General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Post mortem thread. Why did we lose? [View all]Hamlette
(15,556 posts)Republicans looking for power or fame bought the Tea Party. With that funding, and agreeing to be bought, they flourished. They had a voice and pushed the GOP further right. Yes, they are puppets of the same corporate power but they got power because that's what the money wanted.
Occupy decided not to allow coopting or leaders and it died. Initially they got the nation thinking about progressive issues, income inequality, minimum wage etc but did not have the kind of influence that the Tea Party had. In a way, its like the hippies. No, we didn't end the war in Vietnam but we did make people think about Jim Crow and sexism and conformity. But it too fizzled.
I don't advocate going the way of the Tea Party but wish we could come up with a way to sustain the discontent at a large enough level to push the Dems left and to get a few more wins. Probably can't happen but I'm open to suggestions.