When did DU stop being a place where we support Democrats?

[dreamnightwind]

92. I'll take a shot at explaining

The name of the site was chosen when W was "selected" in 2000, Skinner et al thought the Democratic Party would sort of unite under an underground moniker while the neocon fires ravaged the world, regrouping to retake power. My opinion is the Underground term is horribly misleading, it is more accurately DLC Support. Skinner was even the website designer for the old DLC and PPI websites.

Basically, this site is a party operation. It isn't quite official, as far as I know. I do know (or think I know) that Skinner's wife is or was on the payroll of the Clinton campaign. I think there are other formal connections to the party but I don't know precisely what they are. All of this should be openly disclosed by the admins but I don't think it is.

So basically, and sadly, IMHO, this site is not about moving things to the left, it's setup to do exactly what this thread is attempting to do, support and coerce support for Democratic politicians, regardless of policy or where they fall on the political spectrum. It's about supporting a label, a team, little more, fighting Republicans regardless of how much inner Republican any Democratic candidate may be hiding.

People like you (and me, so far at leasst) are allowed to post here so long as we follow the terms of service. If you're willing to bite your tongue once in awhile when you feel like giving them hell, it's not that hard to keep an active account in good standing here. We can do some good here, learn some things, teach some things, and it's sometimes worthwhile to dialogue with people who differ from your perspective.

Hartmann is an odd duck. I love him, but he tries to keep a foot in mainstream Democratic society, while his heart is on the left side of that. It makes for some contradictory situations if you ask me. Regardless, we're lucky to have him.

I was a member of the Green Party for a long time after I got tired of seeing Democrats who said what I wanted to hear and did what the big money people wanted behind my back. That was from the mid 80's until I reregistered Democrat to vote for Obama in the '08 primary. I was instantly re-disgusted with what the party actually does.

That said, the U.S. version of the Green Party is one of the more disfunctional organizations I've ever run across. Impossibly bad at organizing, and it tends to be filled with people pulling for their niche affinity groups rather than working towards a common goal. Their platform is and always has been amazing, it's a shame they never got it together but I see them as pretty hopeless. YMMV.

So personally I made the choice to fight to win back the Democratic Party for the people rather than for the corporations. There are many similar people here, though plenty of us have been banned from DU.

There are other places on the web where people like you are more welcome, like Reddit or JackpineRadicals (a new site setup by banned and/or disaffected DU members, some of our best posters). You would do well to hang out in those places a lot.

But I hope you'll stick around here if you can stand it, there is a battle going on and the populist side of the party needs to represent, with courage and wisdom. Engaging here is a way to do that. Best to you whatever you choose. I can tell your heart is in the right place.