They Won't Know What They've Got 'Til It's Gone...

[babylonsister]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_10/025991.php

THEY WON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'VE GOT 'TIL IT'S GONE.... Whether I can relate to it or not, I understand many of the frustrations the Democratic base is feeling. I can understand the disappointments about some of the successes not including provisions the base wanted to see, and I can understand the number of issues Dems wanted to see tackled in this Congress that weren't addressed.

What I can't understand is dismissing the significance of the milestone accomplishments of 2009 and 2010. Greg Sargent this afternoon flagged a poll that I just found painful.

What if the Dem base's lack of enthusiasm is rooted in the fact that Dems aren't even aware of how much Congress has accomplished in the last two years?

A new poll from Pew and National Journal contains a really striking finding: Only one third of Democrats think this Congress has achieved more than other recent Congresses. Meanwhile, 60 percent of Dems think it has accomplished the same or less.

All of the usual caveats apply -- I haven't yet taken a close look at the methodology; I haven't seen similar results elsewhere; it's just one poll; etc. But having said all of that, to deny the accomplishments of this Congress is a serious mistake.

Specifically, 20% of respondents in this poll said Congress had accomplished more this year than in recent Congresses, 36% said less had been done, while 37% saw it as about average. Among Democrats, the results were better, but not much -- 33% said this Congress scored well on accomplishments, 23% said less was done, and 37% said this Congress accomplished about the same amount.

Putting aside whether one approved of the policy breakthroughs, this poll result makes it seem as if much of the public simply doesn't realize that the policy breakthroughs were unusual.

I don't expect the public to have an extensive knowledge of federal policymaking history, but I at least hoped Americans would realize the scope of recent accomplishments. We are, after all, talking about a two-year span in which Congress passed and the president signed the Affordable Care Act, the Recovery Act, Wall Street reform, student loan reform, Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, new regulation of the credit card industry, new regulation of the tobacco industry, a national service bill, expanded stem-cell research, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the most sweeping land-protection act in 15 years, etc. Policymakers might yet add to this list in the lame-duck session.

Some of these efforts have been years in the making. In the case of health care reform, politicians have been talking about a major overhaul for a full century, but it took this Congress and this president to get it done.

This Congress has been about as many accomplishments as recent Congresses? Seriously?

Again, maybe you agree with these accomplishments, or maybe you think they were mistakes. That's not the point here. What's worth acknowledging is that we haven't seen this many accomplishments, on this scale, in decades. Norm Ornstein has characterized this Congress as being the most productive in 45 years. Rachel Maddow recently went further, observing, "The last time any president did this much in office, booze was illegal. If you believe in policy, if you believe in government that addresses problems, cheers to that."

Whether rank-and-file Democrats realize it or not, this is why the Republicans' right-wing base is as animated this year as is it -- it's not because Dems are pushing a lot of key progressive priorities that have languished for years; it's because Dems are passing a lot of key progressive priorities that have languished for years.

Greg concluded, "Maybe this speaks to an enormous Dem failure to communicate their successes. Or maybe it's another sign of how bloated expectations were amid the euphoria of Obama's win. Or perhaps the sense of just how monumental our problems are -- and the fact that Dems secured such large Congressional majorities -- led rank and file Dems to expect truly historic, paradigm shifting levels of leadership. Either way, these numbers shed fascinating new light on the enthusiasm gap problem. Just wow."

—Steve Benen

[BrklynLiberal]

1. So, it would seem that the Dems are as misinformed as the repukes.

SOMEONE IS NOT DOING A VERY GOOD JOB OF GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT THERE......

George Lakoff George Lakoff George Lakoff

[Radical Activist]

2. The base has been mislead by the press and many of our own left pundits.

Focusing on only attacks and never recognizing accomplishment has painted a false picture of what has been done. It's a shame that we didn't put the focus on the Senate roadblock. We could have the base energized to increase the progressive majority instead of feeling hopeless and defeated.

[Ken Burch]

9. It's partly the admin's fault for not running AGAINST the roadblock!

They should have let the base do mass rallies in D.C. to push the Senate, and then used those rallies to mobilize a push to GAIN seats this fall!

Instead, they stayed with the "we CAN'T fight-it would lose us 'the independents'" meme-as if "the independents" were demanding that the admin accept the right-wing canard that Obama had no real right to have won the election.

This is what happens when you let the moment slip away.

Progressives are working across the country to avert disaster...and the administration, even in this late hour, is STILL obsessed with keeping its distance from them. Reminds me of Clinton, in 1998, keeping the Congressional Democrats who'd come to the White House to stand with him against impeachment WAITING for twenty minutes just to show them he STILL didn't owe them anything.

[Radical Activist]

11. You're pushing a bizarre worldview.

What do you mean Obama should have "let" the base do mass rallies? Personally, I wouldn't want to be in a progressive issue group that takes orders from the President about when and where they should do rallies. Are you suggesting the left should be that subservient? It's not up to the President to "let" the base do something like that. No one needs permission for it.
The left pundits (which are not the base) chose a strategy on their own, which was to let the Senate off the hook and focusing all criticism on Obama.

Passing the bills we've got took tremendous work on the administrations part. Saying Obama didn't push the Senate is completely out of touch with reality.
Obama continues to push for a progressive agenda. I'm not buying into the pathetic attempts by FDL and their ilk to spread fake stories about Obama distancing himself from the left. He isn't. I notice that some people are having a hard time understanding that Clinton isn't President anymore and they need to stop using Obama as a stand-in for their old grudges.

[Ken Burch]

12. Don't include me in the "people who want Clinton" back faction.

I do acknowledge that Obama is more progressive than Clinton.

What I was talking about was control of the debate. What Obaam NEEDED to have done was to act like he'd been solidly elected(as he was)and like he had the right to set the agenda. Sometimes he did that, sometimes he listened far too much to the "we can't fight-it would upset 'the independents'" crowd. Lanny Davis' column showed us what THEY actually want, and proves that Obama should never have trusted the centrist/insider wing of the party.

[Radical Activist]

13. Obama proposed a progressive agenda.

The fact that the conservative US Senate blocked some of that agenda doesn't change the fact that Obama pushed for progressive change. I think you're confusing the compromises that finally passed with what Obama proposed. Those are two different things.

Also, it's not about *wanting* Clinton back. The problem is people who think Clinton is back and are stuck in a rut of fighting a conservative Democrat without realizing that we need to pursue new strategies now that we have a friendlier President in the White House.

[demodonkey]

3. Wake up Democrats - you can't clean 8 years of shit out of the barn in 23 months.

I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO 2000-2008 and if you have half a brain and use it, you don't either.

Get out and VOTE DEMOCRATIC NOVEMBER 2.

[DCKit]

4. If you think the Dems are bitching...

wait until they try to pry the Republicks and Tealiban off the government tit - everything they say they want to end, but have connection on how it benefits them.

"Keep your filthy hands off my (insert government program here)".

[Parker CA]

5. Big kick and rec!! Needs to be spread far and wide.

[FrenchieCat]

6. But it won't be....cause it would prove too many wrong,

and at the end of the day, the only thing they have is their pride....

[txlibdem]

7. If the R's control the House

There will be nothing but witch hunts, and impeachment attempts. Nothing will get done.

If the R's control the Senate, no bill that would help the economy or the middle class will get through.

[Number23]

8. K&R

:thumbsup:

[Ken Burch]

10. Progressives are fighting hard across the country to hold the line this year

Calling them ingrates is NOT going to help, sister. Now, more than at any OTHER time, pro-administration left-bashing has GOT to be stopped. And you need to stop it too. You need to rally them, not bash them.
Nobody can be shamed into campaigning and voting. The answer is to treat the progressive wing of the party with equal respect.