Democratic Underground and where it is heading after Obama's first 100 days

[derby378]

Never in my life have the fortunes of the two major political parties in America hung in the balance as precariously as they do now.

I'm old enough to remember watching a moon landing by Americans with my mom on television, but still too young to have taken in the gravity of Watergate, My Lai, and the same-year assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. at the time these events happened.

But I remember my own tumultuous political evolution, where weariness with what I perceived as arrogance among Democrats in DC drove me to vote for Republicans in 1994, and my disgust with Republicans over the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal drove me to vote for Al Gore and Democrats in 2000, and how it took grassroots organizers like Howard Dean to turn me into a full-fledged Democrat.

The Republican Party, thanks to the abuses of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, is teetering on the edge of schism and collapse.

But I see the same thing happening in the Democratic Party. At a time when our party is in position to readjust America's moral bearings and repair our standing in the world community, too many Democrats are starting to embrace the destructive policies of the Bush administration. Sadly, this includes some Democrats in the White House.

The Republican Party is an endangered species. But so are we. The difference between us and the GOP, however, is that our party stands at a crossroads. Our party is capable of making a conscious decision to avert its own demise.

That's where I see Democratic Underground coming in. I think we are going to remain the "underground" of the Democratic Party for at least the next four years, constantly challenging the Obama administration to stay true to Democratic principles and rebuild the social, political, financial, and medical infrastructures of our nation while still honoring its duty to the Constitution to defend our country against all enemies - foreign and domestic.

And that is why we cry out against Obama's refusal to prosecute Bush administration officials over torture. That is why we are alarmed with Obama's plans for "prolonged detention" of Gitmo detainees without charges, let alone a trial. That is why so many of us continue insist that single-payer healthcare options not be pushed off the table.

There are forces within the Democratic Party hierarchy that are trying to shut us out of the political debate. And DU is one of those places where we can build the strength needed to force the door open and march into the center of the arena, where we will be impossible to ignore.

[YOY]

1. If and when the Republican party finally dies I would gladly accept a split of the Democratic party

Perhaps many will spit on me for saying it but I have long felt that the DLC is right about where a sane but TRULY "conservative" party should be.

[glitch]

4. The sooner the better.

Although I am thinking the DLC isn't really as "conservative" as it is "corporatist" so that problem won't go away any time soon. It will sit like a bloated troll on any path to progress.

[cascadiance]

6. The problem is that the Rethuglican Party will never die as long as you have social conservatives...

... who want their social right wing agenda to be followed. You and I can both want it to go away, but it won't. Might become very fringe soon if it gets very narrowly focused on extreme right wing social agenda, and the money move away from it at some point, but that's where many of the fundies will still go if they value their extreme social agenda over their own financial interests and other rights.

The problem I have with the DLC and the Rethuglican party up to this point is that they are too infested with corporate corruption and wanting to preserve the K Street system in place that tries to render the people's involvement useless, and "masquerade" that they are representing "moderate" views.

I think if there are some true moderates that might not necessarily share some of the minor social issues or even fiscal policies that we might want to put in place, but who reject corporate corruption, will be the likes of Jesse Ventura and Paul Hackett, which might even be the start of a newer party, and one that though I might disagree with at times, I would find a "healthier" conservative or moderate party that I could deal with, that would encourage more dialogue of the PEOPLE and their representatives to work out our differences instead of us having to fight the system of corporate corruption that is always angled towards using financial and other power to help the few dominate the rest of us.

The DLC needs to radically change its mission before I'd accept it, and I would hope that they would try and split away and justify themselves or that we could find some strength to push them away at some point to justify themselves. Without the social conservatives, and without being able to strangle the masses that I think will gravitate more towards liberal people-oriented agenda that we want, I think they'll be a dying parasite without a host to feed on and die away.

I think that you and I do want the same thing though ultimately. Which are two parties that can both be answering to different segments of the populace in a truly representative fashion and not in a skewed fashion based on how much money a segment throws at the process to influence things undemocratically.

[ColbertWatcher]

17. Agreed. The GOP controls the courts, the media and schools. They're not going anywhere. n/t

[scentopine]

2. Great post!

100% agree and well said. There is a difference between winning an election and winning hearts and minds. We won the election, the rest we hope is forth-coming, but I am not optimistic about it.

[meegbear]

3. Is this the official Democratic Underground view or yours?

[derby378]

8. Just an old-timer's observation of where all this is headed, that's all

Your mileage, of course, may vary.

[L0oniX]

5. There's not much that 140,000 members can do about anything.

[derby378]

7. A history lesson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt

[KoKo]

16. You'd be surprised at what we've all accomplished building the Internet!

When many of us first came here there wasn't a "Blogosphere." There were just a few sites with talk about Democrats and the stolen election. Maybe you remember...maybe you weren't around then.

But, this is one of the first sites where "disenfranchised Dems" felt they could go to connect with each other. A lot has changed since then...but folks here and at Buzzflash and Smirking Chimp..a few other sites were the ones that BUILT the Progressive Internet! And...the Progressive or Democratic Blogosphere.

[Vidar]

9. Damned good post!

[bvar22]

10. It doesn't matter to me anymore.

My "Line in the Sand" is the "Democratic" Health Care Reform.

I support HR 676, but will settle for a viable, well financed Public Option ("like MediCare"), as long as it is not a fraud that channels $Billions to the Health Insurance Industry. (Schumer/Hillary/Romney's Plan)

If the "Democratic" Health Care Reform does NOT include this option, I WILL leave the Democratic Party and find a Party that represents Working Americans, and NOT our Corporate Overlords.

If you are smart, you will join me in my promise to the "Democratic" Party.


"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans. I want us to compete for that great mass of voters that want a party that will stand up for working Americans, family farmers, and people who haven't felt the benefits of the economic upturn."---Paul Wellstone

[derby378]

11. I hate to tell you this...

...but I don't see a viable third party that could do this. The Greens come closest, but they've lost a lot of momentum.

Why not take the Democratic Party from the corporate overlords and be done with it? That's my long-term strategy.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

12. How does one "take" the party from the corporate overlords?

My method so far is refusing to contribute to the DCCC and making donations to specific races where I think a few bucks might help the most progressive candidate. I would love to see entrenched Dems that appear to be in the pockets of certain industries lose to more progressive upstarts in primaries - Baucus is number one one that list right now. I would also list the name of every Blue Dog as a target for being primaried.

I did contribute to Feingolds Progressive Patriot Fund. I don't know if that is worth continuing or not.

No message was ever sent more clearly than Lieberman being outed by Lamont, and yet that ultimately failed. Why, because the Republicans and the DINOs united to defeat the Progressive Dem.

As events continue to unfold, I am newly opened to seeing the Blue Dog cabal for the hidious Trojan Horse within Democratic ranks that they are. I wish they all just become Republicans since they vote that way anyway.

[derby378]

13. I think we'll have to do it from the ground up

We have to become precinct chairs, county committee members, state committee members, muscle our way onto every state and national platform/resolutions committee we can, even get a few of our ilk elected to public office, if possible.

This is the only direct popular way I know of to take over a party. Grassroots Republicans did that in the 80s and 90s to a certain extent before the corporate types pushed back with George W. Bush.

[livefreest]

14. K&R. and those who want to see President Obama truly uphold the rule of law

shouldn't be derided.

[KoKo]

15. As long as you understand that "Democratic Underground" doesn't mean "Underground"

in the way one would usually think it would...then you will understand one must be pragmatic here.