2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forum"A party beholden to corporate power cannot simultaneously be the party of ordinary working people"
Hillary Clinton, Corporate America and the Democrats' Dilemma
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/34913-with-hillary-clinton-corporate-america-defines-the-limits-of-acceptable-opinion
A party beholden to corporate power cannot simultaneously be the party of ordinary working people, and thus we can see the Democrats' dilemma. Though the party distinguishes itself from the GOP in some ways - Democrats are more liberal on social issues, for example, and more inclined to defend programs like Medicare and Social Security - there can be no question that corporate money has undue influence on both major parties, not just the GOP. When Hillary Clinton was seen as the inevitable 2016 Democratic nominee, there was no reason to believe this status quo would be challenged. But the rise of Bernie Sanders changes everything.
The genius of the corporate coup that has overtaken US democracy is not that it dominates the GOP - the party that has long favored corporate power anyway - but that it has maneuvered even the opposition party into submission as well. The brightest minds on Wall Street are experts at hedging bets, and they play politics just as they play finance. Such dynamics are key to understanding not only the role of the Clinton candidacy in the eyes of corporate America, but the perceived threat posed by the Sanders campaign with its persistent advocacy for people over corporations.
oldandhappy
(6,719 posts)I am 100% alternate media
gordianot
(15,261 posts)The pendulum has fallen off its base and lays on the floor broken.
trudyco
(1,258 posts)Or metaphor.
antigop
(12,778 posts)lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)But when you give those corporations actual votes in the form of Superdelegates... ordinary working people can't compete with that.
The Democratic party has shown that corporate cash isn't a necessary evil, it is a conscious choice. In fact, they consider it so important to side with the corporations that they are willing to alienate millions of voters.
antigop
(12,778 posts)Can the Democratic Party really be reformed from within?
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)antigop
(12,778 posts)Quote often attributed to Einstein, but not necessarily his.
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)I'm to old to start from scratch, maybe the kids can create a new economically populist party, but it will take actual throwing of the chair.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)The Democratic Party knows this, the Republican Party knows this, the Ruling Class knows this- and they've been astonishingly successful at making sure the Working Class never learns this.
The status quo was rolling along just fine, until Bernie Sanders came along and mucked it up with his crazy ideas about democracy, equality and justice." ~ Anonymous
antigop
(12,778 posts)trudyco
(1,258 posts)Even Billionaires should be aware that they can't put a bubble around global consequences of their actions. They can't put a gate between them and the rest of the world. Eventually their descendants will have to live with what the billionaires wrought. Global warming, contaminated water/soil/air, drought, food production practices or GMOs that wipe out beneficial insects or bring on super bugs ... they can't buy their way out of everything.
It's like they never grew up from being a teen. You know, teenagers engage in risky behavior because they believe the bad stuff happens to other people, that it can never happen to them. That's how coporatists and Billionaires are acting. Real Americans support the middle class. It's what keeps America stable. Real humans take care of the planet, promote peace, etc. Anything else is self destructive.
antigop
(12,778 posts)MisterP
(23,730 posts)Apollo Global Management backs Clinton but Leon Black ought to remember what happened to his father
pmorlan1
(2,096 posts)Let's hope that their enablers wake up so that we can reclaim our Party from the corporations that now infest it.
antigop
(12,778 posts)pdsimdars
(6,007 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)if she is elected. He tried to destroy us once - please don't give him a second chance.
Demsrule86
(68,869 posts)This gave the election to Bush and tipped the scales in favor of United...now despite all you high-minded types...you need a great deal of money to run in a presidential election.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Try blaming the 200,000+ so-called Democrats that voted for Bush in Florida allowing them to steal it.
Demsrule86
(68,869 posts)Green is dead to me for what they did. And United was direct result.