Reading about the Change to Win coalition
bolting the AFL-CIO, it occurred to me that Stern & Co. are taking a page from Karl Rove's little green book -- and that grassroots Dems could learn a thing or two from turdblossom as well.
The promise of the split is that, unburdened by the deadweight of the more reactionary old-line unions, the Change to Win crowd can move faster and better leverage its resources, building an evangelical labor movement focused on organizing rather than bureaucracy and back-room politicking. Where it competes with the AFL-CIO, so much the better.
It's akin to Rove's 50+1, aggressively ideological philosophy of government, which seeks to polarize the party as well as the general political atmosphere. The idea is: lose the ideologically uncommitted, self-interested moderates and strike harder with a smaller but more unified and motivated core.
Maybe it's time for the Democrats to go the way of labor.
Continued
I'm not suggesting a split, per se. But clearly, like the service industry, passionate, fighting progressivism is a growth market, where the dead-eyed equivocation of the D.C. Dems is the road to extinction. Perhaps progressives (or fighting Dems, or the netroots, or whatever you call them) need to actively target those officeholders who trash the base on Fox or vote for CAFTA or the Credit Card Company Protection Act, putting money and time into backing primary opponents and withholding donations from any body that might support those officeholders in general elections.
I'm increasingly of the opinion that the Democrats must clear the deadwood before they can begin to grow again. Get rid of the DLC and the Progressive Policy Institute. Shitcan the bland so-called centrist appeasers beholden to corporate cash and inclined toward compromise with the opposition. Install fiery communicators in the leadership and hand the party whips to sadistic enforcers. Sure, you lose numbers, but only with a lean, mean activist core can the party begin to reinvent itself for the long run.
Now we have a list of 10 Democratic Senators and 15 Democratic Representatives who voted for CAFTA:
Dems voting for CAFTA
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, NM
Sen. Maria Cantwell, WA
Sen. Thomas Carper, DE
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, CA
Sen. Blanche Lincoln, AR
Sen. Patty Murray, WA
Sen. Bill Nelson, FL
Sen. Ben Nelson, NE
Sen. David Pryor, AR
Sen. Ron Wyden, OR
Rep. Melissa Bean, IL-08
Rep. Jim Cooper, TN-05
Rep. Henry Cuellar, TX-23
Rep. Norm Dicks, WA-06
Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, TX-15
Rep. William Jefferson, LA-02
Rep. Jim Matheson UT-02
Rep. Gregory Meeks, NY-06
Rep. Gwen Moore, WI-04
Rep. Jim Moran, VA-08
Rep. Solomon Ortiz, TX-27
Rep. Ike Skelton, MO-04
Rep. Vic Snyder, AR-02
Rep. John Tanner, TN-08
Rep. Edolphus Towns, NY-10
We have a list of 18 Democratic Senators and 73 Democratic Representatives who voted for the Citibank/MBNA Act:
Dems voting for the Credit Card Company Protection Act of 2005:
Sen. Max Baucus, MT
Sen. Evan Bayh, IN
Sen. Joe Biden, DE
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, NM
Sen. Robert Byrd, WV
Sen. Thomas Carper, DE
Sen. Kent Conrad, ND
Sen. Daniel Inouye, HI
Sen. Tim Johnson, SD
Sen. Herb Kohl, WI
Sen. Mary Landrieu, LA
Sen. Blanche Lincoln, AR
Sen. Bill Nelson, FL
Sen. Ben Nelson, NE
Sen. Mark Pryor, AR
Sen. Harry Reid, NV
Sen. Ken Salazar, CO
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, MI
Rep. Robert Berry, AR-01
Rep. Sanford Bishop, GA-02
Rep. Dan Boren, OK-02
Rep. Leonard Boswell, IA-03
Rep. Fredrerick Boucher, VA-09
Rep. F. Allen Boyd, FL-02
Rep. Dennis Cardoza, CA-18
Rep. Ed Case, HI-02
Rep. Ben Chandler, KY-06
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, MO-05
Rep. Jim Cooper, TN-05
Rep. Jim Costa, CA-20
Rep. Robert Cramer, AL-05
Rep. Artur Davis, AL-07
Rep. James Davis, FL-11
Rep. Lincoln Davis, TN-04
Rep. Thomas Edwards, TX-17
Rep. Bob Etheridge, NC-02
Rep. Harold Ford, TN-09
Rep. Charles Gonzalez, TX-20
Rep. Barton Gordon, TN-06
Rep. Al Green, TX-09
Rep. Jame Harman, CA-36
Rep. Stephanie Herseth, SD-00
Rep. Brian Higgins, NY-27
Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, TX-15
Rep. Tim Holden, PA-17
Rep. Darlene Hooley, OR-05
Rep. Steny Hoyer, MD-05
Rep. Steve Israel, NY-02
Rep. William Jefferson, LA-02
Rep. Ronald Kind, WI-03
Rep. Jim Matheson, UT-02
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, NY-04
Rep. Mike McIntyre, NC-07
Rep. Kendrick Meek, FL-17
Rep. Gregory Meeks, NY-06
Rep. Charles Melancon, LA-03
Rep. Robert Menendez, NJ-13
Rep. Michael Michaud, ME-02
Rep. Alan Mollohan, WV-01
Rep. Dennis Moore, KS-03
Rep. James Moran, VA-08
Rep. John Murtha, PA-12
Rep. Solomon Oritz, TX-27
Rep. Edward Pastor, AZ-04
Rep. Collin Peterson, MN-07
Rep. Earl Pomeroy, ND-00
Rep. David Price, NC-04
Rep. Nick Rahall, WV-03
Rep. Silvestre Reyes, TX-16
Rep. Mike Ross, AR-04
Rep. Steven Rothman, NJ-09
Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, MD-02
Rep. John Salazar, CO-03
Rep. Allyson Schwartz, PA-13
Rep. David Scott, GA-13
Rep. Ike Skelton, MO-04
Rep. John Spratt, SC-05
Rep. Ted Strickland, OH-06
Rep. John Tanner, TN-08
Rep. Ellen Tauscher, CA-10
Rep. Gene Taylor, MS-04
Rep. C. Michael Thompson, CA-01
Rep. David Wu, OR-01
Rep. Albert Wynn, MD-04
These aren't hot-button cultural issues where officeholders in conservative districts can be forgiven for wanting to look like Republicans. These are, in fact, ideal wedge issues with which to win back white working-class voters in Flyover Country.
Us bitching and moaning isn't cutting it. How can we hold their feet to the fire and make it known that if you won't stand with your party, your party will stand against you?