Reply #55: amazing isn't it? [View All]

It is amazing to me that in 2008 any Democrat would ridicule those expressing the idea that the media has a strong determining influence on our elections, or that there are questions about the integrity of the elections and the procedures and tactics of the party leadership.

I would invite anyone to pick up any phone book from any part of the country and randomly dial numbers and ask people what they know about Edwards and Kucinich as compared to Obama and Clinton.

You should not feel hopeless, dajoki, nor should any Edwards supporters. This isn't really about Edwards. Those so eager to dance on the grave of the Edwards campaign, and so quick to mock and ridicule Edwards supporters (and Kucinich supporters and all critics of the party on the left) and in general be such poor sports and bad winners are not celebrating what they claim to be celebrating.

We may lose the nomination, but we do not need to lose the truth. The truth is that the entire process is tightly controlled by a relative handful of people, egged on by their sycophants who themselves represent a small percentage of the activists and an even smaller percentage of the general public. The Edwards campaign, and Dean's leadership of the DNC represent the movement to wrest away the control of the few over the party and the narrative of the party within the national political discussion. People are celebrating the crushing and suppression of the forgotten and left behind people, and the negation of the traditional principles and ideals of the party. In so doing, they are celebrating the weakening and possible destruction of the party - for the sake of keeping tight reins on where it goes and keeping participation and input as low as possible from the rabble.

The battle is not merely for the nomination, the battle is for power - who will control the Democratic party and what direction it will be going. Edwards is one small part of that battle, as is Kucinich. The opponents of Edwards want to disguise the truth about the battle, and make it all about a horse race. They want to talk about who is winning the game, and do not want to talk about how the game is rigged. They want to talk about electing candidates with a "D" after their name, but not about what that "D" is supposed to mean.

They want to crush idealism, they want to move the party to the right. They are happy with the current situation, with who is a "winner" in society and who is not, and merely want a Democratic administration because it will more effectively and intelligently and successfully protect and defend the status quo than the Bush administration and Republicans are doing. They think that the system is working pretty good, and that we just need a new captain at the helm who is "one of us." They are OK with millions - the bottom half - being left behind.

This battle for the soul of the party will go on, no matter what the outcome of the current primary race. Many are supporting the two leading candidates in good faith, and will eventually be on our side, so no need to antagonize them. But they are being led by that small faction of people I described above. The more clear that becomes, the less infighting and bitterness we will have in the party, the more solidarity, and that will lead to certain success for the party. Not these bittersweet wins, as with the midterms, where we elect people with a “D” after their name, but it does no good because there was no mandate, no program, no commitment to fight.

Many supporters of the two major candidates are hoping that we can turn the country around without a fight, without identifying the enemy, without knowing where the battle lines are. I wish they were right. I hoped that back when Clinton was first elected. But from the day Clinton was first elected, things have steadily gotten worse. Whatever step the Clinton administration took forward, we were shoved back two steps and the right wingers used the Clinton administration to build and consolidate power. Soon everyone will see that this moderate and accommodating “practical” strategy is not working and never will work, because we are up against an opponent who will not compromise, who will not accommodate, and who has no caution.

Fear not, we will prevail. It is just a matter of time, and unfortunately also a matter of how much suffering people will need to endure between now and then, before those who will not fight because they are not truly in opposition to the big money interests are bumped out of power, and before those who are hoping — hoping that we will not have to fight for our lives sooner or later — realize that this is a false hope and a dangerous illusion.