I've been a lifelong Democrat, but I'm getting close to quitting. I think the Clintons, Obamas, Emmanuels, and the whole New Democrat crowd have ruined the Democratic brand for years to come. It might be salvageable, and I've stayed in because it's possible to win fights within the local Democratic Party, but ultimately it comes down to money as it does everywhere else. And Dems are the establishment party locally, and that means that many of them can run as Neoliberals and get away with it, and the local LD clubs go along in supporting them, and it turns my stomach.
So in this morning's NYT I read this about the Vermont Progressive Party:
The Vermont Progressives have only eight seats in the State Legislature, but they played a decisive role in the 2010 gubernatorial election. They promised not to play spoiler if the Democratic candidate supported single-payer health care. “Shumlin was very clear on his stance, and it pulled him through a narrow primary — a lot of Progressives were volunteers on that — and then he narrowly won,” Chris Pearson, a Progressive state representative from Burlington, told me. “He kept his promise.”
What explains the success of the Progressive Party? Vermont is small, and “it was expected that I’d knock on every door in my district,” Mr. Pearson said. “Progressives are dedicated to that style of campaigning. It’s also affordable. You can run a House race for $5,000.”
Despite their urban origins in Burlington, the Progressives have won crucial support from rural, traditionally conservative parts of the state, where lifelong Republicans have responded to the same argument that the Populists once used: Without regulation and a public safety net, capitalism will grind the independent farmer into the ground.
Read on. This is the kind of thing I've been talking about. It has to start local by building consensus face to face as described here. More on this as I find out about how these guys got started.
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