I rarely agree with their analysis, which tends towards the conspirtorial, but the World Socialist Web Site is always an interesting read. Today, they take a look at the stunning momentum of the Democrats and infer that the ruling elite is positioning themselves to screw the little guy once again.
How? They are throwing all their weight towards the Democrats, who are using their newfound power to tack to the center-right.
Two factors are particularly significant, however, since they demonstrate that powerful sections of the financial aristocracy have decided to make a shift to the Democrats, the other major bourgeois party, as their preferred instrument of rule.
The first is the role of the state itself in triggering the shift in the political balance in Congress. Corruption probes, largely focused on Republicans, played a major role in the loss of the House in 2006: the bribery conviction and resignation of Randy Cunningham; the conviction and resignation of Robert Ney of Ohio, a key figure in the Abramoff scandal; the resignation of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, after his indictment on charges of illegal campaign contributions in Texas; and the resignation of Mark Foley over charges that he solicited sex with male House pages and former pages.
Such probes have long been manipulated by the ruling elite to accomplish changes in its Washington personnel without the uncertainties of elections—a process which is well under way this year. Details of the investigations into Senator Stevens and Senator Craig were leaked to the press by police officials and the FBI, and the FBI carried out well-publicized raids on the homes or offices of Senator Stevens and congressmen Doolittle and Renzi.
Hand-in-hand with these investigations has come a pronounced shift in corporate fundraising from the Republican to the Democratic Party. Both the Senate and House Democratic campaign committees have out-raised their Republican counterparts, an unprecedented reversal of fortune given the longtime Republican lead in campaign contributions from business.
The fundraising lead is substantial: for the Senate, the Democratic committee raised $36.7 million for the first eight months of the year, compared to $20.5 million for the Republicans, and the Democrats had a three-to-one advantage in cash on hand, even though the Republicans must defend 22 seats compared to only 12 for the Democrats. In nearly every House seat that seems likely to be closely contested next year, the Democrats have raised more money than ever before and in most cases more money than their Republican opponents.
The financial advantage reflects not growing popular support for the Democrats, but a shift in the calculations of the financial oligarchy. The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee collected 57 percent of its donations in increments of $20,000 or more, up from 31 percent of contributions four years ago, and substantially more than its Republican counterpart.
Statistics released in August by the Federal Election Commission showed that in the first six months of 2007, Democratic Party committees raised $111.5 million, up 29 percent from the same period in 2005 and a staggering 98 percent from the first half of 2003. The figures for the corresponding Republican committees dropped by one-quarter compared to the first half of 2005.
There are several important political conclusions to be drawn from these political shifts. First and foremost is the deeply corroded character of American democracy. While the American people will cast their votes on November 4, 2008, powerful forces within the ruling class are moving to dictate the outcome more than a year beforehand.
While the presidency remains in question—although the Democrats have a considerable lead both in the polls and in fundraising—the shape of the next Congress has already been basically decided. Barring a political upheaval from below—or a major new “terror” provocation on the scale of 9/11—the Democrats will increase their margin in the Senate significantly, and make gains in the House as well.
The shift to the Democrats represents an effort by the ruling elite to preempt the growing opposition to the war in Iraq, which brought the Democrats back to power last November, as well as the mass discontent with stagnant or declining living standards, deteriorating social conditions, and the impact of the mounting financial crisis.
The American ruling elite is responding to this deepening political unrest in two ways: it brings forward the Democratic Party to present a more “caring” face to the population and foster illusions that the existing political structure can respond to mass discontent; and it builds up the forces of repression in anticipation of the day when it becomes necessary to confront the social anger of millions of people directly.
It is noteworthy that the months of July and August, which saw the congressional Republicans essentially throwing in the towel on their electoral prospects next year, coincided with a sharp swing to the right among the congressional Democrats and the Democratic presidential candidates, particularly on war in Iraq and the repressive measures labeled as “anti-terrorist.”
The Democratic Party was acting to reassure the ruling class that it can be trusted with power and will act “responsibly” on these critical issues—i.e., that it will do what is necessary to defend the interests of American imperialism, both at home and abroad.
A victory of the Democratic Party in the 2008 elections will do nothing to advance the interests of working people. It will only serve to transfer political authority from the Republicans, now exhausted, demoralized and discredited, to the other political party of the corporate-financial aristocracy, which has been held in reserve for precisely this task.
There are serious problems with this analysis…not least of which is the idea the Alberto Gonzales’ Justice Department would consciously target Republican lawmakers in order to flip power in Washington to the Democrats. Recent history indicates that nothing could be further from the truth.
But political donations are another matter entirely. There is no question that the ruling elite, however defined, has thrown their muscle behind Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.