Without Progressive Opposition, Trump Will Win in 2020 and Beyond

stevenmsinger Bernie Sanders, Campaign Donations, Democrat, Donald Trump, Election, Election Reform, Hillary Clinton, Labor, Obama, Politics, Prejudice, President, Republican, Unions, voting, , , , , , , ,

screen-shot-2017-02-26-at-1-15-12-am

“You maniacs! You Finally did it! Oh damn you all to Hell!”

This was Charlton Heston at the end of “Planet of the Apes.”

But it could just as easily have been progressives everywhere after the Democratic National Committee voted for corporate shill Tom Perez to lead the party over bonafide change agent Keith Ellison.

What the Hell is wrong with you, DNC?

Perez supports the TPP, he’s a friend of the big banks and the donor class – AND he was part of the disastrous, dirty, LOSING Hillary Clinton campaign.

Don’t you get it? We lost against a reality show TV clown, Donald Trump, and you’re just repeating the same mistakes!?

And don’t give me this Russia hacking crap. Yes, they probably helped Trump win by exposing DNC emails. But they were real DNC emails. Democratic operatives actually wrote that stuff.

You will never convince me that it was enough to turn the election. If we had had an actual progressive running (Cough! Cough! Bernie Sanders!) it wouldn’t have mattered.

This was a choice between a corporate candidate and Donald Trump and people chose Donald. F’ing. Trump!

That’s on you.

And what is the first thing you do to fight back? You vote for another corporate Democrat to lead the party to oppose him!?

You maniacs! You Finally did it! Oh damn you all to Hell!

The Democratic Party is all but dead now.

Trump will walk into a second term in 2020 – no matter how terrible he continues to be between now and then.

He could take a dump on his desk in the oval office on live TV and there is probably NOTHING. We. Can. DO!

There is no opposition party.

No one is going to vote for Trump-lite.

This is not an opinion. It is a demonstrable fact. Just look back at freakin’ November!

Almost a million people signed a petition for Ellison. He won the backing of key unions – including the Teamsters, steelworkers, Communications Workers of America, and UNITE HERE. He won the backing of key activist groups including Democracy for America, 350.Org, the Center for Popular Democracy, MoveOn.Org, the Working Families Party, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and others. He was supported by notable progressives like Senator Elizabeth Warren, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Zephyr Teachout, Gloria Steinem, Walter Mondale, and Dolores Huerta ( co-founder of the United Farm Workers). He won over left-leaning publications like The Nation, whose editorial board wrote, “It is Ellison who combines the ideals, skills, and movement connections that will revitalize the party.”

Yet he lost by 35 votes to Perez.

When it came down to the 447 party insiders actually eligible to vote, Perez won by 235 to 200 (not counting abstentions).

If the DNC were a child, I would praise them for making progress. But it’s not a child. It’s supposed to be a national political party that can put up a robust challenge to the neo-facist in the White House!

This is completely unacceptable. And party leaders know it.

That’s why Perez immediately made Ellison his co-chair.

Good try, but too little, too late.

Perez, not Ellison, will be in charge of key decisions about the future of the party. As party chairman, he holds the balance on the makeup of the DNC Unity Reform Commission.

Were you one of millions of Americans who thought the party’s use of superdelegates during the primary was undemocratic? Well this is the commission that can eliminate them.

Sanders and Clinton delegates at the DNC convention in Philadelphia this summer clashed over these issues until Clinton agreed to let the matter be decided later by creating this group. It was a way to avoid a floor debate at that time and unify the party.

Clinton’s team gets to name nine members of the commission, and Sanders’ team gets seven. Now, Perez, as DNC chair, will control three additional votes. For those of you counting at home, that’s a 12-7 majority on the commission for the corporate Democrats. So superdelegates won’t be going anywhere. So if you want a Democratic party that is more democratic and more responsive to rank-and-file Democrats, well you can just stuff it.

Of course, all that’s in the future. How can we know now that Perez and other Democratic leaders won’t commit themselves to reform anyway?

Because of how else they voted at yesterday’s convention in Atlanta.

Before voting for Perez, they actually decided to vote down a resolution that would have reinstated former President Barack Obama’s ban on corporate political action committee donations to the party.

Resolution 33 also would have forbidden “registered, federal corporate lobbyists” from serving as “DNC chair-appointed, at-large members.”

And the DNC said, “Nah. We want that corporate money.”

Just what we need. More corporate donors, more support from big business and the rich – less impact from the working class people the Democrats actually need to vote for them to take back the country!

The Democrats need new blood. The party needs a top-to-bottom reorganization. It needs young people, working class people and minorities. It needs to rebuild county organizations and follow Sander’s $27 average donations.

Consolidating power among corporate donors and refusing to make any real structural reforms is not going to accomplish any of it.

Why did Ellison lose? Short answer: Israel.

Ellison is an African American Muslim who has been a vocal critic of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and continued expansion into disputed territories. His position is well within the party mainstream – even for many Jewish members. More than 60 percent of Democrats agree Israel should stop expanding in the West Bank or else face sanctions. Sanders – a Jew, himself – holds similar views.

However, prominent Clinton supporters spearheaded a smear campaign to deflate Ellison’s candidacy. His most vocal critics were the Anti-Defamation League, mega-donor Haim Saban, and lawyer Alan Dershowitz.

So instead the DNC has picked Perez, Obama’s former Labor Secretary who did next to nothing to help labor.

But Perez was a trusted adviser to Clinton on how to defame Sanders during the primary election.

He famously sent an email to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta published by Wikileaks suggesting Clinton paint her rival as an angry white male candidate with little minority support.

He wrote:

“Emmy and the team have a good plan to attract all minority voters. When we do well there [Nevada], then the narrative changes from Bernie kicks ass among young voters to Bernie does well only among young white liberals—that is a different story and a perfect lead in to South Carolina, where once again, we can work to attract young voters of color. So I think Nevada is a real opportunity, and I would strongly urge HRC to get out there within a couple days of [New Hampshire].”

Like others Clinton staffers, he described Nevada as her “firewall” and was unconcerned about how minorities would feel if they were described in such exploitative terms.

The Nevada caucus was the only decisive victory for Clinton with African Americans, according to entrance polls. However, more Latinos voted for Sanders so the state did not make it abundantly clear that Sanders was incapable of attracting support from people of color.

Despite smears by the Clinton campaign, there was never evidence Sanders supporters were motivated by white male angst. In fact, American National Elections Studies found white identity was more important to Clinton supporters than Sanders supporters.

But Perez’s loyalty to Clinton and other corporate Democrats has paid off.

Trump immediately responded with a tweet literally thanking the Democrats for choosing Perez and increasing his own chances of re-election.

Repeating the same failing strategy over-and-over is not the definition of political success. It is the definition of insanity.

Perhaps one day the Democrats will realize that and run actual progressives for leadership roles and higher office. But by then, it will be far too late.

Every day Trump further erodes our freedoms and social services. Every day he endangers our lives with his incompetence and undiplomatic relations with foreign governments. Every day he breaks our laws, spouts blatant lies and fosters hate and discord.

We simply don’t have the time for the Democrats to get their act together.

It is becoming even more clear that we need a completely new political party organized from the grassroots up and dedicated to progressivism. Whether this can be accomplished in the two years we have before the midterm elections seems doubtful. Whether it can be done in time to stop Trump’s re-election is unknown.

But waiting for the Democrats to get their collective heads out of their asses is an exercise in futility.

The cavalry is not coming. We must all learn to ride.

17 thoughts on “Without Progressive Opposition, Trump Will Win in 2020 and Beyond”

  1. It’s not that they think they need the corporate lobbyist money to compete, they see that it’s not about money, it’s about votes.

    So this is actually corporate establishment Dems making sure the party doesn’t go progressive, and in so doing, ensuring the people that stayed home last time are even more alienated than before.

    That’s why the reaction should not necessarily be to DemExit because that’s exact what they want. They want the Bernie movement out of the party so they can lose to the GOP, just like they have been doing and getting personally rich in the process.

    So don’t think about quitting just yet! If you Occupy the DNC instead, the anti-corruption movement can add to the gains they made since the primary where they got 42% of the vote and 22 states, despite the superdelegates and illegal rigging.

    Then, during the convention the Bernie movement got 45% of the delegates and some significant concession in the platform committee, again despite rigging.

    Today, the movement got 49% of the DNC chair vote, so the movement is still gaining. If you are thinking about a third party (as Josh Fox today suggested to Nina Turner), don’t be so hasty.

    First, let’s see about primarying corporate Dems with the help of the PCCC, Justice Democrats and OurRevolution. You can always go third party later and in fact, it’s wiser strategy to do so after a primary but before the filing deadline.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. Ok Steven, I have a few points where I completely disagree with you.
    “He was supported by notable progressives like Senator Elizabeth Warren, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Zephyr Teachout, Gloria Steinem, Walter Mondale, and Dolores Huerta “.

    1) NO ONE HAS A SCAD TRACE OF RESPECT FOR BENEDICT WARREN! She is not a progressive. She is a corporate sell out. No one will forgive her endorsement of HRC.

    2) Walter Mondale? The guy who couldn’t win so the DNC created super delegates to screw us all over? Yea no. This guy is a walking reminder of how corrupt the Democrat party is.

    3) Gloria “Throw the Millennials under the bus” Steinem? Dude……this short sighted, full of herself so called feminist made herself completely irrelevant by her lack of respect towards an entire generation…Good riddance. We can read about all the things you should have done and included in the march towards women’s rights…slacker.

    4) To include Zephyr and Dolores Huerta in the same company as those others just please don’t. What a freaking insult.

    We had another option. Millennial Sam Ronan was THE option that would have firmly secured any hope the Democrats to win in 2018 or 2020. As it stands, we still have Tulsi Gabbard, who I believe will be the next front runner for the Presidency. HRC just needs to stay the F away.

    I just want to say PLEASE keep that same FIRE you had when you wrote about the two union heads and for them to step down. It is THAT FIRE that is inspirational and necessary to remain aware/vigilant about who these people are and to NOT include them in the fight towards justice. Otherwise, you will have people like me calling you out.

    Peace,

    Abra

    Like

    Reply

  3. “What the Hell is wrong with you, DNC?”

    The DNC has been infiltrated by minions of the oligarchs just like the GOP.

    With monsters like Rasputin-Goebbels Steve Bannon whispering in the malignant narcissist’s ear, the groping, liar in Chief in the White House, it is clear that the agenda is the end of democracy and possibly the end of civilization and humanity itself.

    Dystopia, a place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one, to the max. Full speed ahead toward oblivion based on all-out greed and ignorance of the few.

    Like

    Reply

  4. The DNC should change its name to the TFG –Taken For Granted. They assume that because they stand on the right side with social issues such as abortion, gas rights, and so forth, that we will continue to vote for them. What they have forgotten is that most people also want to put food on their table.

    Like

    Reply

  5. Thank you for this. I’m a leftist—not a progressive, not a Liberal, but a leftist. I rarely vote for Democrats because they are too right-of-center for me. I hold the bipartisan project of neoliberalism in the highest contempt. However, I would have settled for Senator Sanders. I would have voted for him because despite my disagreements with him on several issues, he was at least center to left-of-center enough for me to consider the lesser of two evils.

    Had Keith Ellison won, I would have seen a glimmer of hope. After all, the left needs Liberals to fight the right. The goal, however, is to pull Liberals to the left, not to meet them right-of-center. Now that task becomes much more difficult. I think DNC is laying groundwork for another disastrous HRC run. I shudder to think of them handing Trump another four years.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. “Yes, they probably helped Trump win by exposing DNC emails.”

    Well, probably not, which is why the intelligence agencies have not released a shred of actual, well, intelligence. Assange has maintained all along that he didn’t get the emails from the Russians. The evidence seems to point to an internal leak from a disgruntled insider. If the emails were hacked, the NSA would be able to trace them. The fact that they have not released any information about such tracing suggests they don’t have it.

    Otherwise, spot on.

    Like

    Reply

  7. Agitating for a new Cold War with Russia, absent any evidence or historical context whatsoever, is also certain to help Trump get re-elected.

    The Dims just don’t get it: if the Orange One is able to make even tiny steps toward putting people back to work (or a reasonable facsimile thereof), and can show fence-sitters that he’s not a menace to continued life on the planet, he can bring about a political re-alignment that could last decades.

    I find myself politically paralyzed these days, stuck between Trump and arrogant, delusional pwogwessives who would rather lose forever than face the difficulties of organizing actual human beings (with all the messiness and cognitive dissonance that involves) and fighting for universal – Medicare For All, expanded Social Security, debt-free college education – benefits. Instead we’re going to get more corporate/HR-style Identitarian politics.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.