Engagement is the cure for Democratic Disillusionment

[iconoclastNYC]

Democrats are disillusioned because they don't think the party stands for anything and our elected officials in Washington don't have any desire to stand and fight the right-wing.

Our disillusioned Democratic brothers and sisters feel this way because our leaders sell out our interests left and right giving the president a blank check to fight an unneeded war, or rubber stamping the Corporate agenda.

The truth is corporate power infiltrated our party and remade it to be "corporate friendly". So we get a Democratic President that guts the social safety net and passes NAFTA without any worker or environmental protections. We get a handful of "centrist" Democratic Senators voting for Alito and for a punitive bankruptcy bill written by the banking industry. We get Democrats who vote for budgets that cut taxes for millionaires and gut services to the poor, our veterans, and the infirmed.

It is impossible to ignore the effect that corporate power has had on our party and the extent that our elected officials have turned their back on the needs of the middle class and the common man by embracing and enacting the dirty corporate agenda. It is impossible to ignore that unless the people take back the party our party will be unrecognizable 12 years from now. If each Democratic president is more pro-corporate friendly then the last how long will it be before the Republican party and the Democratic party only differ on social issues? 12? 16?

Unless you read blogs you probably don't know about what the DLC is. The DLC takes seven million dollars a year from the largest defense contractors, the Fortune 500, and a right-wing think think tank and use it to get pro-corporate Democrats elected. DLC Democrats have voting records that are much closer to the record of a Republican then any Democrat you would be proud of. Every DLC Democrat that gets elected pushes our party to the right. The DLC criticizes progressive or liberal democrats in the media and reinforces negative GOP frames that attack Democrats. The DLC coordinated a campaign to "stop Dean" in 2004.

The Corporate media will not let the people know that the Democratic party is being neutralized from the inside but thanks to the Internet people like you and me know this. But what should we do about it?

The most important thing is to educate our friends and family about this problem with our party and what is being done about it.

When I encounter disillusioned Democrats I tell them about the DLC and what their mission is all about. I tell them a little bit about campaign finance and how it affects elected officials. Then I tell them about Clinton and how though next to Bush he was an outstanding president he didn't do much to energize the base of the party and in fact left it much weaker than he found it. I tell them how this lead to defections to the Green party.

Then I bring up groups like Progressive Democrats of America or Democracy For America and how they are trying to fight the corporate take over of the party by getting middle class Americas who are committed to progressive liberal values to get involved in the party and make their views heard.

Well I just had one success.

My mother was a life long Democrat. In 2000 she voted for Nader because she thought the Democratic party was a different side of the same corporate coin. Even tho we know a Gore presidency would have been 1000x better then the Bush administration there is some truth in that. Especially the way Gore ran his campaign. The response to Bush by the Democrats in Congress has done little to counter this impression.

I reached out to my mom. It took me awhile to avoid blaming her and other Nader voters for sticking us with Bush.

I started talking to her about the DLC and what they were out to accomplish and the huge influence they had on Clinton and in turn Gore and his campaign. I shared with her the things I was reading on the blogs, independent media and here on DU. I invited her to join me in DC for an anti-war protest which inspired her greatly. I forwarded her articles and movie clips. I encouraged her to read my blog. I mailed her books by progressive writers.

The tide turned when I got her in touch with the Progressive Democrats. She had lost faith in the Democratic party. But all it took was meeting some like minded progressives from her area to reinvigorate her faith in the party and regain a sense of empowerment. That she could help help fix our great party. Now she's signing up to be a precinct chair for the Democratic Party.

We can and must take our back our party from the corporate wing that controls it. The DLC and the corporatists and their incumbents in Congress who sell us out have great resources but we have 100x the ground troops. Once we activate them -- we're unstoppable.

The neocons took over the Republican party. It didn't happen overnight but they achieved their goal.

We will achieve ours.

The first step is to operate as educators and impart what we've learned by reading independent non corporate media and get people hooked up with Democrats who want to make the party the party of the people again. The power of community must not be underestimated.

If each person on DU made it their goal to "adopt" three disillusioned Democrats and activate them before the 2008 election we would win in a landslide.

[Patchuli]

1. Right on! K & R!! nt

[niallmac]

2. Corporate power infiltrated the party and remade it to be

"corporate friendly"
So true. Any time I talk politics with someone I say 'corporations' about five times and I do NOT get any disagreement
regarding the idea that both parties are seriously beholden to these money monsters.
I don't know what the solution is but for damn sure the first step is
agreeing who the enemy is.

[Mind_your_head]

3. You lost me when you said,

"When I encounter disillusioned Democrats I tell them about the DLC".

[iconoclastNYC]

4. Huh?

Are you pro-DLC? Because I'm clearly not.

[Mind_your_head]

5. No, I am not pro-DLC ~ quite the opposite

but the post suggested that DLC = good. Support the DLC. That's how I read it.

And I have spent hours and hours attempting to be 'informed'. I can't help but know that the 'average guy' who isn't too interested in politics would be confused (twisted wrongly) to think the DLC supports 'everyman' values.

[iconoclastNYC]

6. Well you didn't read the whole thing.

I'm clearly bashing the DLC.

[Mind_your_head]

7. I'll read it again in the morning....