Today, in the comments responding to Laurence's fine front page diary, I learned that there is no place for liberals within the democratic party. There, in comments, we were variously refered to as childish, immature, selfish, ignorant, purists, and a host of other names too numerous and vile to recall. All of this leads me to wonder, what exactly is it that the strong Obama supporters want? What is it that they are trying to accomplish? WIth rhetoric like this, they certainly can't be interested in GOTV.
During the primaries and the election I was a tremendous Obama supporter. I was there in the trenches, fighting the primary wars between the Clinton supporters and the Obama supporters daily. I gave far more money to Obama's campaign than I could afford to give. I knocked on doors and phone banked to get out the vote. I even used my classroom to inform students about the different positions of the candidates.
I supported Obama from a very early time in the primaries. Part of this was that I had lived in Chicago when he first came to office and gave his speech. However, more profoundly, I supported Obama over Clinton because I saw Clinton as an entrenched member of DLC third way politics that had sold out labor and embraced neo-liberal economic policies. My belief was that Obama, through his profound rhetorical skills, could begin to shift conventional wisdom in a direction away from neo-liberal policies to policies that would support the working and middle class.
Like many, I have been deeply disappointed with Obama's presidency. It is now customary here at dailykos for us to get lectures about incrementalism, pragmatic realism, and about how republicans are worse than democrats. Progressives such as myself are called childish, immature, and selfish. The thing is, I don't see anything pragmatic or realistic about the strategies that Obama has chosen since being elected. If one of the aims is to maintain the presidency and majorities in the House and Senate, then it seems to me that our democrats have chosen the worst possible way of accomplishing these goals. The problem is that the policies they have enacted and pursued look like their designed primarily to benefit big business, and not average American people. How is that supposed to get the average voter on board? How is that supposed to inspire voters or get them out during election time?
Progressives are told that the country is just too conservative for progressive policy. This is why, we are told, that we have to be incrementalists. Yet poll after poll shows the public strongly supporting progressive policies. It is not the voters that are the problem, but the role that money plays in Washington that is the problem. It is corporate interests, with their fingers deep in the pockets of all our elected representatives, that leads to watered down policy. The voters ache for real policy that will improve their lives. Their lack of enthusiasm arises not from democrats going too far to the left, but from democrats not going far enough to the left.
In his diary, Laurence makes the point that it is not even a question of getting legislation passed. All of us, I think, are aware of just how many roadblocks stand in the way of progressive legislation. What we want minimally is strong advocacy for progressive positions. Had our democrats tried and failed, sentiments would be very different. At least the Overton window would have been shifted to the left and progressive policy would become more possible in the future as a result of gradually building up public consensus and expectations. But we haven't even gotten that. Those who praise the health insurance reform as being the best thing since sliced bread don't seem to realism that the public options was already a compromise. Pre-emptively making a deal with big pharma was even more egregious. Moreover, no one twisted Obama's arm to fill his cabinet with economic advisors who primarily see the health of the economy in terms of what's good for Wall Street. Again and again, average Americans have been told to take a back seat. All we want is someone to fight for us, and we're just not seeing that.
But in the end, I just find myself wondering what it is that the strong Obama supporters want or are trying to accomplish here. They seem to want our votes and support, yet they have a curious way of doing it. They patronize us by talking about pragmatic realism and incrementalism, as if we are unaware of the daunting things that stand in the way of change. They insult us by calling us childish and selfish. They scream at us as if we're the one's responsible for the enthusiasm gap, rather than the administration and our elected democratic officials. These are strange ways to drum up support and energy.
Much to my despair, I am increasingly realizing that there's just no place for liberals in the democratic party. They want our votes, they want our money, but otherwise they just want us to shut up and do what they say. For the first time in my life I find myself thinking that there's little or no point to involvement in party politics. My voice, and the voice of those who share my values, seems to go unheard. What's the point of getting involved at all? I find myself increasingly understanding why so few Americans vote. They realize that American politics is a game rigged on behalf of the corporations and not them. I'm told that the republicans are worse, and indeed they are. But then again, how much worse are they? It seems both parties endorse largely the same economic policies geared toward private solutions to all our economic woes. It seems that both parties embrace neo-liberal economic policies. Any improvement in our lives from democrats seem marginal. Maybe it would be better for me to just ignore politics altogether and, as Voltaire put it, "tend my garden". Where there is no respect, where we are not listened to, and where there is little hope for change it seems that the best you can do is distract yourself with the small pleasures of homelife and ignore the unjust system under which we live.
It gives me no pleasure to entertain any of these thoughts. I am stricken with grief at the thought of what could have been, at what was promised, and what was pissed away. I also worry that Obama has lost an entire generation of young and independent voters as a result of his soaring rhetoric that promised the moon and fundamental change and then practiced pro-corporate, third way politics as usual. The curtain has slipped a bit now and its difficult to escape the impression that politics is all about the interest of big money.
To the strong Obama supporters, however, I will say that perhaps all of you should learn to listen a little better, should learn to be a little more humble, and should quit being so patronizing. Your votes are assured. The votes of many progressives and independent Americans are not assured. You want us more than we want or need you. If getting out the vote is truly your aim you really need to rethink your tone. You're the ones who are asking for something, and like anyone asking for something it is your job to approach the people you're asking with humility and an eager willingness to listen. As it stands, the current strategy strikes me as madness.