Sen. Harkin's appearance today reminded me of how far things have truly gone over the years. I was very active in his 1991-2 presidential campaign. It was a very different time.
While the Reagan/Bush I years had been awful, there was still a feeling of possibility. By the fall of 1991, the bloom was visibly off the GOP rose. The economy was in trouble, GHWB had broken his "no new taxes" pledge, and the post-Gulf War I euphoria had worn off. The victories of Wellstone and Sanders in 1990, and Harris Wofford's upset victory in a 1991 special Senate election, were considered to be harbingers of a potential progressive resurgence.
For reasons that are beyond the scope of this diary, the Harkin campaign petered out quickly after his initial domination of his home state caucuses. The DLC rode Clinton to victory, and they grabbed the bottom of the ticket w/ Gore as well. A largely unsatisfying 8 years followed.
Regardless of one's views of the merits of the policy decisions made by the Clinton WH, the party visibly suffered in those years. It wasn't merely that the party suffered its worst off-year collapse in 48 years in '94, nor was it even that the party never rebounded in subsequent Congressional elections. It was that the party then completed its ongoing shift from a people-based party to a donor-based party.
The escalation in the political arms race that occurred in the 1990's is occasionally forgotten. In 1995-6, roughly $50 million in soft money was raised for the benefit of the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign. Ads touting that ticket were nominally purchased by the party and aired in swing states starting in the summer of '95. This type of expenditure was unprecedented at the time.
We all know what happened after that. The GOP spent about $180 million on behalf of W 4 years later, plus another $20 million during the recount battle. The GOP simply had the ability to raise more corporate and big donor cash than the Dems did. Its deeper pockets clearly worked to its benefit in 2000, in 2002, and in 2004.
To make matters worse, the GOP did a better job of mobilizing its core voters. It openly curried the favor of the Christian right, and it did a better job of getting them to turn out on election day. The Dems didn't seem to show the same level of devotion to their base, and that base didn't generally seem to turn out at adequate levels.
The emergence of the netroots did not occur a moment too soon. Before the Dean campaign, the very idea of a small donor base rallying behind a Dem candidate would've been ludicrous. The levels of enthusiasm and of candidate support that this site has generated in the last 2 cycles has been awe-inspiring. There has been a sea change in the party that Harkin's initial appearance here today clearly reflects.
Unfortunately, so much bad s**t has occurred in the intervening 14 years. If you recall the closing scene in "The War Room," Carville talks about all of the great things that are about to occur as a result of Clinton's election. As it sadly turned out, we didn't get health care reform, but we did get NAFTA, welfare "reform", and telecommunications "reform" in the Clinton years. We got far worse in the ensuing years.
It takes a strong constitution to fully reflect on the true extent of what has gone wrong the last 5 1/2 years. It never previously occurred to me that our country could be simultaneously waging wars in 2 countries and that it could have a virtual surrogate waging a 3d. It never previously occurred to me that the rule of law could be threatened w/ becoming a quaint relic. It never previously occurred to me that distortions, half-truths, and outright lies could become a routine element of our political discourse.
I was very happy to see Sen. Harkin here today. I hope that we see him here often. I'm even happier to see that the political tectonic plates are clearly shifting in our direction. I'm happiest of all to see the energy and the enthusiasm of this site. It's been a long, difficult haul for a lot of years, and some truly good news is long overdue.