David Sirota: The Rise of 'The Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party'

[marmar]

from OurFuture.org:



The Rise of 'The Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party'
By David Sirota

August 28th, 2008 - 8:04am ET


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On Monday morning during a CNN discussion from the floor of the Democratic convention in Denver, I told anchor John Roberts that despite the personality tiff between the Obama and Clinton people, and despite some blemishes on Joe Biden's record, one thing is undebatable: The progressive wing of the Democratic Party—the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party, as Paul Wellstone famously called it—has finally defeated the corporate wing of the party. (You can watch the clip at right.): http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2008083528/rise-democratic-wing-democratic-party

On the morning after Ted Kennedy's electrifying convention speech, the Wall Street Journal's headline reiterates this point with a striking headline: "Party's Left Pushes for a Seat at the Table.". The story takes a deeper look at the remarkable rise of progressives - a rise that was so powerfully woven into the fabric of this convention by Ted Kennedy's emotional speech last night.

As someone who has fought the trench war against corporate front groups like the Democratic Leadership Council way back when it was considered uncouth, I can tell you that I have never seen the party so ideologically unified. After years of watching the Washington Democratic Party Establishment attack economic populists and antiwar activists, progressives have come back. The turnaround can be explained by two factors: George W. Bush and the 2008 Democratic primary.

In so aggressively overreaching on so many issues, Bush has been America's polarizer-in-chief to the point that the center of public opinion has tectonically shifted in a progressive direction. Today, polls show broad consensus support for the major tenets of a progressive agenda: namely, universal government-sponsored health care, trade policy reform, a re-regulation of Wall Street, and an end to the Iraq War. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2008083528/rise-democratic-wing-democratic-party

[Winterblues]

1. I thought the Clintons and Biden were DLC

:shrug:

[NashVegas]

2. I Greatly Admire Sirota

I don't share his optimism, right now. But I'd love for him to be correct.

[JHB]

5. That's my take too. One battle? won; War? still being fought.

Don't count the beast dead until it's turning on a spit and slathered with barbecue sauce.

[Larkspur]

3. The ideological war has been won by progressives

but the infrastructure war within the Party and elected offices is still under way. The DLC and the corporate wing still hold too much power with the infrastructure.

[MadHound]

4. The Democratic party moving in a progressive direction? Could have fooled me

Where is the platform concerning single payer, non-profit universal health care? Where is the repudiation of the Constitutional excesses of the Bush administration? Why would a progressive candidate endorse even more faith based funding?(darn that church/state wall anyway) And why, if this party is so damn progressive, did we put up such a corporate fixer as Joe "My Ass Belongs to MNBA" Biden for our veep?

Sorry, but this is just another bullshit article trying to bring people in. The reality of the matter is that the Democratic party is continuing its slide to the right, and is part of the two party/same corporate master system of government.