By Michael J. Smith on Thursday December 29, 2005 03:18 PM
Yesterday I posted
about a piece in the New York Times -- its subject, the irresistible Hillary Clinton and her admirers at MoveOn.org. The Times item, I say through clenched teeth, is well worth a read, if only because it lays out so clearly something that all my good-hearted, "progressive," lesser-evilling Democratic friends don't or won't understand: namely, that they are not just victims of triangulation, but accomplices in it. Triangulation a la Clinton depends crucially on knowing that the Left will stick with you no matter what. From the Times item:
A recent [Quinnipiac] poll ... found that 88 percent of Democrats who were interviewed said they approved of Mrs. Clinton's job performance.... Mrs. Clinton's approval rating comes at the same time that 83 percent of Democrats in the sample told pollsters that they regarded the war in Iraq as a mistake.There you have it, friends. You're not just being mistreated and ignored by your Democratic paladins: you are actively contributing to their wickedness by your servile, unconditional loyalty."She has the left in her back pocket," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac institute. "She doesn't have to worry about catering to them."
Comments (2)
Maybe not so bad. 88% of app 1/3 of registered voters includes the pro-war Dems. 83% is a difference of 5% antiwar Dems, and doesn't factor non-affiliated anti-war folk. The Left, if it can find its bearings this year on the issue of the war, has the power to deny the margin of victory to pro-war Democrats. But that has to be done openly, with the announcement of it as a strategy, and the commitment by the same people who deny the Dems to defy the Republicans later on.
We don't need a majority. All we generally need is 10% or so of those who would have voted D to burn their voter registration cards in front of local Democratic Congressional and Senate offices on the 3rd anniversary of the war (March 20, 2006)... and mean it.
We are stronger than we realize, if we are willing to exercise that strength... and a modicum of strategic sense.
Posted by Stan Goff | December 29, 2005 5:41 PM
Posted on December 29, 2005 17:41
Maybe we should stop refering to democrat "progressives" as being "left." After all, the polictial term "progressive" when translated into plain old everyday English, is the equivelent of "Don't hurt me."
Maybe a color could be assigned to them? Say, if the dems are stuck with the color blue, the dem progressives could be called, oh, how about "Yellows?"
Posted by AlanSmithee | December 30, 2005 8:48 AM
Posted on December 30, 2005 08:48