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Tue Nov 02, 2010 at 16:17:11 PM MST
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| There will be more navel-gazing than anybody wants after tonight as the 2010 election results are reported and analyzed. Part of that process is establishing and controlling narratives. One group is already trying to set the stage to get their narrative established: Third Way.
Count me among the Democrats who thinks that there is too much corporate control over policy and elections - both in the Democratic Party and in politics in general. Third Way, as Markos wrote earlier today, is more corporate-friendly than the DLC. The narrative Third Way wants to establish is that Democrats, especially those elected in the 2008 cycle, went too far to the left. They're advocating a "return to the center":
it "is crucial for Democrats to return to the center with bold and bipartisan policy solutions that are realistic in the next Congress and resonate with moderates and Independents."
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) has fired back a response, based on their efforts in one Congressional District, already (good for them):
"If the corporate-funded Third Way candidate had won this primary [NH-02], Democrats would have lost this seat," said Stephanie Taylor, PCCC co-founder. "But because Ann Kuster won this primary and campaigned hard on popular progressive issues, voters were inspired -- and Democrats stand on the verge of winning this race in a typically Republican district in a typically Republican year.
I don't think I can emphasize the following enough times: much of our politics is no longer about left vs. right; it's about people vs. corporations. Democrats didn't lunge to the left in the past two years; if they did, more Democratic registered voters would be likely voters this year. Democrats, in my opinion, did lunge too far toward corporations during the past two years. |
| WeatherDem :: Corporatists Try To Set Post-Election Narrative |
| Too many decisions, negotiations and giveaways were made influenced and controlled based on what corporations wanted. Too few of the same were controlled based on what the people wanted. On issue after issue, the true center position is held squarely by the liberal, pro-people viewpoint. The primary problem with how Democrats governed in 2009-2010 wasn't that they pushed too far to the left; it was that they got pushed too far toward the pro-corporate end too many times. The secondary problem was that they didn't effectively communicate the pro-people policies that they were able to enact.
If Democrats lose as much ground as the pre-election polls indicate they will, it will be due more to the fact that a sizable portion of voters decided they didn't get the job done they were hired to do. If the remaining, and new, Democrats listen to groups like Third Way, they are likely to draw the incorrect conclusion of what the results of this election meant.
So I'm adding my small voice to Markos': running faster toward even more corporate influence and control is the exact wrong thing to do in 2011-2012, Democrats. Fight like hell for people in the next two years and Election Night 2012 will look vastly different than Election Night 2010. Work for your base, which is a majority of Americans. Ignore as much as possible groups like Third Way, which doesn't have our best interests in mind when they dispense advice and lobby you.
Watch as competing narratives are pushed and evolve in the coming days, weeks and months. Push the ones that will help the most in electing progressive candidates in 2012 and beyond. Call out those which won't. |
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