Home Features The Rebirth of the Democratic Party
The Rebirth of the Democratic Party
Democratic activists are pushing for a midtermconvention next summer. Theparty hasn't met at midterm for more than two decades. But activists make aconvincing case for rallying the troops next year before the 2002 midtermelections and using the occasion to articulate a new progressivism for America.
The stakes in 2002 are huge. If the Democrats don't make major gains, they maybe a minority party for years to come. Notwithstanding George W.'s plummetingpoll numbers and Jim Jeffords's splendid defection, Republicans are busysolidifying their power while Democrats have almost none to solidify. Dems don'thave the presidency, don't control the House, don't occupy most governorships,and hold the Senate by only a single vote. What's more, Democrats face a brutalround of redistricting run largely by Republican state officials. All this meansthat the 2002 elections are pivotal--and that in the months leading up to them,Democratic activists will have to work harder than ever to get out the vote. Amidterm convention could charge up the party faithful for this formidable taskand draw in new blood as well.
In addition, the Democrats' grass roots need strengthening. The official Democratic Party has ossified into a Washington-based financial service. It'sbecome ever more efficient in seeking out likely donors but has forgotten how toinspire local crusaders. As a result, there's a large and growing political vacuum at the local and state levels. That vacuum is being filled by Green Partyactivists, labor organizers, students campaigning against sweatshops and for aliving wage, Latino community organizers, and church-affiliated communityactivists, none of whom are especially interested in a resurgent DemocraticParty. If Democrats are to have any hope of regaining the White House in 2004,they'll need to mobilize these troops and rebuild the party from the bottom up.
And what better way to mobilize them than by loudly and clearly enunciatinggoals they share--goals to which Democratic activists are already committed?These include affordable health care for all families, high-quality child care, excellent schools for all our kids, strong environmental protections combined with energy conservation, a living wage, and effective campaign-finance reform. Amidterm convention offers an opportunity to send a clear message to America thatDemocrats stand for these goals, in sharp contrast to Bush, Incorporated. Demscould use the conclave to nationalize the midterm elections of 2002--playingagainst the Republicans the card that Newt Gingrich played against the Democratswhen he nationalized the midterm elections of 1994.
Finally, a midterm convention would enable activists to take the measure of potential presidential candidates for the 2004 race before the candidates beginrounding up money and locking in squads of campaign consultants and pollsters.Anyone even thinking about a run will want to attend and make a pitch becausethe race to become the Democrats' standard-bearer begins in earnest in 2002. Bythe time the 2004 convention rolls around, it will be over. Unless activists usea midterm convention to gauge prospective candidates, the next Democraticpresidential candidate will be selected, in effect, by the party financiers whobankroll the primary campaigns.
Which brings me to the underlying rationale: A midterm convention wouldstrengthen the hand of the party activists relative to the party financiers. Thatwould be good for the Democrats and good for America.
For years now, the financiers have been gaining power in the party. They'rethe big rollers from Wall Street, K Street, major corporations, and national lawfirms. Their main interests are free trade, financial austerity (also known asbalanced budgets and debt elimination), and privatized social services. Theirmain argument has been that Democrats must win over white males in upscalesuburbs in order to win back Congress and the presidency. Their main voice in theparty has been the Democratic Leadership Council.
The activists who have been losing ground in the party are teachers, unionizedservice workers, retirees, state and local employees, social workers,environmental advocates, and local politicians, including a rising number ofblacks and Latinos. Although such groups have comprised most of the delegates torecent Democratic presidential conventions and have supplied most of the groundtroops in get-out-the-vote drives, they've been outgunned and outmaneuvered bythe financiers when it comes to crafting the party's agenda and fielding itscandidates.
Democrats need to keep both groups in the fold. But the activists' agendaoutlined above is closer to that of most eligible voters in America than is thatof the financiers, even if it doesn't hold special attraction for white males in upscale suburbs. Such an agenda would draw to the polls a portion of the largenumber of eligible voters who don't vote and would lure back some of the Greensand independents.
A midterm convention isn't all that's needed for party activists to gain theupper hand, of course, but it's an important step. Whether it occurs at alldepends largely on whether organized labor pushes for it. The AFL-CIO stillwields clout at the upper reaches of the Democratic Party. It's in bothcamps--obviously an important source of Democratic campaign money but alsocritically important at the grass roots, and becoming even more so.
The betting here is that labor will side with the activists. After all,that's where labor's future lies. Labor needs to inspire and ally itself withgrass-roots activists across the country. And it needs a strong DemocraticParty, built from the ground up.
That's why next summer the Democrats will hold a midterm convention thatlaunches a new progressivism in America. Planning for it starts now.
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