This diary has a lot of questions and few answers. It’s an open call for those like me who are frustrated with what they see is an inexplicable change to the goals and principles of previously leading progressive actors in this primary cycle but most specifically here at our own beloved Daily Kos.
This is not a diary about the merits of HRC or Bernie Sanders. This is meant to be a meta-party dialogue for people here who believe that Bernie is the progressive candidate in the race and feel alienated by the leaders of the party and of this site. I apologize if this has already been discussed ad nauseum because if it was I probably missed it as I’ve been coming here less and less since March 15th.
I had a hard time deciding on a title for the diary. All I have are bunch of questions that sit atop some impressions that I’ll muse on.
Has DKos abandoned its core principles to back a centrist candidate, and if so what does that mean for our movement going forward?
If DKos has moved to the center, where do progressives hang out now?
Why are progressive leaders like Kos, Krugman, Ezra Klein backing the centrist this cycle?
If HRC wins the primary and the general is that bad for the party and the progressive movement in the long run?
I’ll start with that last one. Recent history has shown that uninspiring centrist democratic POTUS candidates don’t win the general election. In 2004 we tried and we failed. We didn’t get behind Kerry over Dean until we had to. That year the establishment, milquetoast candidate won despite the efforts of the progressive left which was behind Dr. Dean.
We lost in 2000 when the party failed to understand that Al Gore wasn’t a very inspiring candidate. He was the “next one up” and he had experience. He would continue the popular policies of Bill Clinton. He didn’t offer much in the way of new ideas and beyond that he carried baggage from his time as VP where all he was really known for was that he was married to the woman who wanted to ban rap music. He even added the ultimate centrist to his ticket, freaking Joe Lieberman. Remember that guy?
The party finally chose right when it chose Obama over the center-left candidate in 2008 and we finally won in the general. Are we returning to the party of Kerry and Gore? That was a party that couldn’t win because it didn’t inspire, it didn’t excite, and it didn’t draw the youth out to vote. Maybe everyone is just thinking about this cycle and believes that any democrat will beat the clowns on the Right and so it doesn’t really matter who we run so let’s just back the frontrunner. That seems to be the message coming from the DKos brass and maybe it will work this year. But it sets a terrible precedent.
2008 was different. The battle of 2008 raged heavy at Daily Kos all through the primary and the majority of this site’s contributors and members under their own will ultimately backed Obama because he was the left most candidate. That’s a good thing and it makes sense because this is where the left edge of the party hung out. That year we got behind the peace and love candidate and we won! That’s the lesson we need to take from 2008. But alas it seems too late and the site’s leadership has made a decision that HRC will be the candidate. That’s a tragic mistake and it has consequences across the board. Will the centrist get the nod moving forward? How many more elections will we lose until we re-learn what we thought we had learned leading up to our victory in 2008?
Has DKos abandoned its core principles to back a centrist candidate, and if so what does that mean for our movement going forward?
The goal was always more and better democrats. But in this cycle that seems to have changed to “just shut up and back the winner.” What now?
If DKos has moved to the center, where do progressives hang out now?
In 2008 when the primary battle was heavy here, the left wing ultimately won and the HRC supporters mostly left and started having their conversations on mydd.com (among others I’m sure). It makes me very sad to say this but I think it’s time for progressives who care about the future of the party to move on to a new site. I don’t want to keep coming here just because this site used to be the place to go for progressive politics.
Last is the question of “why”. Why are progressive leaders like Kos, Krugman, Ezra Klein backing the centrist this cycle?
This is the hardest part for me. I live in the Pacific Northwest and out here it’s a given that Sanders is our candidate. I don’t meet many Hillary supporters in my daily life. Most people I know seem to believe like I do that she’s a bad candidate, a centrist, or worse, maybe a hawk, that she’ll say whatever it takes. I mean no disrespect to her supporters but I felt that way in 2008 and nothing seems to have changed. She’s not inspiring the youth of our party and that’s important. She’s not a progressive. She belongs in the Third Way camp of Gephardt and Lieberman.
So why are my heroes backing her? This is the biggest question in this cycle. I’ve heard the whispers that the “Clintons must’ve promised something” and it seems to make sense but at the heart of it is a dismissal of the character of these people, not just of Clinton’s character. I don’t want to accept that. I wrack my brain for reasons… “she’s the candidate of minorities”… “he’s too liberal and can’t get anything done”… “he’s not a democrat”… “she’s more connected so she can get it done”… “maybe she’s more liberal than I give her credit”… All of these possibilities cross my mind but none seem to be big enough to sway hard-core progressives like us to believe she’d be better than Bernard f’ing Sanders though. His stands on medicare for all, free college, ending the occupation of Palestine, getting corporate money out of politics, to name just a few is the stuff of liberal-minded dreams. On every issue, he is, and has been on our side. Why wouldn’t any real progressive back Sanders? I truly don’t understand and I’m flummoxed.
I feel like I’ve been abandoned by the people I respect and I need to find new people and places to get my political news from. I’m sad but I want to move on. Where do I go now?
