For a Full Court Press -- 435 Democratic Congressional Primaries.
The progressive movement had had all sorts of hopes in the last presidential election. I remember being in tears watching the solemn but joyous crowd gathered in Lincoln Park that election night. We had won, and with a Democratic president and Congress, we would continue to fight for the hopes that had been held in check for so many years. Yes, Obama said things that made me uneasy, but I had hope in the people who had carried him into office. We the people would provide that extra measure of strength that our elected officials would need to see through all their promises. Things were shaken up with the 2006 elections. Progressives talked tough about Bush and the war and behold, Democrats got elected. Try it again in 2008, we thought. For one golden moment, it seemed to be working again. America was moving left, and would continue to move left, now we could pass progressive legislation, elect more Democrats in 2010, visions of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930's dancing in our heads. But it now looks like all that still evokes the 1930s is the misery. In a snapshot, the regular Democratic Party leadership is in a deadly state of paralysis at best, the progressive leadership is calling on the ranks to keep doing more of the same only with greater vigor, and the ranks are demoralized and beginning to drop away in disgust. My concern is with those who can't keep beating their heads against a brick wall are dropping away in disgust, a disgust I share, by the way, and who would indeed be abandoning the field. My wife and I have filled out our passport applications. What's needed is a plan for the decent activists who've plugged away for years, who've haven't shared the joys of being a party insider. We can't just call for nose to the grindstone, stiff upper lip, take (another) one for the team. We need to give them something that they can do that is not contingent on the higher-ups leading it, funding it, legitimizing it. We need to give them a stick. Thus the Full Court Press. The plan The basic concept is simple and flexible. The Committee for a Full Court Press (FCP) (I just made up the name) would agree on the following principles [slightly modified from an 8-principle list]: WPA-style jobs program Medicare for all the uninsured Repeal Hyde Amendment and its ilk U.S. out of Afghanistan The 4 points are offered as a suggestion, and would be decided upon by those initially forming the FCP based upon activist feedback. But once approved, they would ultimately not be negotiable at the local level. The bottom line is to have at least one FCP candidate on the primary ballot in every district.
Things were shaken up with the 2006 elections. Progressives talked tough about Bush and the war and behold, Democrats got elected. Try it again in 2008, we thought. For one golden moment, it seemed to be working again. America was moving left, and would continue to move left, now we could pass progressive legislation, elect more Democrats in 2010, visions of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930's dancing in our heads. But it now looks like all that still evokes the 1930s is the misery.
In a snapshot, the regular Democratic Party leadership is in a deadly state of paralysis at best, the progressive leadership is calling on the ranks to keep doing more of the same only with greater vigor, and the ranks are demoralized and beginning to drop away in disgust.
My concern is with those who can't keep beating their heads against a brick wall are dropping away in disgust, a disgust I share, by the way, and who would indeed be abandoning the field. My wife and I have filled out our passport applications. What's needed is a plan for the decent activists who've plugged away for years, who've haven't shared the joys of being a party insider. We can't just call for nose to the grindstone, stiff upper lip, take (another) one for the team. We need to give them something that they can do that is not contingent on the higher-ups leading it, funding it, legitimizing it.
We need to give them a stick.
Thus the Full Court Press.
The plan
The basic concept is simple and flexible. The Committee for a Full Court Press (FCP) (I just made up the name) would agree on the following principles [slightly modified from an 8-principle list]:
WPA-style jobs program Medicare for all the uninsured Repeal Hyde Amendment and its ilk U.S. out of Afghanistan
The 4 points are offered as a suggestion, and would be decided upon by those initially forming the FCP based upon activist feedback. But once approved, they would ultimately not be negotiable at the local level.
The bottom line is to have at least one FCP candidate on the primary ballot in every district.
* Impeach John Roberts.
We should be able to fund a few billboards to that effect along Interstate 40 where the Impeach Earl Warren signs used to be. Write the contracts so the sign companies only get paid for the days of unblemished display of the signs. :-) As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
Boy, now there's a serious threat! Where're they gonna move to? Britain? Australia? South Africa? Obviously, somewhere where the natives speak English. Paris, I hear, might be a good option.
