Today I received a very polite email inquiry urging to me to reconsider my personal position with regard to my intention to conscientiously abstain from voting for the Democrat at the top of the ticket this year. After receiving so many nasty anonymous jibes and digs, it was a great relief to read such an intelligent and careful piece of writing from a fellow Democrat. There were two main steps to his argument: that the country cannot withstand another four years of Republican policies in the Bush-Cheney mold; and that therefore I should be willing to defer my objections to the DNC's corruption in anointing a nominee and to the Democratic Party leadership's continuing unwillingness to immediately take affirmative steps toward making sure that this corruption within the Democratic Party will not be allowed to continue. The writer also pointed out that when it comes to corruption, there is plenty in the RNC and among Republican politicians. The writer appealed to issues like abortion rights and environmental issues as two among others that are too important to leave in the hands of Senator McCain.

For months, Senator Obama, Dr. Dean, Speaker Pelosi - along with Donna Brazile, Jesse Jackson Jr., and Bill Richardson - made it clear that they felt that my vote was not necessary for an Obama victory this November. They claimed that with the participation of independents, registered Republicans, and a newly minted crop of registered Democrats, they were sure they had plenty of votes - more than enough, in fact - to defeat Senator McCain. Somewhat paradoxically, they also claimed that in any event that they were entirely confident I would ultimately vote for Senator Obama -- indeed that I would do so no matter how they treated the candidate I preferred, Senator Clinton; no matter how much I made known my dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party's violations of its own rules and principles; and no matter how much I objected to the Party's toleration of and engagement in sexist and misogynistic rhetoric.

Those who preferred and promoted Senator Obama's campaign may turn out to be correct that he can forge a coalition of independents, Republicans, and freshly registered Democrats large enough to defeat Senator McCain. But I must inform the obviously sincere person who wrote to me that, while I will not cast a ballot for John McCain this November, neither will I cast one for Senator Obama. I agree with the writer that the RNC may well have corruption problems of their own. But the Republican Party is not my concern; long ago I decided that the Party that brought us Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and the idea of the "imperial presidency" would never be my party. When the Republicans stole Florida, depriving the country of a Gore presidency, I was outraged but it made no difference in my stance to that Party, which was already one of opposition.

But had I been a Republican and old enough to vote in the Carter/Ford election, I know I would not have voted for Gerald Ford, even if I could not bring myself to vote for Jimmy Carter. And the reason I could not have done so is because President Ford's pardon of President Nixon put an official Republican Party seal of approval on the internal corruption Richard Nixon brought to the Republican Party.

By the same token, even though I am an ardent Democrat, I cannot participate in the legitimization of the practices and procedures the Democratic Party used to arrive at its nominee this year. Repeatedly, Dr. Dean, Speaker Pelosi and other less famous members of official Democratic Party institutions put their seal of approval on these practices and procedures.

Fortunately for me, I can conscientiously abstain from casting a ballot for any presidential candidate this year and instead turn my political energy to another effort that I believe will ensure that our country moves in progressive directions on a host of issues, including guaranteeing reproductive rights, guaranteeing the civil rights of gays and lesbians, ending the war in Iraq, and protecting the environment. That effort is to make sure that the Democratic Party wins as large a majority as possible in both the House and Senate, with candidates who embrace progressivism and object to internal Democratic Party corruption. In our federal governmental structure the legislature can pass legislation and even constitutional amendments to further progressive causes; the legislature can override presidential vetoes of these measures. For example, a robustly progressive legislature could pass the Equal Rights Amendment; and an amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing women's rights to control their own bodies; another to protect the civil rights of all people regardless of their sexual orientation; another to rid this country of the death penalty. The legislature can enact statutes and create agencies to fund stem cell research, to promote space exploration, to attend to specific environmental issues such as global warming. The legislature can force a sane and reasonable withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by attaching requirements in this regard to appropriations for funding U.S. action in that country. The legislature can refuse to approve proposed Supreme Court justices unless it is satisfied with their integrity as jurists.

But the Congress can only exert its power for good if it is peopled by true progressives - in most cases that means Democrats - and progressives who are staunchly committed to civil rights and voters' rights in every political process in this country. So I will turn my efforts to identifying those Democrats and doing whatever I can to see them elected in November. With a legislature like that, I do not have to gamble on who wins the Presidency or even what sort of policies that President would prefer to see implemented.

I respect the right of each and every citizen to decide for himself or herself how best to participate in the upcoming November elections. I hope that regardless of Party affiliation citizens will realize that to secure a more perfect union we need to instantiate the measures I discussed above and that regardless of Party affiliation one can seek out and support progressives running for Congress.

For too long we as a people have let Presidential politics blind us to the possibility of achieving progressive goals via the legislative process. This has yielded an unprecedented expansion of power for the executive branch. I realize that many people therefore find themselves focusing on who will occupy this branch. But there is a vicious circle there: so long as we focus exclusively or primarily on who becomes President, the more we legitimize the imperial presidency.

So by opting out of casting a vote in the Presidential race this year, I give myself the freedom - and time - to devote myself to breaking that vicious cycle. Furthermore, I can work for progressive Democrat political power without condoning what I cannot condone, the undemocratic and anti-Democratic violations of the Democratic Party's own promulgated rules that yielded this year's Democratic nominee; the willingness to look the other way when there was caucus fraud; the unprincipled treatment of Florida and Michigan voters; and so on and so forth. To my fellow rank and file Democrats who either do not find the Party's conduct this primary season as objectionable as I do or who are going to vote for Senator Obama because they so fear the McCain alternative, I say that is your right. But I would urge you to spare some time and effort to pay attention to the down ticket progressive Democrats running for House and Senate, many of whom are running in districts or states where Senator Obama's coattails - however long or short they turn out to be - will not help them get elected. If you cannot spare the time or effort though, do not worry. I along with millions of other rank and file Democrats will be focusing our energy in that direction - and that should not threaten or alarm any Democrat.