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Problem with the DNC and Krugman's suspicions
I don't like to complain about the Democratic National Committee but I just have to. Today I am being asked by Organizing for America (which is the DNC's web outreach arm) to commit to a dollar a day to defeat the anti-health care reform types in Congress. The only obstructionists mentioned are Republicans. But the Republicans aren't really the problem, are they? According to the numbers, we don't need the Republicans to pass these reforms. It's the Democrats who are in the way.
So, why should I give money to the DNC when they are going to turn around and give it to Mary Landrieu and Max Baucus at the next election cycle?
When is the DNC going to come out and say that not one dime will go to these industry prostitutes?
Now if Krugman's suspicions are correct that these obstructionists are in the pockets of big Pharma and the insurance industry and/or planning to become lobbyists for them, then it's not clear that such a threat would do much. I don't know if the DNC gives each Senatorial candidate as much money as the pharmaceutical companies do (anyone?). But it would send a pretty clear signal to the Democrats to get their act together now. What is Howard Dean waiting for?
So, why should I give money to the DNC when they are going to turn around and give it to Mary Landrieu and Max Baucus at the next election cycle?
When is the DNC going to come out and say that not one dime will go to these industry prostitutes?
Now if Krugman's suspicions are correct that these obstructionists are in the pockets of big Pharma and the insurance industry and/or planning to become lobbyists for them, then it's not clear that such a threat would do much. I don't know if the DNC gives each Senatorial candidate as much money as the pharmaceutical companies do (anyone?). But it would send a pretty clear signal to the Democrats to get their act together now. What is Howard Dean waiting for?
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I have to agree and I have told the DNC as much. Straighten out the Blue Dogs and then I'll help you kick a few Republican butts.
July 29, 2009 10:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Krugman calling for missteps? Can't help it.
July 29, 2009 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
One thing everyone should keep im mind was a good point made by Lawrence O'Donnell the other night on TV: (paraphrasing) The way you GET these big majorities in the first place, is that you bring along a lot of people who are sort of centrist and moderate, and not conventional 'true believers'. Many of these new Congress people came in from areas which have traditionally been either strong GOP or (at best) swing regions. I would like to believe that a majority of them would be courageous enough to just go on and do what I see as RIGHT, but I fully realize that that is asking a lot.
I'm as much for substantive Health Care reform as the next person, but the plain fact is that it has NO CHANCE if its deep, committed, certain support does not extend beyond the 25% or so of the population that make up the core of the Democratic Party's base. Again, I would like to think that on an issue as critical as this one, the majority can be persuaded to do what I see as the 'right' thing, but it's very hard: This is confusing and complicated to a lot of people, and the risk of doing it wrong is a price many people can accept only with the greatest difficulty and the most dogged persuasion.
What do we DO about it? Get an honest, straightforward, relatively SIMPLE case, and just keep making it over and over and over. That's the HARD way, but I believe it's the only way. Calling names and threatening is unlikely to be much help.
July 29, 2009 11:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
How do you expect to convince a majority of Americans when you have two parties campaigning against the bill?
The Blue Cross Dogs are not moderate and they are not centrist. They are just bought. They have monumental egos (see Joe Lieberman for reference) and their entire reason for living is to destroy Democratic domestic legislation, provide unlimited funding for war and help their Republican friends get elected.
July 29, 2009 6:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have already told the DNC and DCCC that I won't give a nickel now or in the future if they do not go after blue dogs on health care. Their silence is a basic position of weakness for the party's platform on health care. Silence means no money from me!
July 29, 2009 12:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
I keep hoping that some of the blue dogs, and the first termers, who have been dubbed "blue pups" will find accord with their voting constituencies. For instance, Jared Polis, a true political animal (I swear he has been running for First Gay President since he ran for CU regent) is a blue pup--and HE REPRESENTS BOULDER COLORADO!! He is also apparently the wealthiest Freshman. I tried emailing him, but as "I am not in his district," no email form would boot. I think that too many of the blue dogs are looking forward into their futures for something bigger, or simply re-election, and positioning themselves. I wish they would be out doing town halls, not just being ragged on by voters who will no doubt be subject to the million dollars' worth of targeted, no-health-reform ads due in August.
I heard Lawrence O'donnel lsay that, too, one mike, but in the end: Who.Cares.? On watershed issues like this, we need Dems who can act fearlessly to save this country, not perform political jockeying. O'donnell really just tried to make it okay that re-election is is their prime focus. Phooey on that.
July 29, 2009 12:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why not take a lesson from the Republicans and, instead of calling it "The Healthcare Reform Act", you call it something like "The Pharmacare Forever Act" like they did with the Clean Air Act or maybe "The Motherhood and Apple Pie Act" like they did with The Patriot Act. You need something that you can use in the next election against a conservative who doesn't vote for it. After all, most people don't pay any attention to politics except at election time. If you can make a commercial that says "Joe Blow voted against the Motherhood and Apple Pie Act. What has he got against Mothers?" that's at least a positive.
July 29, 2009 12:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
You are exactly correct about Motherhood and Apple Pie. The conservative fascists are not at all afraid of using language to confuse and mislead but liberals try soooo hard to tell the exact truth. The end product is that the morons and uninformed voters just swallow the bullshit and we all get screwed. It is time to fight fire with fire and use the phony framing tactics against these liars. Healthcare reform should be called "Healthcare for Everybody Act" even though it will not be Universal. Let the corporate liars explain why they are not for everybody having healthcare.
July 29, 2009 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
The 'Ice Cream Ponies Act'.
July 29, 2009 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
The last time I received a call from the DNC, I told them that, due to obstructionist Blue Dogs and DLC Dems, that I could no longer give money directly to the Democratic Party, but rather to individual candidates whose policies and voting records reflected progressive values.
July 29, 2009 2:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
You ask "What is Howard Dean waiting for?". I assume you mean Tim Kaine, head of the DNC since January. You know Tim Kaine? Member of the pro-corporate, lobbyist-friendly, anything-for-a- buck Democratic Leadership Council? Don't hold your breath.
July 29, 2009 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
We don't have to wait for the DNC or the DNCC to get their acts together. We can go to visit ACT BLUE and drop a few bucks in their coffers. Two funds which might be of special interest are under the direction of Democracy for America: http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/8280
Beat a Republican Extremist by Democracy for America
Donors 878 Raised $15,083.88
and Beat another Bush-Democrat by Democracy for America
Donors 761 Raised $12,354.24
The amounts are tiny and the numbers of donors are few. If everyone who complained about the DNC were to send 5 bucks to Beat another Bush-Democrat and then tell the e-mailer or phone-caller from the DNC that he/she had done precisely that, I expect we could raise their pulse just a little. Heck: if half the people who complained about the DNC or DNCC did this, there would be a serious amount of money in the kitty and we might actually elect some dogs of a different color.
I've decided pretty much that I'm going to put a link to Act Blue or some other equivalent changemaker in all my blogs from now on. Remind me if I forget.
July 29, 2009 4:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great link, the money does need to be targeted correctly. You would only be wasting your money if you supported a guy has know chance or is no better.
July 29, 2009 6:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the link, amike. I should have said in my post that there are better places to put one's money than the DNC. But note that you and TCFKANCS think that Organizing for America is somehow just as good as ActBlue. Organizing for America IS the DNC, and I just don't see why my money should go to support any old Democrat, like my senator, Mary Landrieu. And TCFKANCS, I am talking about getting the bill passed. No one seems to be putting pressure on the Blue Dogs or Max Baucus from inside the party, or at least, that was the case until the Progressives started making some noise yesterday. My point about Krugman's ideas is that it may not matter to some of these people what their party wants them to do or what their constituents want them to do because they get so much money as pets of their lobbyists. Mary Landrieu is completely beholden to the oil companies. So Mary doesn't really care what her constituents think about any given issue: she knows that no matter how she votes on ANYTHING, she is going to have shitloads of money when it comes time to get elected. That money allows her to saturate the airwaves and frame any discussion at election time--which is too far away to be a meaningful stick now. How she voted on healthcare will get spun to her advantage one way or the other. She's not threatened by her constituents' opposing desires.
That is why it is important for the party to make clear that deals (laws) near and dear to the hearts of these legislators will have a very hard time passing before the next election cycle. What moves Mary Landrieu is the threat that a pet markup or a pet project (like changing the law on drilling off the Florida coast) has a chance of getting passed in the Senate. She is not moved by constituent wishes. The oil industry (and in this case, the insurance industrey) IS her constituency.
So, much as I admire the democratic principles that are at the heart of your postings, folks, I think that they are naive. I'm not saying that buying air time for our side isn't a good idea. It is. And calling, faxing, and phoning doesn't hurt. It helps (especially faxing). But you have to remember exactly who is holding things up. Mary Landrieu is a Republican in all but name: she is going to be movable on issues by the Democratic Party ONLY because that party is now in the ostensible majority and she can use them to get her deals done. (And by the same token, she puts herself in the Joe Lieberman category, because Dems need her vote.) If the party doesn't take advantage of her venality by putting pressure on her, that is a huge opportunity wasted. Horse trading is what happens in Congress. Time to trade some horses.
This fight isn't going to be won simply because the people spoke up and said they want health care reform. We aren't having trouble getting reform passed in Congress because the people aren't speaking up. The people have been speaking up, and speaking up, and speaking up. We have a loud voice. But when it comes to Mary Landrieu, the voice of the people just doesn't matter. It just doesn't. So keep speaking up--it's important. But so is the party voting as a bloc on this one. That isn't going to happen unless these Blue Dogs get pressured by the party. Don't give money to organizations that will give money to people who vote against health care reform. To me, it's that simple.
July 30, 2009 1:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
Let me qualify that just a bit. My preference is Democracy for America first, then Act Blue, Then Credo/Working Assets.
I use Organizing for America in a very different way. Punch in Organizing for America to your address line and what comes up is My Barack Obama.com. There's no direct involvement with campaign contributions to senators or congressmen. But there are some interesting features...ways to get involved by organizing neighbors and holding meetings in support of such things as reformed health care.
AND
There are blogs--as far as I can tell uncensored ones, in which citizens can record their happiness/unhappiness with democrats on these issues. The threads go off topic (just like here)...some comments are snarky (just like here), but have a complaint with Mary Landreau you can record it here, and I'm quite sure that there are interns who log, count, and summarize these things. If we want to help the center gauge the temper of thee field this is a good way to do so, rather than wait for some pollster to come and ask.
July 30, 2009 8:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, amike. As always, very helpful.
July 31, 2009 1:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Guys, I know that its emotionally satisfying to vent at the Blue Dogs and demand that the DNC beat up on them, but we're not in this to make ourselves feel good. We're in it to get the damn bill passed.
For a congresscritter, the one thing that trumps their own 1980s ideology and all that sweet, sweet campaign cash/future job prospects from industry is an email inbox, snailmail bag and phone log jammed with calls from constituients and a lot of similar feedback during the townhalls with the homies. They do respond to that--even when they shouldn't.
Seriously. They aren't honest enough to stay bought and they aren't bright enough to believe the polls. The only thing that gets them really convinced that a vote can't be safely whored away is a lot of constituient feeback. And they're not going to get the right kind of feedback if the other side dominates the airwaves throughout August.
This is why the Republicans, the industry astroturf groups and the rich wingnut money people wanted this thing put off 'til September. They know that their campaign contributions and job offers won't mean crap if the constituient feedback goes heavily against them. That's why they needed this month to fill the airwaves back in the waverers home districts with scary ads with black backgrounds and dark, unnerving music about the horrors of of the Democrat plan to turn over the world's finest healthcare delivery system over to Fidel Castro and, most likely, the Abominable Doctor Phibes.
That's why I was screaming at the Blue Dogs for collaborating with the Republican plan to prevent a pre-break vote. Well, we lost that round. The other side now gets the chance to scare the rubes into filling up their congressman's inbox with fearful letters and they will ccme.
If we don't get our message out into those same districts, we lose when they come back in September, pure and simple. This isn't about campaign money, it's about money for issue ads to fight the ones the other side's been focus-grouping for months now.
And that's why you need to swallow down your qualms and go give a few bucks for Organizing for America or Move On or anyone else who's going to fight them in the air war.
Oh, and if they aren't a completely safe vote like, say, Waxman or a a Death Eater like mine is, write your congressman. A lot.
However emotionally satisfying it may be to us, no amount of top-down stick waving is going to get the Blue Dogs into line. The only thing that will work is fighting back the well-laid plans to fill the Blue Dogs' constituients' heads with a lot of lies.
July 29, 2009 7:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
AMEN, TCFKaNCS
That's why I suggested Act Blue...but Move On or Organizing for America work for me as well...as does Democracy for America.
One of the problems is that so many in Congress have safe seats--nearly 10% of the seats in the house last year were totally uncontested. The large majority of these were Democratic, and of these nine were southerners--ten if you count the uncontested seat in West Virginia. http://www.thegreenpapers.com/G08/uncontested.phtml
I don't know how many of these are blue dogs...but the first step to leveraging them out of Congress is to get someone to run against them. Awhile ago I said I'd chip in to pay the filing fee so that these seats developed a contest. Nothing would send shivers up the spine of the deadwood like an articulate challenge.
July 29, 2009 9:59 PM | Reply | Permalink