Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)Salon: Democratic moderates fear the socialist left will wreck the party... [View all]
Over the past few weeks, ever since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's startling primary victory over Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., weve seen a remarkable display of intra-party, bad-faith concern trolling an area where Democrats have set a high standard. Various mainstream or moderate figures in or around the party are already seeking to pin blame for a hypothetical November defeat, in advance, on the insurgent socialist faction associated with Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders. My daring analysis: This does not bespeak enormous confidence.
<snip>
None of this makes clear why powerful people like Comey and Lieberman are so worried about a small-scale insurrection within the Democratic Party that is nowhere near as "far from the mainstream" as they pretend, and is also a long way from staging a coup and hanging portraits of Trotsky and Che in DNC headquarters. Socialist-dread syndrome also appears to have driven the recent gathering of moderate Democrats in Columbus, Ohio, under the aegis of the think tank Third Way, as reported in a widely circulated piece by Alex Seitz-Wald of NBC News (a former Salon staffer).
<snip>
Markell is absolutely right: A debate is overdue. But a debate about what? The problem for Democratic moderates is precisely that they will not define or explain their positions clearly, except in wonky, granular, political-calculus terms, in large part because their ideas are widely discredited and massively unpopular.
<snip>
Attendees at the Third Way conference were clearly aware that middle-path Democrats will need big, new ideas in order to compete successfully with Medicare for all, a $15 minimum wage, debt-free college and the other dangerous pinko proposals that would have had near-unanimous support in the pre-Reagan Democratic Party. Here's what they came up with: A private-sector, employer-funded universal pension plan to supplement Social Security. OK, I'm just spitballing, but that probably isnt going to suck the wind out of the red sails of Bernies fleet and sweep Mitch Landrieu (or whomever) into the White House.
<snip>
Those who shut down such internal conflict and purged the activist left from the Democratic Party, on the premise that it was the only possible way to win elections in a "centrist," anti-ideological nation, have never faced the consequences of their historic blunder. They have lost repeatedly and on a grand scale, insisting every time that they really should have won or in some other, better world, did win and that whatever went wrong was somebody elses fault. They are the ones who appear committed to an inflexible, dogmatic ideology that is out of step with political reality. They are surprised and outraged to learn that if they want to continue their losing streak, they will have to fight for it.
<snip>
None of this makes clear why powerful people like Comey and Lieberman are so worried about a small-scale insurrection within the Democratic Party that is nowhere near as "far from the mainstream" as they pretend, and is also a long way from staging a coup and hanging portraits of Trotsky and Che in DNC headquarters. Socialist-dread syndrome also appears to have driven the recent gathering of moderate Democrats in Columbus, Ohio, under the aegis of the think tank Third Way, as reported in a widely circulated piece by Alex Seitz-Wald of NBC News (a former Salon staffer).
<snip>
Markell is absolutely right: A debate is overdue. But a debate about what? The problem for Democratic moderates is precisely that they will not define or explain their positions clearly, except in wonky, granular, political-calculus terms, in large part because their ideas are widely discredited and massively unpopular.
<snip>
Attendees at the Third Way conference were clearly aware that middle-path Democrats will need big, new ideas in order to compete successfully with Medicare for all, a $15 minimum wage, debt-free college and the other dangerous pinko proposals that would have had near-unanimous support in the pre-Reagan Democratic Party. Here's what they came up with: A private-sector, employer-funded universal pension plan to supplement Social Security. OK, I'm just spitballing, but that probably isnt going to suck the wind out of the red sails of Bernies fleet and sweep Mitch Landrieu (or whomever) into the White House.
<snip>
Those who shut down such internal conflict and purged the activist left from the Democratic Party, on the premise that it was the only possible way to win elections in a "centrist," anti-ideological nation, have never faced the consequences of their historic blunder. They have lost repeatedly and on a grand scale, insisting every time that they really should have won or in some other, better world, did win and that whatever went wrong was somebody elses fault. They are the ones who appear committed to an inflexible, dogmatic ideology that is out of step with political reality. They are surprised and outraged to learn that if they want to continue their losing streak, they will have to fight for it.
Much more at :
https://www.salon.com/2018/07/28/democratic-moderates-fear-the-socialist-left-will-wreck-the-party-they-want-to-keep-that-gig/
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
166 replies, 26458 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (20)
ReplyReply to this post
166 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Salon: Democratic moderates fear the socialist left will wreck the party... [View all]
Fiendish Thingy
Jul 2018
OP
HA Goodman, Comey and Lieberman are trying to rile you up and it seems to be working.
bettyellen
Jul 2018
#151
You're super interested in what Comey and Lieberman have to say about Dems and less so in what
bettyellen
Jul 2018
#156
"I'd have to say you are naive and uninformed. If you see it but won't say it you're complicit."
betsuni
Jul 2018
#120
You go believe what Comey and Lieberman have to say about Dems-that's brilliant!
bettyellen
Jul 2018
#157
The article in the OP is RW bullshit designed to divide Dems, but keep falling for it...
bettyellen
Jul 2018
#164
Ignore the labels. Everyone want the same thing, the only difference is pace of getting it.
Blue_true
Jul 2018
#10
All the social and economic progress of the last 86 years have come from democrats.
Blue_true
Jul 2018
#59
It was actually JFK who sent the 1964 Civil Rights Act legislation to Congress:
ucrdem
Jul 2018
#111
Yeah some people want it to happen after they no longer have to run for reelection. n/t
PoliticAverse
Jul 2018
#106
Are you claiming that the Democratic party doesn't support most if not all of these issues?
dansolo
Jul 2018
#123
It's a fight that's going to be had. But not now, not at this time in history. Let's stay together.
YOHABLO
Jul 2018
#5
I think its NOT enough to ignore these. I think you have to try to correct the misinformation.
lancelyons
Jul 2018
#16
No matter how good this Democrat is ...there is not a chance in hell to elect him in Michigan...
Demsrule86
Jul 2018
#8
Stop promoting division of the party, right here on this thread you can see
Eliot Rosewater
Jul 2018
#9
I have researched stuff here lately and what is going on is so obvious but ofcourse
Eliot Rosewater
Jul 2018
#33
I strongly disagree- winning is essential, but there's lots more important than winning
Fiendish Thingy
Jul 2018
#58
And there it is, the talking point: "Medicare, medicaid, Social Security, food stamps etc ...,
betsuni
Jul 2018
#73
There are currently fewer of those "socialist" Democrats than you can count on one hand.
MoonRiver
Jul 2018
#26
The other side of the coin the socialist left must work with the rest of us
beachbum bob
Jul 2018
#42
What a fucking stupid article. You're not really buying this shit, are you? Tell me you're not.
Squinch
Jul 2018
#46
This is bullshit. STOP IT. A fucking Russian spy is in the White House. Damit.
onecaliberal
Jul 2018
#47
This is why I stopped reading Salon. They go out of their way to push Demand critic division theme,
still_one
Jul 2018
#60
All Democrats must remember nothing is free and most things worth having
democratisphere
Jul 2018
#105
More the media pushing a wedge issue for ratings & clicks than fear from moderate democratics
krawhitham
Jul 2018
#152