Friday, December 10, 2004

Disturbing, In A Way:

E-mail from the MoveOn folks the other day. I often wondered what direction they would take next - and confrontation seems to be it. While I'm all for confrontation, I think they could have chose to go the route of tact, instead of turning on the very people that they once championed.

"For years, the Party has been lead by elite Washington insiders who are closer to corporate lobbyists than they are to the Democratic base. But we can't afford four more years of leadership by a consulting class of professional election losers. In the last year, grassroots contributors like us gave more than $300 million to the Kerry campaign and the DNC, and proved that the Party doesn't need corporate cash to be competitive. Now it's our Party: we bought it, we own it, and we're going to take it back."

While I agree with the sentiment, I can't help but think that had Kerry won the election, all would be well with the folks at MoveOn. I also don't like the "we bought it, we own it" mentality. Seems to me that's a Repub trait. A party should be for all the people, not just those who "bought" it.

"MoveOn includes Republicans, Greens, and independents. But all of us who are struggling for health care, clean air, decent jobs, and a sane foreign policy can agree on one thing: we're better off with a vibrant, populist Democratic Party that's strong enough to challenge the extreme-right Republican leadership.

Why haven't we had one? Under outgoing DNC chair Terry McAuliffe, the Party cozied up to many of the same corporate donors that fund the Republicans -- drug companies, HMO's, media conglomerates, big banks, polluting industries. The result was watered down, play-it-safe politics that kept the money flowing but alienated traditional Democrats as well as reform-minded independents in search of vision and integrity. And so the Party lost ground
."


While I agree with part one of the above, I don't like the slam at head cheerleader Terry McAuliffe. MoveOn certainly didn't make this a point before the election, why attack now? Because they lost? This only seems like sour grapes at this point, and it's leaving a bad taste in my mouth. So much so, that I came back to blog it. It's been bugging me.

Don't get me wrong; I'm all for radical upheaval of the whole system. But, I also know that, being realistic, it isn't going to happen anytime soon - it will take a major catastrophe, probably economic, to bring that about. Further splinting the Democratic Party at this point isn't going to help.

MoveOn was certainly ready to ride the Democratic coat-tails into power, this sudden shift makes me question what their real desire is all about. Time will tell.