It was suggested I turn this post into a diary. Here it is.
ACLU poll says that a supermajority of the American people oppose telecomm amnesty and warrantless wiretaps.
America as shown by polls also want
- Out of Iraq
- something done about global warming
- national health care
The center is where the American people actually are.
They sound pretty progressive to me.
In American political-speak, "running to the center" is espousing rhetoric and programs to appeal to the GOP/DINO "CENTRISTS", who are well to the corporatist right of where polls show the American people are.
I think you could get everyone in America who understands and agrees with "centrist" political positions who are not:
- DINO/GOP politicians or staff members
- part of the Bush 20%ers
- Richistani / Fortune 1000 CEOs who financially benefit from them and the best paid people on their payrolls
- Beltway insiders, aka pundits on Fortune 1000/Richistani payrolls
into an average sized classroom.
The average American knows that if DLC/GOP "business as usual" is continued "FOUR MORE YEARS", America is toast.
Americans want out of Iraq, national health care, an economy with good jobs again that won't be shipped to India as soon as one finished getting educated for them, and somebody to DO SOMETHING about global warming. As a good start. (people want cheaper gas, too, but there's evidence to indicate that American's know that's not happening no matter who gets elected)
If Obama wants independent voters and GOP defectors and the Democratic base to stay home, he should keep right on "running to the 'center'". Because there is no electorally significant constituency for centrism, and if he acts like there is one, he's going to triangulate "Insane" McCain's worthless ass right into the White House. This will not be the fault of the "netroots", it'll mean that we've been given yet another political product we can't sell.
The other point is that the ideas that'll get America's economy off dead center are not within the heads of the Beltway pundits or the "think tanks" aka propaganda machines funded by various interest groups. Many of them are right here, and if Obama listens to us, he might manage to make enough of the right decisions to get his head onto Mt. Rushmore instead of leaving office compared to George Bush.
If Obama successfully uses us only for the ATM that'll get us into the White House and governs as a DINO centrist instead, the progressive political game is over.
After FOUR MORE YEARS of Federal spending dictated by K Street corporate and Richistani priorities instead of national needs, America's foreign credit that's all that is keeping the government going will be exhausted. And the money raised by credit will go into buying stupid shit America neither needs nor wants and the profit from the sales of these goods and services will go into the pockets of the Richistani and Fortune 1000 C-level bosses.
Leaving Obama's successor, and it won't matter who he is, in a position to announce what government programs will have be cut to keep the most minimal government functions going instead of the trillions of dollars we need to fix broken national infrastructure and transition off fossil fuel and turn our national health care non-system into a system that brings our costs down in line with First World nations.
Smart progressives will look for a new nation to be progressive in as soon as Obama makes it clear he intends to govern as a DINO.
Basically, Obama's our last hope for positive political change. If we elect him and get K Street priorities, i.e. the government's purpose is to facilitate upward transfer of wealth and he shows that he's on their side, the rational choice is to put our time and money into our personal survival because collective survival as a nation is not an option. With a nation that is actually bankrupt, if you get into trouble either as an individual or a community, you're on your own.
I have less confidence that he's on our side than I had 10 days ago. I still support him, but I'm wondering increasingly if he supports what we do.