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Raising The Political Cost |
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Yesterday, AfterDowningStreet unfortunately got it right:
There is no question about it. The Democrats, after persuading voters to hand over control of Congress to them last November, have been worse than failures. They have betrayed the trust of the voters.
Then, Dave Lindorff unfortunately got it wrong. The answer to this monumental problem isn’t mass protests or the quitting of the Democratic party. America, with its winner-take-all election system is doomed to live under “two party” rule. Third parties simply aren’t a viable option. I know you don’t like it, but it’s true. There’s even a principle to prove it.
So, instead of ineffective mass resignations, what should you do about the Democrats’ failures? Democrats in Congress operate today in an environment of impunity. They can see clearly that Bush is deeply unpopular with the American people. They know this has tarnished the Republican brand. They have seen how Bush’s unpopularity can help their party as evidenced by the results of the 2006 midterm elections. And they reason, perhaps not wrongly, that if things keep going how they’re going in this country, they will be swept into power overwhelmingly in 2008.
There’s a huge problem with this reasoning beyond the fact that it is political and calculating. Things are bad in this country right now. We are stuck in two wars that are unwinnable. America tortures the people we capture. The government spies on its citizens. Our economy is tanking and the dollar is in freefall. One in four homeless people are veterans. Citizens are forced into bankruptcy due to rising health care costs. These problems need solutions, and they need them now.
To get Democrats to listen, we need to raise the political cost of inaction. We need to raise the political cost of triangulation and weak, centrist policies. We need to start attacking party leaders and insiders. We need to push the conversation to the left.
In an effort to start that process, Blue America is running three ads I’ve designed calling out Rahm Emanuel, head of the DCCC. Recently, Rahm has been moving into GOP territory on immigration, saying:
This issue has real implications for the country. It captures all the American people’s anger and frustration not only with immigration, but with the economy. It’s self-evident. This is a big problem.
Even more explicitely, as Howie relates, Rahm has told freshman Congressman to “move right” on immigration.
What Rahm of course fails to realize, or chooses to ignore, is the fact that immigration isn’t necessarily a problem, and most of the issues surrounding immigrants that anti-immigrant voters find so angering are in fact symptoms of our problematic trade deals and backwards immigration policy. Immigration is not a bad thing, and denying the American dream to those who would pursue it is wrong, just like discriminating against German, Irish, and Jewish immigrants at the turn of the century was wrong.
Blue America, along with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, is calling out Rahm on his rightward tack and his hypocrisy (his father was an immigrant). The ads I’ve designed have been translated into Polish, Spanish, and Korean and will run in the three largest foreign language newspapers in Chicago, Rahm’s home district. They call him out for denying the American dream to those who deserve a shot at it. They attack Rahm on his home turf to one of his core constituencies. They raise the political cost of being a bad Democrat.
We are raising money to run these ads. Please donate and help reprimand Rahm Emanuel for his shameful politics.
The pitiful 180 pulled by NY Gov. Elliot Spitzer here on his original plan to offer driver’s licenses to undocumented workers is a prime example of what Rahm’s “strategy†does for the Democrats. Spitzer cited the pressure on the NY congressional delegation–and specifically frosh Reps. Hall, Arcuri, and Gillibrand–as one of the reasons he was backing down.
Spitzer’s original instinct on this matter was right; his capitulation was a mistake. But the bigger mistake lies with the federal level Democrats that failed to get Elliot’s back. (Spitzer even went to DC to make the retraction announcement to emphasize the need for federal action.)
On immigration–an issue most Americans agree needs to be addressed–the Democrats had the opportunity to be the party of ideas. Rahm Emmanuel has chosen to make the Democrats the party of politics as usual. I think that voters will notice–and not necessarily in the way Rahm wants.