Okay, first here’s my confession. I’m a frequent reader but very infrequent contributor, and I’m not much for wading into online discussion and/or controversy.
BUT I feel as though this is a particularly important moment for Democrats and progressives of all stripes, that we got rolled after the 2008 election, and that now is the time to assert ourselves more aggressively. I remember being in San Diego just after the 2008 elections – I think it was the spring of 2009 – and seeing people already with their anti-Obama/tea party signs standing at the freeway on-ramps. I can’t remember exactly what they were demonstrating about, other than the now-familiar take-back-America whine-fest, but I remember thinking, jeez, where did all THAT energy come from? The election is over, right? So why don’t people just settle down and get back to their lives?
And I also thought, that won’t amount to much. But as we know now, this was the beginning of a whole lot of craziness. And the 2010 debacle.
Now we’re all still in the after-glow of another important victory, and I’m expecting another astro-turfed surge of right-wing populist pseudo-rage that will suck all the oxygen out of what passes for our civic life in this country and derail what could be an important conversation/fight over budget priorities for the next decade. My question is how can we prevent that? How can we BUILD on the important moment of the 2012 victories and RETAIN THE INITIATIVE? A few thoughts below the fold.
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