Ari Berman reminds us:
Furthermore, few Democratic consultants so consistently and publicly advocate an ideology that perfectly complements their corporate clients. Every election cycle [Hillary Clinton’s chief lobbyist and adviser, Mark] Penn discovers a new group of swing voters–“soccer moms,” “wired workers,” “office park dads”–who happen to be the key to the election and believe the same thing: “Outdated appeals to class grievances and attacks upon corporate perfidy only alienate new consistencies and ring increasingly hollow,” Penn has written. Through his longtime association with the Democratic Leadership Council, Penn has been pushing pro-corporate centrism for years. Many of the same companies that underwrite the DLC, such as Eli Lilly, AT&T, Texaco and Microsoft, also happen to be clients of Penn’s.
Yet despite occupying such a divisive place in the Democratic Party and outsized role in the corporate world–and despite his company’s close ties to Republican political operatives and the Bush White House–Penn remains a leading figure in Hillary’s campaign, pitching the inevitability of her nomination to donors and party bigwigs. According to the New York Times, “[Hillary] Clinton responds to Penn’s points with exclamations like, Oh, Mark, what a smart thing to say!” Politically, his presence means that triangulation is alive and well inside the campaign and that despite her populist forays, Hillary won’t stray too far from the center. “Penn has a lot of influence on her, no doubt about it,” says New York political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who worked with Penn in ’96. “He’s not going to let her drift too far left.”
This cannot be repeated enough.
That is a tough one.
I have to admit I’m leaning towards letting Bush nuke Iran and start WWIII rather than endure another four years of letting globo-corp run rampant. At least an Apocalyptic event would slow down the advancement of such things as Monsanto’s terminator seeds and funky untested things like viruses sprayed on meat.
I hope come election day we have someone else representing the Dems. I really don’t want to have to vote for her.
Just got back a little while ago from the B.R.E.A.D. meeting I mentioned in my most recent diary. We always hear testimony from someone who is dealing with or has dealt with the issue being considered. Both healthcare and payday lending were discussed. We heard from a single, working mother of two who can’t afford health coverage but makes too much money to be on Medicaid, and from a woman who borrowed from a payday lender to help her son make his rent payment. She approached her bank first, but they wouldn’t give her a loan or even a credit card. Six months after borrowing $500 from a payday lender, she had a debt of $3000.
On the heels of hearing those kinds of stories, DLC corporatism is even more stomach turning to me than it usually is.
On a more positive note, at that meeting, there were about 2000 central Ohioans representing 50 area churches and synagogues, who were willing to come out on a Monday night to call for economic justice for our neighbors. I’m tired, but glad I went.
“He’s not going to let her drift too far left.”
What, to where I might actually vote for her in the primary? I wasn’t holding my breath. š