In response to the letter, Alvillar said, "Though we disagree . . . get out and vote." It is evident that the Democrats had not gotten the message before Election Day.
In this video of the protest it is apparent that the policies the Democrats put in place are hurting families and communities across the country. People told their stories in front of the DNC.
Further, when DeChristopher warned that the people will block Democrats who are not good on these policies, the crowd spontaneously started chanting: "Get the message, get the message."
We cannot think of a policy the Democrats have put forward that puts the people and the planet before the profits of their contributors. Below are just a few of many examples:
Health care: Sixty percent of the public and 80 percent of Democrats wanted a single payer health system, but Obama put the interests of the insurance companies and Wall Street investors first. Now 30 senators, half of whom voted for the Affordable Care Act, have been forced out of office.
The wealth divide: Obama decided to stop discussing extreme inequality rather than embrace the movement for shrinking the wealth divide. Further, his economic policies have dramatically expanded inequality.
The working poor: Rather than advocating for a living wage of $15 an hour, Obama put forward an inadequate $10.10 wage for federal workers that will be phased in when new contracts are negotiated.
Immigration: Obama's rhetoric is welcoming, but his actions make him the largest deporter of immigrants and divider of families in U.S. history.
Militarism: Obama ran as a peace candidate who wanted to end the rationale for war, but as president he has attacked seven Muslim countries -- bombing more countries than Bush, normalized the use of drone killings, and expanded U.S. militarism around the world.
Clues as to whether President Obama and the Democrats got the right message from last week's election will be where Obama stands on two immediate issues: (1) whether he supports the reclassification of the Internet as a common carrier and puts in place net neutrality rules or he sides with the corporations and allows special deals for wealthy corporations; and (2) whether the Democrats demand that trade agreements be written to put the people and the planet ahead of corporate profits and protect the interests of workers, the environment, the Internet, food and water, among other necessities of the people.
The Democrats need to show voters that their somewhat progressive rhetoric matches policy reality. So far, the Democrats have no credibility with the electorate because of the mismatch between rhetoric and reality.
Message to the movementWe need to embrace our electoral and grassroots people power. The Democratic Party needs us if they want to govern. Big business interests are learning that our protests and blockades undermine extreme extraction infrastructure by making them money losers that investors should ignore. People have the power to transform the nation, and what we do is more important than what elected officials do.
The "Nader Effect" should be understood to be the "Nader-Power Effect." We still hear Democratic partisans say we can't support third-party candidates because "look what happened in 2000." This view fails to understand political power. If we build third parties that are strong enough to impact the outcomes of elections, i.e. what the corporate media and Democrats call "spoiling," then we have real power.
In 2004, people should have united around Nader to say: "We have the power to deny your election, and candidates need adopt our views or we will ensure they lose the election." We cannot shy away from this power; we need to embrace it. Some of the most important transformations in history resulted from people who never won office but were big enough to impact the outcome of the election.
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