I know we are all so busy worrying about Hillary and how many down ballot races we can win, that it's hard to think about the bigger picture of what is going on. But, ten years from now, we will all look back and say, "I was there at the birth of the new Democratic Party".
If you check my UID, you will see that I was there at the conception, too. But, the baby is there now, for all to see, and I think it's a beautiful baby. Obama is it's first godparent.
The biggest reason Hillary will lose is that she is part of the old party, its last remnants manifested by the DLC.
I am filled with optimism and love for our democracy. Why is that? Follow me below:
Every system becomes corrupted over time, as people discover how to game it and twist the rules to their advantage. Our democracy had reached this point. Lobbyist could spend relative pittances to buy the support of politicians - to the disadvantage of the people. Our media stood to gain enormously from the advertising revenue from campaigning and the increased viewership raised by turning the political campaigns into sport contests and personality contests.
People were trained to vote based on not "flip-flopping", not making "gaffes", and how the candidates looked and dressed. No matter how uninformed or simple-minded you are, you can participate in this degraded version of civics.
But, then the internet came along. And the internet stayed open and free. And, it became the way to reform the system, to bring new life into it. The people had a way to find their voice, exchange the information they needed to, to meet, to organize, and most importantly to raise money for their candidates - the ones who would represent them.
I was a Kossack before user IDs, back in the early Deaniac days. I loved Dean and what his candidacy stood for. It was a new kind of politics - people-powered politics. He could raise the money to run without the special interests. This is the cure for the broken system.
And when his campaign failed, partly because he was ahead of his time and partly because he mismanaged it, Dean did a wonderful thing. He figured out another way to be the father of the new Democratic Party. He went after the DNC chair, won it, and kicked off the 50 state strategy.
Now, we are seeing the fruits of that strategy. We have more and better Democrats everywhere. Internet fundraising is increasingly offering an alternative to big money donors. It will become the only way to raise money in the future, it is obvious. And we have a new Democrat about to secure the Dem nomination, Obama - a better Democrat.
You have to remember that the Democrats we have had were the Vichy Democrats - the ones that cooperated with the Republican occupation. They were not the resistance. But liberation is coming and they must be swept aside for people who can think beyond appeasement of the right wing.
The country is in trouble from 20+ years of a toxic ideological conservatism. Things are seriously broken. The New Democrats have a lot to do. We need move quickly beyond our fear of the right wing and onto brave action. We have to restore our standing in the world, tackle global warming, and fix our broken health care system.
If you haven't read the books by William Howe and Neil Strauss, I would suggest you pick up The Fourth Turning. The turn has been taken. The world will be a different place 10 years from now. For all you 30 and 40 something year olds, you've only seen the right wing ascendant. Believe me, it can be very different. And it will be better, from now on.
So, I am glad to see the reborn party coming into power. Let's try to keep it healthy and strong. Let's work hard not to let the system break down and corruption settle in. It's our turn now.