allons enfants de la patrie

This weeks, I’ve read a raft of articles suggesting what Democrats need to do to fight the rising tide of Nationalism in America, what they need to do to win again at politics, and what they should have done in the previous election. Most of these suggestions turn on the idea that Democrats should be more like Republicans, that they should siphon off moderate Trump and GOP supporters by becoming more Republican-like.

I hope this is not the approach that they take, but if it is it’ll confirm that my decision to leave the Democratic Party was the right thing to do. In the run up to the 2016 elections, I warned my friends and family that nominating Hillary Clinton was a mistake, that taking a pragmatic, centrist tone was a mistake, and that doing these things would pave the way for Donald Trump to be elected.

I’ve never been a particularly good Democrat, but I have stuck with them out of practical necessity. No more. I am done supporting a party that has compromised its way to the center-right, allowing all of American politics to slide into the hands of the far-right. I’m done allowing the Democratic establishment to throw identity politic bones to us as they sell us out economically. I refuse to vote for another Democrat, because I don’t support right wing politicians.

If there is any silver lining to Trump’s election, it might be that Clinton’s loss exposed the inability of centrist pragmatism to stand toe-to-toe with the extreme right. The Socialist was, in fact, the safer bet, and consequently, I’m casting my lot with him and with other Socialists from now on. I’m not interested in reforming the Democratic Party. The machinery of the party is already too entrenched. It’s time to look for greener, or redder, pastures.