Getting Tough With the Right

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Let the word go forth: The age of the wimpy liberal is over.
by Paul Waldman, Editor-in-Chief
3.15.04

All across America, progressives are riled up. They saw George W. Bush lose the 2000 election yet manage, through the intercession of a friendly Supreme Court, to take control of the executive branch. They watched as he rolled over seemingly impotent Democrats again and again. Their patriotism was questioned when they raised objections to a war of dubious justification. On nearly every national issue, from abortion to economic policy to health care to environmental protection, their agenda enjoys majority support among the public, yet all three branches of government, not to mention a majority of governorships and state legislatures, are controlled by conservatives.

In short, though John Kerry has an excellent chance to wrest the White House from Bush, the left is on the canvas, battered and bruised. So it's no wonder rank-and-file progressives are demanding that their leaders get up and turn the fight around.

How has this state of affairs come to pass? The reasons are many and complex, but a great deal of credit must be given to the interlocking network of conservative think tanks, activist groups, lobbyists, media organizations, and government officials that advocates the conservative cause.

The conservative network has its roots in the wreckage of the 1964 Goldwater campaign, but its clearest manifestation is found today in the meeting held every Wednesday in the offices of Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform. Among the hundred or so people who attend are Capitol Hill staffers, reporters from the conservative press, Republican lobbyists, conservative activists, and GOP consultants. The meetings are an opportunity to share information, plot strategy, and coordinate the conservative message. George W. Bush started sending representatives to the Wednesday meetings before he even announced his candidacy for the presidency, and White House aides continue to attend. As Norquist said in early 2001, "There isn't an us and them with this administration. They is us. We is them."

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