Recently there have been some diarists and commenters on Daily Kos arguing that only a few progressives are really angry at President Obama and the Democratic Party-controlled Congress for moving to the right on the health insurance reform bill and the War in Afghanistan. They claim that most progressives are okay with eliminating the public option and escalating the war, because the bottom line is that we have to support our president and our party.
Think again. The Democratic Party is losing its progressive base. The media is picking up on this very real story. And it is very worrisome for Congressional Democrats' election chances in 2010.
CNN reports: Health care, Afghan war splits Democrats
Some excerpts from the article:
Health care reform is a signature issue for Democrats, but the attempt to overhaul the nation's health system has pitted liberals against centrists, exposing fissures 11 months before the 2010 midterm elections. ... For Democrats, it's the party's political base -- voters who turned out in 2008 to help elect Barack Obama president and boost the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate -- which is demanding results.
We certainly are demanding results. And perhaps because the results we voted for don't seem to be forthcoming,
Liberal advocacy organizations wasted little time this week condemning Democratic leaders when news broke that a Senate deal had been struck to replace the public option with another proposal to help cover the uninsured.
Some examples?
MoveOn.org organizers sent a note to the e-mail boxes of its 5 million members. It opened with three words: "How could they?" ...
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee was more aggressive in its reaction. "This is outrageous," PCCC officials wrote in an e-mail that was sent to 300,000 people. "We need to fight back now."
Yes, the progressive base is angry. It's not just a few "whiners" on Daily Kos, or right-wing trolls posing as Democrats to divide us, as one diary on the recommended list today ridiculously claims.
How about Afghanistan? Are progressives really angry about that issue too?
"In terms of the policy, I think it is a dreadful mistake," said former Rep. Tom Andrews, a Maine Democrat who is national director of Win Without War. "The whole idea of getting out of Afghanistan by escalating is like fighting a fire by throwing gasoline on it." ...
Ilyse Hogue, MoveOn.org's director of political advocacy, echoed Andrews' concern and said that while MoveOn.org members "trust" Obama, "they are sincerely concerned about the gap between his campaign promises and the reality of the legislation that is being passed."
The CNN article also includes a poll showing that support among liberals for President Obama and the Democratic Congress has dropped significantly since June.
Democrats losing their base is going to become a major theme in the media narrative from now on -- guaranteed -- unless the President and Congress stop moving to the right and actually start promoting and enacting progressive policies into law.
Mr. President, Majority Leader Reid, do you want to keep the Congress firmly in Democratic hands after the 2010 elections? Or are you content to have progressive Democrats discouraged and sitting at home next November, causing the loss of many seats? The choice is yours. You have the power to ensure that progressives will rally behind the Democratic Party and its candidates for office in 2010. All you have to do is govern like real Democrats. Grab a mop!
UPDATE: Just to be clear, I personally do not plan to refrain from voting in 2010, nor do I advocate that anyone sit out the election. But I'll just be a numb and automatic, lesser of two evils kind of vote for the Democrats unless they deliver some real progressive policies. Unlike 2006 and 2008, I will spend my free time on other things than volunteering in political campaigns, since the "return on investment" for that time would have proven to be minimal.
Let's not give up, let's not stay home rather than vote... but let's also realize that pressuring Democratic politicians with the worry of losing their base is actually helpful, because it may enable them to keep the votes of some discouraged Dems who would actually stay home unless the leaders of their party move to the left, fight hard for their principles and deliver results.