General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Why the arguments of Obama's defenders leave many cold. [View all]Pab Sungenis
(9,612 posts)Let me put it to you this way.
"What progressive goals would a Dole advance us towards better than Clinton?"
Obama is to the right of Bob Dole on many core issues. His health care plan is a pared down version of Dole's, for example. Dole was also more progressive on gay civil rights.
Yet Obama, for his flaws, was the better choice in 2008. So if we had said in 1995 that "the better candidate will resemble Dole before too many elections" then we would have been right; it only took four.
By playing the triangulation game, and being told we have to accept the lesser of two evils at every turn, we keep moving the "center" farther and farther toward the right.
If we don't stop this process, by 2020 the Democratic nominee will resemble Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney. And he/she will be the better candidate because the Republican candidate will be further to the right. It may even happen in 2016; if Obama loses next year then the Blue Dogs will make the argument that it was because he was "too far left" and push us towards a nominee who, next to Obama, would make our current President look like the Socialist the Republicans say he is.
And we'll only have ourselves to blame for doing nothing to stop this trend.