The need to renew the Democratic Party is greater than ever before and the only way we are going to be able to do this is from the bottom up.
Make no mistake this is a crushing loss, and any confidence in responsible governance is going to take an almighty hit. We have watched a well financed minority "party" hold a whole country to hostage and in the process they have undermined our democracy itself. Now we have a "gang of twelve" that will be given extraordinary powers to overrule our government all in the name of austerity.
The "tea party" proved one thing and one thing alone, it is possible to change one of the major parties and to pull the other one along with it; admittedly it was a well financed and orchestrated campaign. Since the likelihood of any form of campaign finance reform is zero; since the citizens united SCOTUS decision we will have to work harder than ever before.
Many of us still hope for change and I for one still believe that our principles in the long run will prevail, the getting there may be long and painful; but we cannot give up. The call for more and better democrats remains a valid one, the process will be longer than most people had hoped.
The results of this new "Austerity Deal" may in the end work in our favor as its effects at first will hurt the most disadvantaged and the middle class. We may even lose the next election because of it, then the whole country will see the catastrophe of their choice.
For those of us on the left socialists, progressives and liberals this may well be a nightmare but it is also a golden opportunity to rebuild. There are some fine leaders still in congress and I intend to support as many as I can. I have the list of the progressive caucus on our refrigerator, I have a list of senators whose votes I admire and who have spoken for me. Their numbers may be small but it gives us a power base to work from; it will not be instant gratification but if all leftists [I hate that term but it works] can take a leaf out my home State's [Vermont] work over many decades then we can slowly change the country.
The reality is brutal; we have failed to convince, we have failed to organize. We face the daunting obstacles of money and power our voices at a national level are easily silenced by a corporate media, therefore we have to start persuading better at a local level where we can be heard.
It is going to be a long and frustrating battle; but I for one refuse to give up hope and refuse to believe change is not possible. I don't care if it takes decades it's a fight worth fighting.
We have a few better democrats and one day we will have more; but any change will come from the bottom up.
Liberal, socialist, and progressive may be dirty words today, we will have to change that by persuasion and by the force of our words.