Why Do Democrats Defend the Drug War?Scott Morgan At the moment, there remains a strong incentive to support the status quo, lest you be targeted in your next race as some kind of hippie-lover. The incentives on the other side, on the other hand, are almost nil. When was the last time somebody lost a race for being too tough on drugs? The half of Americans who favor marijuana legalization are not an organized voting bloc that gets together to punish its opponents at the polls. This is almost the opposite of what Ive been saying lately, given that in just the past month, two different well-connected democratic candidates have collapsed under the weight of their unpopular drug war posturing. First, Oregon voters roundly rejected Dwight Holton in an attorney general race that focused heavily on his opposition to medical marijuana. Then, just yesterday in Texas, U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes lost the congressional seat hes held since 1996 in a primary challenge from outspoken drug policy reformer Beto ORourke. Thats why its so frustrating to see observers like Waldman, who supports reforming drug policy, nevertheless endeavor to uphold the notion that political realities require our leaders to do the wrong thing. If Obama were to read that analysis and find it convincing, Waldman would have succeeded in helping the President rationalize his refusal to support reform. Were hurting our cause when we say stuff like this, and worse yet, the idea itself isnt even true. The truth is that a majority of voters actually do want the President to stop waging war on marijuana. It isnt in any politicians political interest to ignore public opinion while defending bad public policy. The smart play is to steer into the changing political current, just as Obama did with gay marriage, and the result is that public opinion itself begins to change that much faster. This is whats known as leadership, and when it comes to reforming our horrible drug laws, our politicians have everything to gain by speaking up and speaking out. Please visit StopTheDrugWar.org to support ending prohibition. linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 