Is Obama a New Democrat?

[LBJDemocrat]

I came across this disturbing article this morning.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/06/will_obama_have_the_ideas.html

I'm getting sick of the propaganda about how it's too late to support workers' rights because we live in a "global economy." What are DUers thoughts on the subject? What are the chances that Obama carries out policies similar to Bill Clinton's?

[sandnsea]

1. Tear up Obama so Republicans don't have to

What a party.

[LBJDemocrat]

3. Wrong.

I'm putting pressure on Obama not to sell-out. If more people had done that to Clinton, some of my best friends wouldn't be looking for work right now.

[Adarlene]

2. The United Steelworkers are

getting all workers in ALL countries on side so that EVERYONE can have a living wage.

The "global economy" needs to be cohesive, so that corporations can't just pull up stakes and move to the next country once they've raped the resources and spat out the labour.

Corporations will have a duty to the community in which they locate and will no longer be able to move for cheaper labour costs.

GO UNION!

[Fovea]

4. The end of the global economy.

$200bbl is the end of the conveyor belt of cheap plastic crap from China.


It will become more expensive to ship than the cheap labor of slave economies will allow. The trade policies of Bill Clinton die with it.
It doesn't matter what Obama thinks about global trade, the world has shifted under his feet, and he better be ready to dance.

[Marie26]

5. Yes.

Kucinich & Edwards represented the progressive & populist wings of the party, and they were forced out pretty quickly. Only the pro-market/DLC wing remained & Obama is part of that as well, as evidenced by his actions since clinching the nomination.

[Sonicmedusa]

6. Would you care to elaborate

re: "his actions since clinching the nomination."

[Marie26]

7. OK

He's made two significant appointments since being named the presumptive nominee: selecting Furman as his lead economics adviser & Jack Johnson for his VP search commitee. Both are pro-free trade, pro-free market centrists. Johnson is the CEO of a hedge fund & involved in some shady deals w/Countrywide mortgage. These appointments are much more Wall Street than progressive. And this shouldn't surprise anyone - The Chamber of Commerce organized against Edwards, the media forced Kucinich off the debates, yet Wall Street & corporate media embraced Obama. They knew who the real threats were.

[Sonicmedusa]

11. Thank you (NT)

[leftofthedial]

8. he's a corporatist and a free trader

he's much like Clinton on economic issues

I haven't heard any strong pro-worker message from him.

He's still 1000 times better than McBush

[BlooInBloo]

9. Your concern is noted.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Yes. The corporate domination of the world isn't going to change.

The ugly truth is that we, as a country, are no longer competitive in manufacturing. And, we are losing out to Europe and the other developed economies in the service sector.

Thanks to being the world's only "superpower", and having to support it, we are busily spending ourselves into poverty so that we can wave the flag and shout that "we're number one".

Our de-facto colonies are in open rebellion and refusing to undercharge us for their resources and labor.

We have become a debtor nation that's now living on credit and we are unable to pay up without lowering our standard of living.

The best that Obama, or anyone, can hope to do, is make the inevitable decline of the American Empire a little less painful.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

12. Obama reNEWs the possibility of democracy!!! Is that bad?

I suppose we would have to have a conversation about the MEANING of "democracy".

Ya' see,...there is THIS administration that advocates "democracy" as providing FREEDOM TO OPPRESS: verbally, psychologically, economically and CERTAINLY MILITARILY!

However, there are MOST OTHERS (excluding those who DOMINATE the military/industrial AND MEDIA complex) who stick with the founding fathers' (SEE DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE) assertion that, "democracy" is about ADVOCATING OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERY CITIZEN and FIGHTING ALL OPPRESSION whether religious or political.

[Mass]

13. None, which does not mean that he will go back to the Great Deal either. He understands the time

have changed and the challenge is to adapt to the XX1rst century while having a policy that supports workers's rights.

It is one of the reasons I was supporting Obama: he seems to understand this issue and does not try to go back 50 years in the past, but to continue the road that was charted then for the future.