The 2007-2008 cycle is shaping up, by most accounts, to be a bad cycle for liberals/progressives/whateveryouprefer. Hillary Clinton, someone who a lot of us in the netroots (myself included) have real concerns about, looks to have a lock on the nomination. On top of that, we've seen congressional Democrats cave to Bush on so many fronts it's ridiculous, even netroots heroes like Jim Webb and Tim Walz. We've seen the D.C. establishment rally to protect their own (not that we hadn't already seen that with Joe Lieberman last year) and learned from the whole Moveon.org fiasco that congressional democrats are still a)vertebrae challenged and b)all too willing to turn on their allies for the sake of perceived political expediency. Despite all that, I think we still have things to look forward to, and I'm optomistic about the future, at least to some degree. Here's why.
Let's start by taking a look at some of what's happened over the last year in context, starting off with the bad first and then we'll get to the good.
First off, we have to remind ourselves that election '06 was never destined to be a cure all for all our ills. This isn't a perfect world, and we're never going to get a perfect Congress. That being said, it's disappointing to see Democrats cave on so many fronts, from funding Iraq, to FISA, to Moveon, etc. Of more recent offense, we've had to grumble about Pelosi (who I genuinely like and think could be a great speaker with a better caucus) coming to the aide of Al Wynn. But we have to remember, the Democrats have been in bad shape for a long time, since well before the internet was invented. Hell, probably since before I was born. Besides that, the Speaker of the House is naturally going to support members of his/her own caucus for reelection, except perhaps in extreme cases like that of William Jefferson. That's just a no brainer; it's how the world is going to work no matter what we say or do. This of course is upsetting, but it's the whole point of being part of a reform movement; indeed the whole point of progress itself. It's the reason we live in a democracy, the reason we have activists, the reason we have great people like Mark Pera and Donna Edwards willing to answer the twin calls of leadership and change for the better. Thus, though these setbacks are disappointing, we should see them as work to be done rather than proof that our past efforts have failed.
Secondly, let's not forget some of the good things that have come out of the 110th Congress. True, there's been a lot stalled, and with so many Bush Dogs, Republicans, establishment Democrats like Rahm Emmanuel with their heads up their asses, and George Bush still President, that was bound to happen. However, there are a few good things that have gotten through, things that never would have happened under a Republican controlled Congress, a Congress that would still exist, I think, had ordinary people not taken the initiative to push for change. The House Page Board was revised in response to the Foley Scandal, the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, while far from perfect and much watered down from the original version was passed, with an increase in the minimum wage included. The recommendations of the 9/11 commision were implemented and the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act was made into law. So we shouldn't sell Congress too short, just short. And we should probably remember that the Family And Medical Leave Act of 1993 was initially vetoed by Bush the First, so it's safe to say that things vetoed by Bush the Worst and held up by Republicans and Bush Dogs can still make their way into law in the future. On top of that, there are still good peices of legislation pending. Just a few that have me excited curtesy of TheMiddleClass.org include the Green Jobs Act , the Healthy Families Act , the Renewable Electricty Standard , and the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act. And let's not forget that, even though Bush is still a major thorn in all our sides, he's still feeling at least some pain from this Congress. Waxman is conducting oversight, something the last Congress never did, Rumsfeld, Bolten, and Gonzales have all been drummed out of office, and even though the Democrats have caved on a lot of things, they're not serving Bush everything he wants on a platter, nor actively setting out to do real harm to the American people as the Republicans seemed to do so often.
As for the future, we have a major presidential race on our hands, perhaps the most important one in a long time (I know, I know, they say that for every election) and we have some real oppurtunities to make gains in Congress, despite a certain amount of pessimism concerning the races.
I will be the first to tell you that I think Hillary Clinton is going to be the nominee, and while that disappoints me (I'm for Obama, though sorely upset at the campaign he's running) I don't think it will be the end of the world or the progressive movement if she's elected, or even if she or anyone else loses. The progressive movement is a lot bigger than any candidate for president or any president ever could be. The progressive movement is in the people, the very heart and soul of democracy itself. Thus I'm not worried about it's future. Judging from the work that so many people here and around the country have been doing, I'd say it's in good hands.
As for our potential electoral gains, I'm still optimistic that we can get a fillibuster proof majority, but that's a topic for another diary. More importantly perhaps, we have oppurtunities to elect better Democrats then what we have, ranging from Donna Edwards and Charlie Brown to Tom Allen and Rick Noriega. The trick will be to keep fighting the Republicans and the Bush Dogs on all fronts. The people powered movement is the only means of doing that and there is no real effective counterweight as I see it, thus we, ultimately, have the advantage.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying we should be happy with the lesser of two evils still being evil. Nor am I saying that we should not be upset by the failures of this congress and the party in general. What I'm saying is that we shouldn't throw the good out with the bad our be disheartened by all of it as it's so easy to allow ourselves to be. Instead, I try to see it as two steps forward, one step back. Indeed, it's a microcosm of what I think of as a universal struggle between forces of change and reactionary forces (again, a subject for another diary). I think the whole point, probably the main reason I wrote this, is it's so easy to become pessimistic about this sort of thing, especially for me. But we have a lot to be optimistic about. We've done a lot of good work, but we've still got more to do, and if the past is any evidense we are more than capable of doing it. So let's be optimistic, not about the system or the establishment, but about change and the people powered progressive movement and what it can do.
There's only one fitting way to close this that I can think of. When Howard Dean exited the presidential race after the Wisconsin primary, he said something that really stood with me, something that I will always remember and will probably be the defining thought that shapes my worldview until the day I die. "The biggest lie that people like me tell people like you is this. If you vote for me, I will solve all your problems. The power isn't in me. The power is in you."
We've got the power. So I guess the future's gonna be pretty damn good.