really good chance of putting  Greens in higher and highers offices. My theory is that if the Dems become the true centrist party, some of the moderate Repubs that are frustrated with the fundamentalist Christians and big-spending neo-cons will likely move into the Dem camp.

Other advantages of becoming a Green:

1. If you are interested in politics and want to participate, even if it's just behind the scenes, the Green Party is a great place to do that. The Green Party is a "grassroots" party, which means that the opinions of the members is equally important as the party officers. The more established parties have a heirarchical structure that makes it difficult to have any effect, especially when you have just joined or don't have a lot of good connections. Running for office is also easier in the Greens due to it's grassroots nature.
2. Being a part of the Green Party can also offer you lots of opportunites for involvement in many groups and projects that aim to make the world a better place. The Green Party is a "hands-on" kind of party. We walk the talk. Many of our members belong to other organizations that focus on the environment, peace and justice, feminism, race equality, glbt issues, labor, and many others. Green Parties  around the country work on many of issues as well through committees and caucuses.
3. It's a great way to make new friends and contacts -- Greens are dynamic and thoughtful people.
4. If voting is all you really want to worry about when it comes to politics, voting Green means voting your conscience -- and that feels really good, take it from me!