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1/. Here’s a really long thread following yesterday’s tweets: We’re talking about several things: Democratic Party; 2020 presidential race; moving country to a progressive track.
1/. Here’s a really long thread following yesterday’s tweets: We’re talking about several things: Democratic Party; 2020 presidential race; moving country to a progressive track.
2/. Hard to discuss one without including the other two; still, they are different issues, have different goals, require different strategies. Harder still to discuss in a series of little tweets.
3/. DEM PARTY: It’s part of power structure, effectively created & definitely reinforced by electoral college. Has little to do with democracy. Not created for purpose of empowering people. An institution; it can’t be prodded, reformed into something utterly at odds with itself.
4/. It won’t become progressive because it cannot do so without destroying itself. Unfortunately, it’s one of only two players in U.S. electoral politics. That’s why Sanders, AOC, etc. work with & run as Dems; if they didn’t, they would not have a national voice.
5/. Sanders & AOC have no illusions. But anyone who expects Dem Party to be open, democratic, or progressive misunderstands what it is.
6/. 2020 RACE: Another aspect of the power structure. Elections are monumental undertakings requiring multiple $millions$ to get anywhere, even in local elections. Most candidates who represent workers, POC, disenfranchised, etc. are priced out.
7/. Without election finance changes, most candidates will be cosmetically attractive but internally flawed. Much of what country knows about candidates is from MSM. But MSM is a business. It doesn’t provide news; it provides media for profit.
8/. Not saying it’s all the same; some personalities far more credible, interesting (such as Ali Velshi on MSNBC).
9/. Sanders made it past these hurdles due to decades of experience, exceptional fortitude, vision, and character. He is an anomaly. He gives hope to millions, but that hope is misdirected if it relies on a president to change our country.
10/. As I said yesterday, change only comes when people clamor for it. Bottom up, not top down. Yet even in this system, a president can facilitate change. Lyndon Johnson signed Voting Rights Act. HW Bush opened doors for people with disabilities by signing ADA.
11/. Obama was example of inclusion. Opened doors for POC, LGBT, others (actually Biden moved Obama on LGBT issues).Progressive change during presidency is only in response to progressive movements. The movement comes first. And the two Congressional chambers have to be in sync.
12/. Just as a president can facilitate leftward movement, a pres can also facilitate rightward movement, like Trump. He’s allowed ultra-conservatives to get their way with deregulation, voting rights restrictions, Supreme Court picks, anti-choice law, anti-immigrant law & more.
13/. So when I urge a vote for whoever Dem candidate is, I’m looking at damage Trump will do unless stopped. I’m not looking at Biden for what progress he can bring because I don’t expect much from him. And I don’t expect much because progress comes from the bottom up.
14/. MOVING TO PROGRESSIVE TRACK: That takes us to next issue: How do we move the body politic to the left? That’s the big question with thousands of answers. Do we create a third party? Third parties don’t do well in U.S.
15/. Peace & Freedom Party formed in mid-1960s in opposition to Dem Party’s support of Vietnam war & also with civil rights platform. It’s still around but never got more than couple hundred thousand votes, even during enormous social movements of 1960s & 1970s.
16/. In 1990s, Tony Mazzocchi founded a labor party that grew to over one million members. It didn’t last. Green Party started in early 2000s; it has some national impact, but less than 300,000 members. So is a third party what we need?
17/. I have my views, developed over half-century of activism (yes, I’m that f’ing old). Way too much to type out, especially in tweets. But I will say this: the need for the movement must exist before the movement exists, and leadership must come from the movement itself. // END
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