Progressive Democrats of America are focused on moving the Democratic Party in a more progressive direction on issues like foreign relations, trade and right to organize and collectively bargain.
Anderson said that Clinton’s disdain for the “activist base” was an example of her inability to be a consensus builder. “I think it shows in a lot of the ways she interacts with others in the party,” Anderson said, “she’s not a consensus builder. Just look at her health care plan in the 90s. It was a disaster because she shut out the very people who should have been a part of the discussion, like folks in labor and others. She really had no base of support.”
Anderson said Clinton could have benefitted from an activist base. “The democratic party needs its activist base. Those are the people who are going to turn out the voters on election day who are going to put their shoulders to the wheel . It shows where she’s coming from, which is an elitist, top-down mentality. I’ll make the deals to make this happen and you just play along to get along.”
Cheryl Wertz is another one of those pesky activists in the “activist base of the Democratic Party.” Wertz is the executive director for Peace Action New York State. The organization has a 50 year history of nuclear abolition efforts. She clarified that she in no way spoke for United for Peace and Justice, of which her organization is a member.
Wertz drew a sharp distinction between activists who become active because they are passionate about their values, and activists for the joy of muckraking, a distinction that was lost in Clinton’s remarks. “We are activists because we care very strongly about finding non-violent answers to national security,” Wertz said. “It’s not that we started out as activists and this is the issue that we are glomming on to.”
Wertz cited the sweeping Democratic victories in 2006 as the results of many “activists” showing their frustration through that old standby activist trick, voting. Since then, the Democrats have disappointed. “New Yorkers are frustrated with the Democratic Congress for a lack of doing anything to end the war and not cutting appropriations. Democrats and Republicans are increasingly frustrated with this Congress for not doing what we asked of them to do. The last congress was elected with a mandate to end this war and they are not doing that.”
Clinton has yet to clarify exactly how she disagrees with the “activist base of the Democratic Party.” Geoff Garin, a top Clinton strategist, appeared on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday and sidestepped answering what exactly Clinton was talking about.
“Asked to specify exactly which issues Clinton and Moveon had disagreements,” the Huffington Post reported, “Garin demurred, saying simply it was a ‘particular set of foreign policy issues,’ not ‘everything.’”
Just a particular set of policy issues. No big deal. Nothing that’s really relevant to any decisions any Democratic voters in some state named Pennsylvania will make over the next couple of days. Well, at least it’s good to know she doesn’t disagree with everything the base stands for. Hopefully avoiding a nuclear holocaust is on the “common interests” list.
In the last analysis, it may turn out that Clinton loses because, in Jacoby’s words, “She’s done nothing to dispel worries about her.” All along, Clinton has refused to apologize for her vote to authorize war in Iraq. “She’s made comments recently that seem to suggest she’s closer to John McCain than Senator Obama,” he added.
Clinton has run a middle-of-the-road campaign that shuns the “activist base” and appeals to a bunch of Republicans that want nothing to do with her. In essence, she’s left with some independents and a bunch of activists that refuse to realize Clinton doesn’t agree with them. There’s an old saying, “You should never love the people who hate you and hate the people who love you.” From a purely strategic standpoint, Clinton ignored this rule of thumb. She should have done more to distance herself from the hawks, even if it was only for show. On a deeper level, she likely just has an authentic contempt for many of the people who define the best aspects of her party, and it is best that the truth has come to light before the general election.
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