| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Captain Compassion" |
| Date: |
04 Dec 2004 11:40:42 PM |
| Object: |
Weaker Than Ever: MoveOns state of denial is bad for Democrats |
Weaker Than Ever: MoveOns state of denial is bad for Democrats
Fri Dec 3, 2:40 PM ET Local - Los Angeles Weekly
By Marc Cooper LA Weekly Writer
Never mind that George W. Bush won re-election by 4 million votes. Or
that Democrats lost in 28 out of 50 states. Or that more than a third
of Latino votes went to the Republicans. And that something like 40
percent of union votes went Republican.
Dont worry — be happy. "We are truly stronger than ever." I know that
because the liberal political action group MoveOn wrote me to tell me
so. Indeed, it was so darn pleased with itself and so amped up after a
pre-Thanksgiving, coast-to-coast round of house meetings that the
follow-up report issued by MoveOn quoted one participant as jubilantly
proclaiming: "A groundswell is happening."
Yessir. One more groundswell like that of the last month and MoveOn
and the rest of us can start carrying out our meetings inside
submarines. Please, for the moment, no more little ripples, let alone
a groundswell.
Just the title alone under which the meetings took place is enough to
make you scratch ... um ... your head. "Bush Beat Kerry But He Didnt
Beat Me" was the perky slogan that brought what MoveOn says are "tens
of thousands" of supporters to these post-defeat huddles. And I do
mean defeat. Because while Bush didnt beat MoveOn, he sure as hell
whipped MoveOns candidate which, the last time I checked, is the only
thing that counts in an election.
Its more than appropriate to distance yourself from a defeated
candidate. In the case of Kerry, the quicker the better. Distancing
yourself from your mistakes without first acknowledging what they
were, however, is quite another trick.
I demand no mea culpas from the Democrats. In fact, I dont really care
what the Democrats do. The hardened inner shell of the party can and
will go on as it pleases, raising gazillions and favoring sure-fire
loser candidates like Hillary Clinton (news - web sites).
I do care, however, about all those liberals and radicals and young
voters who invested so much of their hope in MoveOn and similar groups
as the backbone of some new progressive movement. Please proceed with
great caution and even more skepticism.
The attendees at the MoveOn parties were asked to vote on what they
think are the most important issues to be pursued over the next four
years. The results, by my reckoning, are mind-blowing. Election reform
and media reform came in first and second.
This is classic denial, a clumsy outsourcing of political
responsibility. The inherent message: We or, if you prefer, Kerry lost
because the voting was fishy and the media were skewed. Not our fault
that we couldnt rouse a majority. The only big problem Democrats have
are external, not internal.
Id actually be okay with these results if some of the root issues of
the Democratic defeat — or at least their correctives — had been
listed among the other top priorities chosen. But the war in Iraq
(news - web sites) came in as the third priority, followed by the
environment, the Supreme Court and civil liberties. MoveOn lists no
others.
Lets give each selected issue a quick glance:
Voting reform. Yes, lets tighten up the process. That would be about
the 39th item on my "Fix America" list.
Media reform. Does that mean breaking up the conglomerates? A great
idea. And one that is doable shortly after the working class seizes
power and abolishes capitalism.
The war in Iraq. What does that mean? For or against? As soon as the
Democrats decide, let me know.
The environment, the Supremes and civil liberties. All worthy issues.
None of them, however, offers a clue to a political strategy capable
of building a political majority broad enough to govern and effect
reform (remember that winning the White House alone aint enough).
Notably missing from the recipe dashed out by the MoveOn meetings are
anything resembling an aggressive agenda that directly confronts the
phony populism of the Republicans. Make no mistake about it. A
progressive strategy has to consciously undercut the GOPs appeal among
working- and middle-class families by offering a tangible realignment
of national politics. Urging people to vote against Republicans
because they are bad and evil, or convincing yourself people vote
Republican because they are ill-informed, stupid or brainwashed aint
gonna cut it. I hope that that much, at least, has been learned from
the November debacle.
But apparently not. What would the MoveOn agenda — as listed in those
six priorities — mean for Americans worried about their jobs, their
wages, their schools, their housing, their health care? And yes, their
taxes (that remain too high for individuals and way too low for
corporations)?
No doubt these omissions reflect some of the class and cultural
limitations of groups like MoveOn. These are fundamentally
middle-class or better congregations of comfortable Volvo Democrats
who dont have excessive (if any) concern over such details as wages
and insurance premiums. Fact is, whether a Republican or a Democrat or
anyone else sits in the Oval Office has but negligible effect on their
daily lives.
Meeting together was probably in itself a mistake. What is
accomplished by getting a group of like-minded folks in one room to
ask each other what they want? How about trying something really
different — like asking people who dont automatically agree with you
(but ought to) what they want? Wouldnt it have been a more useful
exercise for MoveOn to send its "tens of thousands" of adherents into
the field with the assignment of each one talking to 10 people who are
just like them — except that they voted for Bush? Might something more
useful had been learned?
Maybe then we would have seen at least a suggestion of self-criticism
on the MoveOn wish list. Last week, interviewed on MSNBC, former
Howard Dean (news - web sites) campaign manager Joe Trippi lamented
that the only way Democrats beat Republicans this last election was in
racking up million-dollar-level contributions. And, he said, the only
hope Democrats had for the future was to completely rethink the
Democratic Party. One way to begin is to not kid yourself into
believing you are stronger than ever.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Why would I listen to losers?" -- Arnold Schwarzenegger
"Long term commitment in relationships is only necessary because it takes
so damn long to raise children. Marriage may well be some kind of trick
to keep the males around beyond sexual satiation." -- Captain Compassion
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
res0mp8t@NOSPAMverizon.net
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| User: "LeMod Pol" |
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| Title: Re: Weaker Than Ever: MoveOns state of denial is bad for Democrats |
05 Dec 2004 10:24:55 AM |
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Captain Compassion wrote:
Weaker Than Ever: MoveOns state of denial is bad for Democrats
Wait until George Soros asks for his money back <G>
--
LP
"We are fighting today for security, for progress,
and for peace, not only for ourselves but for all
men, not only for one generation but for all
generations. We are fighting to cleanse the world
of ancient evils, ancient ills."
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
State of the Union Address - 1942
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| User: "§K¥ Wå£K€®" |
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| Title: Re: Weaker Than Ever: MoveOns state of denial is bad for Democrats |
05 Dec 2004 12:14:46 AM |
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On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 05:40:42 GMT, Captain Compassion
<res0mp8t@NOSPAMverizon.net> wrote:
The attendees at the MoveOn parties were asked to vote on what they
think are the most important issues to be pursued over the next four
years. The results, by my reckoning, are mind-blowing. Election reform
and media reform came in first and second.
This is classic denial, a clumsy outsourcing of political
responsibility. The inherent message: We or, if you prefer, Kerry lost
because the voting was fishy and the media were skewed.
"Election reform and media reform came in first and second."
Mind blowing indeed.
Mind blowing about how correct they are...and this is the central
point of this article: to invalidate that fact. But I don't think it
will succeed because its not much more than classic denial, a clumsy
outsourcing of political responsibility. Republicans are good at that
-- If anything ever goes wrong (and something always does) someone
else, by inherent necessity, *must* be to blame for it...
s.w.
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| User: "Bill Bonde" |
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| Title: Re: Weaker Than Ever: MoveOns state of denial is bad for Democrats |
05 Dec 2004 03:06:00 PM |
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"§K¥ Wå£K€®" wrote:
On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 05:40:42 GMT, Captain Compassion
<res0mp8t@NOSPAMverizon.net> wrote:
The attendees at the MoveOn parties were asked to vote on what they
think are the most important issues to be pursued over the next four
years. The results, by my reckoning, are mind-blowing. Election reform
and media reform came in first and second.
This is classic denial, a clumsy outsourcing of political
responsibility. The inherent message: We or, if you prefer, Kerry lost
because the voting was fishy and the media were skewed.
"Election reform and media reform came in first and second."
Mind blowing indeed.
Mind blowing about how correct they are...and this is the central
point of this article: to invalidate that fact. But I don't think it
will succeed because its not much more than classic denial, a clumsy
outsourcing of political responsibility. Republicans are good at that
-- If anything ever goes wrong (and something always does) someone
else, by inherent necessity, *must* be to blame for it...
Dem mantra.
--
Opening her own letter Dorothea saw that it was a lively continuation of
his remonstrance with her fanatical sympathy and her want of sturdy
neutral delight in things as they were—an outpouring of his young
vivacity which it was impossible to read just now. -+George Eliot,
"Middlemarch"
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