Tom Stream: Main Lesson of 2010

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Friday, December 31, 2010

We forced the recount! The main lesson of 2010 is that if Democrats ignore Green Party issues, they risk losing elections.

At Sat Jan 01, 12:01:00 PM CST, Tom Cleland said...: Learn more here: Gubernatorial recount.
At Sat Jan 01, 12:18:00 PM CST, Tom Cleland said...: The difference between Democrats and Greens is Democratic voters are responsible for the harm caused by Democratic policies, just as Republican voters are responsible for the harm caused by Republican policies, while Greens are not responsible for the harm caused by Democratic and Republican policies.
At Sat Jan 01, 08:52:00 PM CST, Peter T said...: ALL voters are "responsible" for the choice of the majority. They will feel the consequences, regardless how they individually voted.
At Mon Jan 03, 08:43:00 PM CST, Tom Cleland said...: No to the first sentence, yes to the second, though some may feel the consequences more than others.

I doubt that Democrats feel responsible when Republicans are in the majority, nor should they. When you blame yourself for something that’s beyond your control, that’s a cognitive distortion called personalization which can lead to depression. I can’t control your vote, and you can’t control mine. All there is is what happened and who caused it. My point is that voters are who make the harm possible. Now, I’m not trying to beat up on anybody personally, which theoretically can also lead to depression. I’m just tracing the problem to its origin and calling for it to stop.