A Rallying Cry for Democratic Populism: Senator Byron Dorgan

[DeepModem Mom]

Washington Post book review: A Rallying Cry for Democratic Populism
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Monday, July 31, 2006; Page A13

"Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain Dead Politics Are Selling Out America"
Sen. Byron L. Dorgan
Thomas Dunne Books, 288 pp., $24.95


Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) finds little to like in globalization. (Will Kincaid - AP)

What would happen if the opposition party actually chose to oppose the one in power? Not just on the margins, but by rejecting outright the majority party's fundamental beliefs on trade and tax policy?

Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) urges Democrats to take on Republicans in just that way in his new book, "Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain Dead Politics Are Selling Out America." He makes a politically compelling -- if economically questionable -- case.

Dorgan, a master of partisan rhetoric, puts his debating skills to good use in spinning out anecdotes that make free trade and corporate tax breaks seem cruel to the average citizen. He clearly hopes to instruct fellow Democrats how to ride a populist wave if one were ever to form.

Democrats are deeply divided, of course, about whether to adopt his advice. Many prefer pro-business, pro-trade positions that distinguish them a little from the GOP, but not a lot. A growing number of others, however, are in Dorgan's radical camp. They think the way to finally win is to just say "No."

Depending on how low President Bush's job-approval ratings go, Dorgan might be on to something. His book is worth reading if only to see in detail how a reenergized Democratic Party might act....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/30/AR2006073000552.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Since when is Dorgan a "radical"? More crap from WaPo..

[madrchsod]

2. i listened to him on diane reem the other day

he is one of the few democrats that understand just what the fuck happened. everything he said on the show was the dam truth. i`m one of those americans he is talking about about. i`ve watched my steel working jobs one by one go over seas or south of the border. i used to have good decent union jobs and had money to buy things but now at 59 i have nothing to show for my labor but scars on my hands and arms...

[OneBlueSky]

3. some of us have been urging that the Dems adopt a populist platform . . .

for some time now . . . doesn't seem to inspire much enthusiasm on DU or elsewhere, and I have to wonder why . . . because the alternative is corporatism, and that's what we have now . . .

and Democratic "leaders" are not going to lead on this particular issue, because most of them are beneficiaries of corporate largesse . . . which is why the U.S. Congress is almost completely controlled by corporate interests, to the extent that corporations and their lobbyists actually write the legislation to "regulate" their own industries . . .

without a populist uprising among Democrats, not much will change even if we do take back the White House and/or the Congress . . . we badly need representatives who represent the people, not the corporations . . .

corporatism is just another word for fascism . . .

[Drewskie]

4. Dorgan actually walked right by me this summer at a rib festival

in Fargo, ND. Was pretty cool to see the guy... should have shook his hand.

[bemildred]

5. Kick for Senator Dorgan, a man who "gets it". nt

[yurbud]

6. sounds good to me. Now if other Dems would join him and actually vote

that way.