A Big Tent Needs a Platform

I get accused of being a whiney liberal, who takes his ball and goes home if I don’t get what I want.

Well…yeah. To a degree I am. And I find a perfect logic in that. But I hear the argument from the other side too. It is a particularly strong logic as we stand poised to have Republicans take back the House, and maybe even the Senate.

The House is seen by odds-makers as an 80% done deal. Republicans will control the House of Representatives after 2010. And, 30 or so of them will be Tea Party loonies. This is going to happen largely because of what pundits call the “enthusiasm gap.” That is, the gap between Democratic voters who were energized in 2008, and those who will drag themselves out to vote this time around.

Hard to believe that liberals aren’t enthusiastic. After all, Rahm did call us “fucking retards.” And if that doesn’t motivate us, both the President AND the vice President yelled at us, essentially calling us crying babies who don’t understand how politics works. The president’s spokesman, Gibbsy, insulted us, apologized, but stood by his insult in his apology. How can we not be motivated?

I’m seriously getting pissed off again just writing this. These goddam people have fucked up this election soooo badly, and want to blame the base that put them in power for their failure.

And the thing is, with some few, principled exceptions, we’re all going to vote for you fuckers anyway. Honestly, the Republicans have done you all so well, running crazy tea party activists against you. We have to vote you all back into office just to avoid the taste of bile when we even think of Congress.

And believe me, if there were Republicans who made sense, I’d seriously consider giving them my vote. But there are none, no alternatives to mostly corrupt, pro-corporate Democrats for my vote. The temptation is there to stay home – to withhold my vote as a protest. I fully understand this impulse, and the motivation of those who are claiming they will do this in November. They are using the only leverage they have. They are choosing “none of the above.”

And yes, for the millionth time, I GET IT. I know that our form of democracy is built on compromise, and that we can’t have it all our way. (Here now, I’m getting pissed again!) I understand that the Democratic party is a big tent, and that we have to see all points of view. To the President and Democratic leadership: I’M NOT FUCKING STUPID!!!

My problem, and the problem of millions of would-be Democratic voters is, that YOU don’t get it. You don’t get that we want you all to fight for something, ANYTHING that helps us. We don’t have to throw provisions, principles and the quality of life of Americans overboard to keep a Blanche Lincoln, a Ben Nelson or a Joe Fucking Lieberman on board. At some point, we have to stand for a few, well-articulated principles that voters can understand and support.

President Obama did a masterful job of outlining a few of these principles in his campaign. He said no more torture, no more Iraq, and no more lobbyists writing legislation. Then he said “change.” Now, our bad – we ran with “change” without, before we chose between him and Hillary, having him clearly articulate, over and over again, what “change” meant.

Now, for the record, we still have torture victims in Guantanamo. We still spy on Americans, and even assassinate American citizens without due process. The very same lobbyist that wrote George Bush’s Medicare legislation that enriched drug companies and added billions to our deficit (Billy Tauzin) met with Obama to write the Big Pharma monopoly provisions into the new health care law, which included a patent extension. And although the White House says that combat operations are over in Iraq, we still garrison over 50,000 troops there, and they continue to get killed.

Republicans are really good at keeping it simple for their voters. Government bad, taxes bad, gay people bad. That’s it, run with it. These things aren’t for everyone, but they tie to a consistent, recognizable platform that their voters can easily identify, and use to measure the effectiveness of their representatives. We can’t say the same thing

The Democratic health care bill, as an example, was a masterpiece of corporate welfare. It left insurance companies fully in charge. It included no cost controls (one of the main issues) and doesn’t make them cover everyone (the other main issue). It grants the pharmaceutical companies a monopoly, and mandates that Americans buy a crappy product from these private corporations, or face a fine levied by the federal government. A bunch of Democrats got off the bus at this point.

But you can argue, and the Democratic leadership, and about half of the liberal pundits do argue, that this WAS change. After all, 30 million more Americans will (by 2014, we hope) be insured. Kids can stay on parents’ plans longer, and pre-existing conditions will go away as a way to deny coverage. If loopholes don’t emerge, these are good things. But is this good enough?

I still feel screwed. Maybe because my insurance just went up 20% this month. But also because the measurement was so vague. What is “change?” What is a good, progressive piece of legislation, and how do we measure it?

I have read the Democratic Party’s platform before. The last time I did, there were about 15 planks, and they were each a multi-paragraph morass of mind-numbing non-committals to a range of issues. It is too easy to read what you want into these statements. And, too easy to weasel out of one’s commitment to fight for these established principles. Also, there are too many of them.

If you try to do too many things, you won’t do any of them well. Do a few until you get them down, and then take on a couple more as time goes on. The big tent will have to get a little smaller maybe, but that’s okay too. If you are principled, the demographics are in the Democrats favor going forward. Just keep it simple, and do what you say. Here is an example:

Six Planks for All Democrats:

1. We stand for equality for All Americans, no matter what
2. We support working Americans, and policies that further domestic industry and employment.
3. We will not agree to spending any money to make war on people who do not impose an immediate physical threat to the United States or its citizens.
4. We support a domestic energy program based in renewable resources.
5. We support strong public education
6. We will vigilantly end corruption in our ranks, and in the body politic when in power.

Now, maybe you can only get a majority of the tent to support three of these. Then, go to war with those three. And if a Blanch Lincoln, or a Ben Nelson can’t do it, then fuck ‘em. This party has been catering to their likes, and their corporate masters, and THAT is why we lack enthusiasm. By the way, how has catering to these assholes worked out?

The White House fought its own base to protect Lincoln, and laughed at the unions for spending 10 million dollars against her. It poured support, and Bill Clinton, into Arkansas and against the true progressive in that race (Bill Halter), and barely won the primary. Now Lincoln is down by 30 points and is going to lose to a Republican. Genius. And instead of having an energized base applaud you for fighting the good fight, a demoralized base wonders what the fuck happened to “change.” (BTW – during the health care debate, both Lincoln and Nelson threatened to join a Republican filibuster, with NO consequence. They should have been wood-shedded by Obama. Senators laugh at him now.)

Republicans are running on “we will bring back jobs by lowering taxes.” Democrats are running on “we gave bankers billions of your dollars to keep things from getting worse.” Republicans are running on “health care reform is a government take-over of your doctor’s office.” Democrats are running on “how are you enjoying the ‘change’?” Republicans are running on “gay people are bad.” Democrats are running on “we accept all lifestyles, and don’t really hate anyone, but see how some people are uncomfortable with non-traditional marriage, and don’t want to force the military to….”

Jesus…it’s going to be a bloodbath.

Democrats should be running on: The Republicans want to give all your money to your boss, give your job to the Chinese, and give your house to your banker. You can point to votes, and force the press to ask questions about these points from now until the elections.

But you won’t. Because you’re all so smart, and I’m a fucking retard, who better quit being a baby and get his ass out and vote.

Yeah, I’m looking so forward to that.