After the Election Disaster: Back to Basics
Wednesday 03 November 2010
by: Norman Solomon, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
Now what?
We need to build a grassroots progressive movement - wide, deep and strong enough to fight the right and challenge the corporate center of the Democratic Party.
The stakes are too high and crises too extreme to accept "moderate" accommodation to unending war, regressive taxation, massive unemployment, routine foreclosures and environmental destruction.
A common formula to avoid is what Martin Luther King Jr. called "the paralysis of analysis." Profuse theory + scant practice = immobilization.
It's not enough to denounce what's wrong or to share visionary blueprints. Day in and out, we've got to organize for effective and drastic social change, in all walks of life and with a vast array of activism.
Yes, electioneering is just one kind of vital political activity. But government power is extremely important. By now, we should have learned too much to succumb to the despairing claim that elections aren't worth the bother.
Such a claim is false. As bad as the election results are, they would have been much worse across the country if progressives hadn't worked hard against the right-wing juggernaut.
For instance, consider the many hundreds of on-the-ground volunteers who rejected the paralysis of analysis by walking precincts and making phone calls to help re-elect progressive Congressman Raul Grijalva. He won a tight race in Arizona's southwestern district and will return to Congress next year - much to the disappointment of the corporate flacks and xenophobes who tried to defeat him because of his strong stance against the state's new racial-profiling immigration law.
The mass media echo chamber now insists that Republicans have triumphed because President Obama was guilty of overreach. But since its first days, the administration has undermined itself - and the country - with tragic underreach.
It's all about priorities. The Obama presidency has given low priority to reducing unemployment, stopping home foreclosures or following through with lofty pledges to make sure that Main Street recovers along with Wall Street.
Far from constraining the power of the Republican Party, the administration's approach has fundamentally empowered it. The ostensibly shrewd political strategists in the White House have provided explosive fuel for right-wing "populism" while doing their best to tamp down progressive populism. Tweaks aside, the Obama presidency has aligned itself with the status quo - a formula for further social disintegration and political catastrophe.
The election of 2010 is now grim history. It's time for progressives to go back to the grassroots and organize with renewed, deepened commitment to changing the direction of this country. If we believe that state power is crucial - and if we believe in government of, by and for the people - it's not too soon to begin planning and working for change that can make progressive victories possible in future elections.
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Comments
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Obama needs to get with what
Wed, 11/03/2010 - 14:15 — Anonarcmous (not verified)Obama needs to get with what he said he was going to do and not lose his momentum.
Do not dis your supporters even if they are a little extreme--esp from White House podium.
WTF on bipartisanship-?! Hope you get it now.
This may be good--when things don't get better, but worse, only worse, then teabagsetal will get a better understanding.The real question is: how bad does it have to get for americans to really get it?
ronPaul is poising himself as the new RReagan, with Bobby Jindhal right behind for vp.
It will get worse--enjoy the ride.
It's Time To PARTY!
Wed, 11/03/2010 - 14:30 — Vic Anderson (not verified)It's Time To PARTY! Progressive PARTY, that is!
And what is to be done about
Wed, 11/03/2010 - 16:23 — Anonymous (not verified)And what is to be done about Statusquobama?
I am really confused.
Wed, 11/03/2010 - 16:45 — Citizen K. (not verified)I am really confused. Yesterday is exactly what Norman Solomon and other members of the left have been striving for for two years. Two years of a steady drumbeat of comparing President Obama to President Bush. Two years of ennobling the racist teabaggers by lauding their supposed economic populism. Two years of snarky columns backed up by not a single boot on the ground (aside from the immigration reform people).
Norman, buddy, the American left would be a joke if it weren't capable of doing so much harm. Here's an idea: Start criticizing the left for its utter failure to articulate a strategic vision, its absence of tactical sense, and its preference to talk big instead of organizing.
The left hasn't been politically relevant since the Vietnam war. It's nothing but a hodgepodge of policy pieces and self-important writers.
Until they come for you...
Wed, 11/03/2010 - 17:17 — anyfreeman (not verified)Until they come for you...
The left hasn't been
Wed, 11/03/2010 - 19:05 — Anonymous (not verified)The left hasn't been relevant as far as the Corporate Media is concerned.
"But since its first days,
Thu, 11/04/2010 - 00:20 — Paul Goode (not verified)"But since its first days, the administration has undermined itself - and the country - with tragic underreach."
Please spell out in detail, across several blog entries if need be, precisely what more could have been accomplished and how. Include a demonstrable grasp of House and Senate rules and proceedings and a convincing account of how they could have been surmounted or applied progressively. Keep in mind that the reconciliation process at some time requires the votes of 60 senators, if only to override a procedural objection that any senator may raise.
Explain how you as president would have obtained a stronger financial reform bill given that a mediocrity like Scott Brown can hold up even modest reform.
Explain how you as president could have guaranteed the support of senators Lieberman, Nelson, Landrieu, Lincoln, and Baucus for a more progressive health care bill. If you would have obtained the support of other senators instead, identify them and explain how you would have gained their votes, especially given that there was no organized progressive counterweight to the teabaggers during the health care debate. I mean, if the National Healthcare NOT Warfare Campaign escorted John Lewis safely through a howling mob of deranged white people, I sure missed it.
Detail your plan for obtaining the support of Blue Dog Democrats for a larger stimulus bill.
Seriously, Norm, considering that progressivism is dominated by know-it-all whiners like you, President Obama hasn't tragically underreached: He's heroically overachieved.
What now? And you have a
Thu, 11/04/2010 - 00:49 — Anonymous (not verified)What now? And you have a prescription about what
we might do some time?
Imagine 25 March 1933
(Ermaechtigungsgesetx day plus 1).
Too late for business as usual.
The nazis are filling the streets already.
You better get SERIOUS bud, if you expect to
be able to mount an opposition!
Thank you Mr. Solomon For
Thu, 11/04/2010 - 05:17 — Anonymous (not verified)Thank you Mr. Solomon
For helping me get a grip on this awful outcome.
What no one seems to note,
Thu, 11/04/2010 - 09:14 — Underground Sanity 2 (not verified)What no one seems to note, feels rather obvious to me. There must be a reason why the youth, in particular, and moderates generally stayed home for these elections and allowed the aging reactionary groups who are wired to FOX News to take the fore. Keep in mind that the real wing nuts like O'Donnell and Angle were rejected as too off track to be serious representatives.
So what seems really needed is for Congressional Democratic leadership and the White House to get their noses out of the behinds of corporate interests and go ASK the youth what drives their interests. Playing not to lose has never been an effective winning strategy. Recapture the enthusiasm and the interest of the young and Latino votes and you will capture enough additional independents to achieve success in 2012. There is little doubt that Boehner will be an abject failure over the next 2 years. His closed minded or empty headed rhetoric so far shows that he has no concept of constructive dialogue or effective compromise.
All the Dems have to do is introduce legislation in the House that the young people, the unemployed and Latinos care about so that Boehner and the GOP can block such bills. With proof that the GOP does not give a rip about any interests other than the corporations that bought this past election, the 2012 election will see voters even more angry, but the an ger directed in a different direction.
The biggest mistake the
Thu, 11/04/2010 - 12:52 — Anonymous (not verified)The biggest mistake the Progressives had made is not concentrating on keeping right winged demigods off of the Supreme Court. The ruling that corporations can throw any amount of money into elections makes the playing field impossible.
We need REAL grassroots organizers; not someone who wants everyone to love him/her but a fighter who riles the indignation of the country.
We need someone who will quote the facts of the down fall of Rome and then inform the nation how many "contractors" are in this war and how many home grown soldiers. We need to see who these contractors are, what they are paid vs soldiers, where they come from and what oversight is in place. Then, we have to see who really profits from this everlasting war.
The same with private prisons. Who is profiting from incarcerating so many non-violent individuals? There has to be a reason why the U.S. has more prisoners per capita than any European country.
What we need is a fighter for truth, justice and the American way......
The Democratic Party,
Thu, 11/04/2010 - 14:02 — GalenZ (not verified)The Democratic Party, amoeba-like, sucked up the Progressive Party a half century ago. It has now nearly sucked the life out of that faction of itself, and it's time to secede from that parasitic union, reconstitute and aggressively attack the fascist intentions of both major parties. The Greens need to be persuaded to pull their heads out and join with the Progessives, or we will all hang separately
political landscape and the
Thu, 11/04/2010 - 14:51 — Horsewise (not verified)political landscape and the right-wing smear compounded by the utter lack of solid information that substantiates most opinions.
I was talking about how the right has made it a bad to evil thing to be liberal. This is when it came to me, that one of the biggest obstacles facing democrats and progressives, is that words have become "bad".. many terms associated with progressive and responsible goverment have taken on too much power. The democrats have allowed the right wing and republican party to brand them, and brand the democrats.
A woman behind me in the store said, shumlin.. he's too liberal. I GUARANTEE.. that woman couldn't define the word liberal if she was holding a bloody dictionary!!!!
what the democrats need to do, is to REBRAND these terms, take back the ownership and take control of the identity of the democratic party. Most people, unfortunately, have no clue about the reality of issues.. they respond to those buzz-words and then cease all neural activity.
Democrats need to decide what words like progressive, liberal, democrat mean.. and package that in a way that resonates in a way people can get their minds around.
We can blame John Roberts
Thu, 11/04/2010 - 18:10 — Margaret Currey (not verified)We can blame John Roberts for helping the corporations say that they are people. The only thing can say is that corporations do not die, they do not have children, etc.
But the real deal is that we need more things made in America. I am tired of cheap clothes, and cheap goods that break down and cannot be repaired, in fact it would be nice if shoes could be repaired instead of thrown away, the only problem that the heels get run down,
I also hope that the health care that was debated across the nation is not taken away.
People have to think that companies take away every perk except wages. The people wonder why health premiums have gone up and the answer is health insurance does not care about health only about profits.
To 05:20 — Paul Goode and
Fri, 11/05/2010 - 00:09 — Anonymous (not verified)To 05:20 — Paul Goode and 14:14 — Underground Sanity 2 and anyone else in need of detailed education about the office of the presidency:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/03/obama-can-pursue-busy-age_n_778583.html
If Obama wants to pursue an agenda independently, he can do it. The WH will always and forever be more powerful than Congress. Period.