Don't Surrender to Cynicism and Apathy! Vote for President Obama!

Last night, President Obama delivered his keynote address to the Democratic National Convention. As I listened to his speech and all of the other Democratic politicians' speeches this week, I thought about a negative article that I read attacking the President as "the more effective evil".  I began writing this post late night after I heard the President's speech. Coincidentally, as I was driving to work this morning, I heard a debate on Democracy Now between Glen Ford and Dr. Michael Eric Dyson on the same subject as this piece.

There are a lot of naysayers and downright player haters out there. I'm not talking about those stinking Republicans either. I'm talking about those stuck in the 1960s, ultra "militant", self-appointed guardians of blackness over at Black Agenda Report ("BAR"). Instead of criticizing the reactionary, racist, right wing Republican Party, BAR spends over 90 percent of its time criticizing the first African American President, Barack Obama.  In one of their articles, they acknowledge that the Democrats are their primary target.  For that reason, I question BAR's sincerity and commitment to the people. No president is above criticism. However, BAR has an insane fixation on President Obama.

Frankly, I would not be surprised if those haters are being funded by the Republican Party to suppress the black vote.  BAR posted an old article by a prominent African American intellectual essentially encouraging people not to vote. Such articles promote voter apathy by arguing that the two parties are essentially the same.

The difference between the two parties is stark.  The Democratic Party supports affirmative action, civil rights, health care reform, women's rights, immigration reform, Wall Street regulations and fair taxation. The Republican Party opposes all of those things. The GOP supports suppressing black voters, expanding U.S. military intervention, granting tax breaks to the rich, ending Medicare, ending Social Security, denying women the right to choose and deregulating Wall Street. The Democratic Party reflects the racial, ethnic and religious diversity of America. The Republican Party does not. It is the party for angry white men.

Wake up!  There are two major parties in this country, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. There are two major candidates for President, Mitt Romney and President Obama. The harsh reality is that the third party candidates have a snowball's chance in hell of being elected President of the United States. There is too much at stake in this election to squander one's vote on a candidate who is unelectable.

Of course, the President and the Democrats are not perfect.  Certainly, President Obama's speech was not perfect.  No candidate or party is ideal.  Clearly, we should and must stand up for the issues that matter to us.  We must protest and demand that all branches of government address important issues like unemployment, war and peace.  However, an absolutist, all-or-nothing approach to politics is impractical, foolish, naive and dangerous. There is too much at stake to sit this election out. Our parents and grandparents marched, fought, bled and died so that we could exercise our right to vote.

Don't surrender to cynicism and  apathy.  Support President Obama. Four more years! Four more years!

This article is cross-posted on Jack and Jill Politics.