NY Times columnist warns 'we are political hostages' because 'cruel captor’ GOP makes voting Dem ‘only option’
Republicans have an advantage over Democrats in midterm election polls
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Columnist Charles Blow highlighted what he considered one of the "greatest errors" in our political system in a New York Times op-ed on Sunday.
Blow specifically wrote that the idea that voters have a "choice" in elections is false outside white men.
"One of our greatest errors as a country has been our nonstop campaign to convince generations of voters that elections are about freedom of choice," Blow wrote.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He went on, "This may be true if you are of a class not historically oppressed by the state. Many white people, particularly white men, fall into this category. They have the ability — the power — to be swing voters, knowing that their basic civil rights are not on the line. And many of them have invented new dangers — like threats to the Second Amendment — while pretending to defend their rights against those threats."
Young voters show the "I Voted" stickers after voting at a polling station in Plano, Texas, the United States, Nov. 3, 2020. (Photo by Dan Tian/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/Dan Tian via Getty Images)
Blow then suggested that Americans are actually "political hostages" who are "captives of the two-party system."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Voters subject to oppression have only two choices: the benevolent captors (Democrats) or the cruel captors (Republicans)," Blow wrote, before saying it's not really a choice because voting for the Democrats "is the only option… they are the only bulwark against disaster."
He continued, "This is not a lesser-of-two-evils view but a light-switch view: the choice is light — no matter how dim — or darkness."
He knocked progressives for demanding more from Democrats saying, not only is it futile, "it often provides ammunition to cruel captors who are waiting for a chance to replace benevolent ones." So, once the primaries are over, "the time for complaining ends."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The line for early voting at a polling place in Oklahoma County wraps around the Edmond Church of Christ and more, Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, in Edmond, Okla. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
He admitted, "This is all incredibly unsatisfying, and yet it is the reality that voters must accept. We have to dispense with the mythology of elections and come around to the reality of them. That often means swallowing a bitter pill, coming to terms with the fact that our priorities are not always aligned with those of the politicians we chose to represent us."
Despite bemoaning the political limitations from both parties, Blow closed his piece by insisting that readers vote for President Joe Biden as "the only option" should he run again.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This brings me to President Biden: Whatever you think of him and his performance — whether you champion his accomplishment or focus on the areas where he has fallen short — if he chooses to run for re-election, as the White House insists he will, he will be the only option. In that scenario, he becomes a last line of defense. His shortcomings become secondary. Helping to ensure his re-election becomes an act of self-preservation," Blow closed.
President Joe Biden speaks before he awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to 17 people at the White House in Washington, Thursday, July 7, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Blow previously penned an opinion piece on Wednesday calling on other media outlets to start showing images of mass shooting victims to encourage new gun legislation.