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babylonsister

(170,962 posts)
Thu Jan 26, 2017, 09:07 PM Jan 2017

The Democratic Base Is Marching Right Past Its Leaders

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/womens-march-democrats-base_us_588a490ce4b061cf898d7e98?75jyvi&

The Democratic Base Is Marching Right Past Its Leaders
Newly minted activists want Democrats in Washington to actually fight against Trump — or get out of the way.
01/26/2017 04:12 pm ET | Updated 1 hour ago

Jennifer Bendery White House and Congressional Reporter, The Huffington Post
Ryan Grim Washington bureau chief for The Huffington Post

Clearly, protesters have some feelings about President Donald Trump.


WASHINGTON ― On April 15, 2009, a wave of populist protests swept across the country, pegged to tax day. John Boehner, who was then-House minority leader, was curious how they’d play out, and joined one in Bakersfield, California with Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

What he saw there stunned him, and he immediately knew that if Republicans could harness that energy, he’d become speaker of the House. As he told his staff in his typically salty manner, “They are fucking furious and we’re going to win.”

Boehner was right on both points, and he vowed that day to make sure he channeled the rage he was witnessing into campaigns against Democrats the next fall. To ally with his base, he and then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) resolved to engage in all-out obstruction. It worked, until it worked too well, and consumed Boehner himself, as well as his deputy, former Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

Elected Democrats are now facing the same challenge, as a fired-up progressive base is marching far ahead of the party leadership. Democrats are scrambling to keep up.


This week, when progressive champions Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) voted in a Senate committee to approve the thoroughly unqualified Ben Carson to head the Housing and Urban Development Department, there was little criticism from established liberal organizations in Washington. But the grassroots lit up ― blasting them on Twitter, Facebook, in calls to their offices, and in countless emails to Huffington Post reporters, asking us what on earth their one-time heroes were doing.

Warren clearly felt the backlash. “OK, let’s talk about Dr. Ben Carson,” she began a lengthy Facebook post on Wednesday.

That the votes came just days after millions poured into the streets in more than 650 women’s marches on Saturday made it that much more jarring. Those marches, after all, had not been sparked by Planned Parenthood, or the Democratic Party, or unions, or MoveOn.org, even if they did pitch in to help once it got going. Instead, they came from regular, angry people ― people who may try to replace the ones in power.

“It’s going to motivate a lot of people to activism and to run for office,” said Fran DeBenedictis, a 63-year-old retired New York City cop, as she scanned the crowds at Saturday’s march in D.C. She was one of hundreds of thousands who marched in the city that day, armed with a homemade sign denouncing sexism and homophobia ― amazingly, it had a photo of her on it from a women’s march decades earlier ― and joined by two friends who rode in on a bus from Long Island, New York. This, she said, motioning to the scene, is what brings change.

“I’ve been doing this for 40 years,” she said. “It works.”

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/womens-march-democrats-base_us_588a490ce4b061cf898d7e98?75jyvi&

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The Democratic Base Is Marching Right Past Its Leaders (Original Post) babylonsister Jan 2017 OP
What leaders?! The DNC chair is going to be voted in Feb 23rd !!! We need leadership hot damn now !! uponit7771 Jan 2017 #1
K&R BSdetect Jan 2017 #2
Yes they are. Time we took over JDC Jan 2017 #3
Nah, we should keep our powder dry. killbotfactory Jan 2017 #4
Good. truebluegreen Jan 2017 #5
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