So, the great and fabulous MoveOn.org took a poll and found that 84% of their members would like them to focus on unseating “right-wing democrats” as well as working to regain democratic control of the congress. And so, they’re going to do it. Well, I’m here to say that I think it’s a bad fucking idea. Internal strife and disunity have cost the democratic party elections in the past (anyone remember Carter and Kennedy not holding hands in 1980? Yes, that 1980) and there’s no reason to assume that those same issues won’t wind up damaging the push to retake even a portion of the congress this time around.
Worse still is that their first foray into pushing more progressive candidates is happening here in Texas. Yeah, Texas. What a great place to spin your wheels and waste your money on trying to get a progresssive elected. That’s effort and funding lost that could be spent on unseating a republican in a place where they’re actually vulnerable. And, my friends, trying to replace a democrat who voted “1 out of 3 times with the republicans” (horrors!) is precisely the kind of maneuver that the right wing likes to see. It allows them to paint us as divided and, worse, so bound to an ideology that we’ll turn on ourselves.* Right about now we don’t need to be helping our opponents.
So I’m done with MoveOn. They’ve lost me with this. Here’s the text of my “unsubscribe” message:
So, you’re going to go ahead and fire up the internal strife machine, eh? Disunity within the Democratic party is going to get us nowhere right now. And on top of that you’re going to waste your time and money on doing this in Texas? I live in Texas, people, and the odds of a progressive getting elected here right now are slim. So why not keep working on unseating right-wing republicans where there’s a real chance rather than challenging democrats who aren’t “progressive enough?” Count me out, MoveOn. I don’t want email from y’all anymore.
If you think that MoveOn is acting more like MoveWrong right now, take a minute to let them know. And no, I ain’t linking to them, so you’ll have to type it into your browser yourself.
*kinda like they did with the whole “Harriet Myers isn’t conservative enough” thing. That sure made you want to support Alito, didn’t it? Yeah, I thought so. Wise up.
Lono | 23-Feb-06 at 9:19 am | Permalink
I dunno if I totally agree…
If we want radical reform in this country perhaps we need to stop being so compromising…
Imho most “Democrats” are nothing but Republicans in sheeps clothing..
I blame the total corruption of our politcal system by corporate interests.
And that ain’t likely to ever be reformed by a democrat or a republican.
yongi | 23-Feb-06 at 12:13 pm | Permalink
Lono: I’ll grant that you are, after a fashion, entirely right. But right now is not the time that a radical reform movement is going to work. The right wing has so thoroughly co-opted so much and marginalized the left so much that even otherwise reasonable folks view even the most moderate Democrats as bomb-throwing commies. And that means we have to work on the places where we can hope to achieve success rather than turning on ourselves. Even if the ones we’re turning on aren’t so great.
In the end, though, my biggest problem was with MO wasting their member’s time and money fighting this particular fight in Texas when those resources could be spent getting a democrat elected where there currently isn’t one. Texas democrats will generally do whatever they’re told by whoever’s in charge. So let’s get the democratic numbers up and “bad” Texas dems will fall in line with the goals of the national party.
Of course, that does nothing to address your root concern about corporate interests and a need for radical reform. But it might get us out of the jam we’re in and give us some room to fight for those things next. I’d like to see those kinds of changes, too. But we’re definitely not going to get them when the democratic party, the only thing that even remotely resembles “radical” in this country right now (that’s in any place even remotely capable of affecting change), is marginalized in all three branches of the government.
Take back some control of the country first. Then fix the things that are broken. Because you damned sure can’t fix the broken things when you’re got no power. That’s all I’m saying.
Lono | 23-Feb-06 at 12:53 pm | Permalink
Yongi,
I too see your point – and perhaps – despite Molly Ivins wise warning – I have grown cynical.
All my life I have tried to support the lesser of two evils… What if both sides are being used to forward a greater evil? – (despite the naive, heroic, idealism of some individual members on both sides)
There seems to be an agenda to make America another simple “controlled” nation state – in preperation for the establishment of an extremely Hierarchial World Government.
I absolutely, like most sci-fi authors, fully believe a One World Government must eventualy be realized to create an efficient and succesfully freedom-loving socialist world citizenry – but the old Privilaged Orders and the artificially maintained economic inequalities must be addressed first.
Otherwise we go down the “Scanner Darkly” path to the final Fascist solution.
The Republicans AND Democrats are now rushing us towards a control-grid Orwellian state – embracing it with open arms.
I can no longer suport any candidate that does not oppenly oppose this slippery slope.
Otherwise, like the frog in the pot, we will be boiling to death before we even know it.
yongi | 24-Feb-06 at 2:33 pm | Permalink
Lono,
I hear you, my brother. I really, really do. And I’m with you in spirit, but for now I can’t be in action. The war may already be lost (or both sides may well be dragging us to our doom regardless), but we can’t stop fighting the battle that we actually have a chance of winning to go fight one we’re definitely going to lose. And, at least as I see it, without winning the battle that’s in front of us right now we have no hope of winning anything else. If the democrats don’t make a big showing in the 2006 elections they will probably be relegated to history as an abject failure. I just don’t think that should happen because we gave into internicine bickering just before dawn.
Perhaps, though, it takes an Alamo to get the people to San Jancinto. In which case, well, we’re well on our way. Y’all go on ahead and set up camp. Meanwhile I’ll be here with the folks who’ve crossed the line in the sand. If we don’t make it through, keep us in mind down the road. I’d just rather not think that we were left high and dry by our own compatriots.
Ok, enough with the analogies and stuff. I follow where you’re coming from, but I still think it’s moronic to the Nth of MoveOn to do this right now. And that, in the end, is where I stand.