Hope you are okay.

I almost have the paperwork done and now that things have slowed a bit it is more intense because there are less distractions.

it was horrendous and nerve-wracking. I had a lot of help with it from my kids, but there's still stuff coming in months later.

"Third, liberals are also significantly to the left of the rest of the Democratic Party on social issues. Unlike other Democrats, few liberals say prayer is an important part of their lives, most strongly favor same-sex marriage, nearly all support abortion rights, and a majority support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants."

The majority of Americans support both gay marraige and marijuana legalization.
A majority say that religion should not determine public policy.

"And fourth, on foreign policy, most liberals reject the idea that the best way to ensure peace is through military strength; unlike other Democrats, a majority would find it acceptable if another country became as militarily powerful as the United States."

The majority of Americans would prefer to use diplomacy in place of military action these days.

you provided no proof.

which in any way negate what the quoted text from the article says.

You are the one making the unsupportable assertions.

progressive leaders is somehow harmful to the Democratic Party has got to take the prize for the looniest political analysis of all times

it may not hurt the party, but it could well hurt the party's success on election day.

although getting to know what people locally around me think is interesting, it gives me no clue about national sentiment the way polling data does.

The U.S. public is rarely as liberal as liberal Democrats think and rarely as conservative as conservative Republicans think.

- almost everyone is frustrated by obvious economic stress they see all around them. I certainly don't hear ANYONE talking about how great "free trade" and the "free enterprise" system is working. When the likes of someone like Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders or Bill de Blasio speaks about the economic unfairness that everyone sees, everyday of their life - everywhere they go - even Fox News watching - Tea Party voting Republicans quickly discover that someone is speaking for them. Really, almost everybody agrees with them except some rich people, a few nutty professors and these clownish opinion writers for the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.

choosing winners and losers with too much regulation and too much tax. Liberal people say we need to spur economic growth by paying for more people to be educated and trained and tax the richest among us more steeply than they are now.

poverty doesn't choose between Republican and Democrat. But Dems and Republicans are completely at odds as to how this gets fixed.

But I do agree there is some nexus there which could be exploited. Many poor Republicans are split with their wealthier Republican counterparts on economic inequality and are casting about for some solution.

The problem arose when social issues such as gun control, abortion and gay rights were exploited by the right-wing to wedge away otherwise economic populist motivated Democratic voters. When the establishment Democratic Party decided appealing to the hedge fund manager crowd on the cocktail party fundraiser circuit was more important than championing the causes of its historic working class base and no longer very interested in identifying itself as the champions of the common people - it left most of the historic working class base with little reason to continue to identify with a party that cared more about being acceptable to the folks in the wine tasting crowd and the boys down at the yacht club.

the language - but without the substance during a time when the popular perception was that the economy was recovering - which was partly true due to Reagan's massive deficit spending backed by his allies in the Democratic controlled Congress. This was also more than four years after the religious right had launched its very successful campaign to wedge away otherwise economic populist motivated but socially conservative voters from a party that was already turning its back on Keynesian economics and the legacy of the New Deal and the Great Society. But even if 1984 was not a time when economic populism was at its zenith - it is none the less what built the Democratic Party going back to Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren days and emerged as the fundamental force that created the New Deal coalition that sustained and even dominated even much of the Republican Party for more than a generation. It may have lost some if its shine for awhile as the Democratic Party establishment made its Faustian deals with the devil - but it is back now and the momentum is growing and everyone knows it. "You don't need a weatherman to tell you which way the wind is blowing,"

Telling us water is not wet. I guess it depends on what your definition of "is" is

Agreed.

It's the Big Lie of the beltway bubble in DC. The Democratic leadership is as out of step with the rank and file as the Tea Party clown car is with the Republican rank and file.

Remember who owns our media. That's where this bullshit comes from. They're terrified that working people will demand higher wages and better conditions.

I'm still able to type on my ComCast-owned tube but it can be snuffed at any point for unexplainable reasons. The same is true for 99% of the rest of us.

*gasp*

I wish they were my words, but one of the TV hosts beat me to it. Don't remember which one.

Beltway insiders pushing HARD for Republicanized Democrats - this is (as you point out) standard operating procedure for the mainstream media.

...that routinely painted opposition to the war in Iraq and support for universal healthcare as extremist fringe positions during the last year or two of the Bush presidency.

It puts Warren's name out there as an alternative to Hillary. If more people listen to what she is saying, she could become quite popular.

Though he does acknowledge the the reality, "Under the more centrist Obama administration, the leftward movement of Democratic voters has been of limited political consequence."

It was just his conclusion that was dead wrong.

Here are a couple of key excerpts:

I have a question. If all of us as liberals are so supportive of the president and his policies, how would the author of the post come to the conclusion that we would harm the party?

In the shutdown era, Democrats have had a more moderate image nationwide than the tea-party-burdened GOP. But that image may be at risk if liberal Democrats set the pace for the party. We could see them rally around a progressive leader — Warren, de Blasio or some yet-to-emerge candidate — who speaks their language of economic populism. If the agenda of this new New Left drives Democrats’ choices, it might weaken the ideological and demographic coalition that has led the party to victory in four of the past six national elections.

with independents and Republicans....it is likely not to play well with moderate to conservative Democrats. That could unwind the coalition that is currently set to win some presidential contests and pursue strengthening of health care reform, nominating more liberal thinking justices to the bench, etc. etc.

the party leaders don't have to do so. So we have to turn right to win so we can get more liberal policies enacted.

I have been hearing that for a while.

to define their political label when answering a poll question

the right has done a great job labeling folks liberals when they weren't in the past... and I think people have a blurred sense of what the word 'liberal' even means. I know ive encountered democrats who called themselves liberals because hey.. theyre a democrat so what else would they be (typically socially they are in fact liberal, but not economically.. typically neo-con)... :p

that's why they started calling Obama a socialist from the get go... they know things stick if you repeat yourself and accuse others repeatedly.

"If the agenda of this new New Left drives Democrats’ choices, it might weaken the ideological and demographic coalition that has led the party to victory in four of the past six national elections."

“It is not truth that matters, but victory.”
― Adolf Hitler

Did you study under this guy?

What a crock!

we are taking in more cons everyday as they flee the insanity that is the GOP.

the party have to move to satisfy some folks and the writer of this piece? maybe just combine the partys?
lol.

ironically, an article from bill moyers about the left being non-existent called 'has the left surrendered' just came out as well.. hmm, wonder who is more accurate in their assessment
http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/28/has-the-left-surrendered/

if Hillary gets the nomination of the party without ANY FIGHT (if she wins, so be it) .. I will be unregistering from the party.

...well I don't want to invoke Godwin's law...

Those both sound like superb ideas to me.

Last edited Fri Feb 28, 2014, 11:00 PM - Edit history (1)

Edit: typos after a 22/hr day, lol!

And that's fine with me.

The "You Forgot The 'Not From The Onion' Disclaimer" category.


rocktivity

got "more Liberal", its just appears that way because the Right has gotten more radical.

They are destroying the Democratic Party. Actually, Max Bacus is welcome in the Democratic Party, as is Al Franken. The divide is tiny when compared to Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell. And because of that 2014 will be a much better for Democrats than most of the pundits are willing to admit today simply because the Tea Party continues to control the Republican microphone and that is bad news for Republicans. On March 11th there is a special election in Florida to fill a vacant seat in the House that has been in Republican hands for nearly 50 years. Right now it is considered to be close and a good GOTV could well flip the seat to the Democrats. While all races are local, this race could be a good bell-weather for what will happen in November.

heh heh that is not hard to do.

If I have to move to the fucking center I'll pass on belonging to the Democratic Party. If my choice is Republican light or Republican, thank you very much I'll have the fucking Republican.

it's a FACT that the electorate is far more liberal than the numbnuts in DC realize or care to acknowledge.

And a thank you to you. Enjoy your week-end!!