Update [2006-9-19 0:12:15 by howieinseattle]: Fortune’s Washington bureau chief writes about “Rahm Emanuel, Pitbull politician” and tells us how he is working hard to beat the Rethugs at their own game. “Democrats’ Spending Gives Edge to GOP” in the LA Times covers some of the same territory but gives credit to Howard Dean for delivering “more resources toward building the party at the state level than any other DNC chairman.” Meanwhile, Al Gore calls
for the “elimination of all payroll taxes — including those for social security and unemployment compensation — and the replacement of that revenue in the form of pollution taxes, principally on CO2.”
But Gore said it’s up to the American people to demand action.“When the politicians are paralyzed in the face of a great threat,” he explained, “our nation needs a popular movement, a rallying cry, a standard, a mandate that is broadly supported on a bipartisan basis.”
The former Presidential candidate plans to spend the next year campaigning for the cause.
As David Sirota reminds us, some House Democrats are “bragging about how they are shaking down Big Money interests for cash.” And while I agree with Matt Stoller that “it’s time the blogosphere begin to focus on organizing problems instead of just our obsession with message,” too many people still see no difference in the two political parties when it comes to the corrupting influence of Big Money.
Stoller is also upset about a certain House Democrat in the leadership who is “pandering to Wall Street.”
The first is to get the current administration out of power. Get a Democratic congress and hope for the best (but don’t be surprised at whatever we get).
The second, and much tougher, battle is going to be to start getting people elected to office who are beholden to only one special interest — their constituents. People who pledge to take no corporate or PAC money and only accept donations from citizens like you and me.
I would like to eventually see legislators elected with their campaign money coming only from constituents they will be serving, and maybe from a shared pool available to all campaigners. Something like the $3 you can opt to put into the presidential election fund on your tax form. But that is going to take a long time, if it can be done at all.
If some voters think the Dems are in bed with the same moneybags as the Rethugs, they aren’t going to bother to turn out to vote against the current regime.
The issue isn’t so much where the money is raised, it’s what ties, if any, come attached. When promises are exchanged, I don’t care if it’s “our” guys doing it – that’s still blatantly wrong, not to mention illegal. Bribery by any other name is still a corrupt practice.
But not everyone who takes money does so in exchange for favors. One can only hope the Dems show more moral backbone than the Republicans have regarding such “arrangements.”
Meanwhile – I agree on the point that so long as activists remain online, talking to each other, we’re going to have a tough time taking back our country. It’s more important than ever to dialog with those who DON’T understand, who have not yet heard our arguments, who need the info to be persuaded.
And nothing beats a good ground campaign. For all the blogosphere’s hype re Lamont, it was the people on the ground, knocking on doors, that won that election. And so it will be for the rest of the races.
It’s easy to talk. It’s harder to do. And the Republicans have been doing for years, which is why they’ve achieved a majority. We need to do at LEAST as much, if not more, to take it back.
The promises made or implied are important. But equally important is the perception that Democrats are playing the same game as the Rethugs.
True.
That’s why I was happy to hear Debra Bowen, our California Democratic candidate for Secretary of State, (an ALL IMPORTANT role in any state as they oversee our vote) supporting CA’s Clean Money campaign at an event this weekend.
Gore Vidal was at the same event. He said he felt our Democracy was already behind us, but I had to leave before he concluded his comments. I agree there’s a strong possibility of that, but that’s all the more reason to fight the last battles as well as we possibly can.
may have criminal problems with the Trailhead Group.