However, there is a concerted effort most of time to give the impression that no one is further left than Obama. For the right's part, it pretends that he is the furthest left it is humanly possible to be. For the part of the media, Democratic strategists, etc., they pretent, most of the time, that the left is a monolith, aligned behind Obama.
When they deviate from that myth, its to say that those to the left of Obama are small in number and borderline certifiable or, as White House folk put it "retards," "on drugs," etc. However, it they did not see the left as a threat, why would they attempt to degrade and demean the left? Why pay posters to demean the left on message boards?There is, as you say, labor. Yes, it has been weakened. All the more reason to unite with other like-minded folk.
Another time they deviate from it is when they think it will help Obama in some negotiation, as in "Well, sure, the Tea Party is putting pressure on Boehner, but, don't forget, Obama is under pressure from the Democratic left, too."
I remember a while back, a DUer asked for liberals to weigh in if they were still here--and that was after many had been banned or gotten bullied until they left of their own volition. As I recall, it was pretty clear that he was not talking about the usual loyalists.
About 300 posters weighed in. To be honest, that suprised even me, after all the board bullying that had gone on.
Back to splintering.
There is, as you say, organized labor. Yes, it has been weakened, but it is still a significant group. And the blows it has sustained are all the more reason for it to unite with other left of center folk,
There are people who claim to be "Libertarians from the left," though, to be candid, they seem to me preety much like all other Libertarians.
There are the Greens.
There are Democratic Socialists.
There are several other political parties whose names include the word "Socialist," meaning not even all the Socialists can unite with each other--perfect example of the left's self-defeating addiction to splintering, IMO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_the_United_StatesThere are Communists.
There is the Working Families Party (which may be Democratic-sponsored because its recommendation was to vote Democratic, but under the Working Families ticket, supposedly to show Democrats the voting power of working families0.
:wtf: Like anyone cares which column the votes that re-elected them were in.
Then there are a very large number of Democrats who claimed to be well to Obama's left, but who voted for him because they see no other choice that feels safe to them.
So, what happened 2011-2012, when most or all of the above were feeling betrayed and sold out? Did they all unite with each other and mount a strong challenge that could not be ignored? No. Instead, some of them formed yet another political party, the Justice Party, as if the vote of the left was not already too diluted.
If there is a hair's worth of difference between us, let's not compromise a whit so we can unite go for the greater good because there is strength in numbers. Let's just form the Hair's Worth of Difference Party and start reinventing the frickin' wheel until we wither away from lack of number and lack of momey.
Even aside from people who self-identify as to the left of Obama, over 70% of all Americans, Democratic, Republican, indie and third party, wanted a public option, even as Obama was calling it nothing, a mere sliver. Over 60% of all Americans oppose cuts to Social Security and Medicare. And so on.
If you poll on an idea without labeling as liberal--a term Republicans and Democrats alike have tried their best to make toxic--Americans in general do poll liberal. But no one wants to admit that or to harness the left. Both major Parties would rather keep insisting that the U.S. is a center right nation. That's because both major parties want a center right nation.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
