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The Democratic Party Tries To Clean Up After Forcing Newsom On SF
Less than a week ago Jesse Jackson (along with most other "progressive" leaders of the Democratic Party) decided to they valued their Party more than they valued our support. They stepped in and changed the outcome of the SF election and guaranteed that an anti-tenant, anti-homeless rich kid could become the next mayor of San Francisco.
Now several of the very people who backed Matt Gonzalez have already forgiven the Democratic Party and are raising money for it with and event to promote Kucinich. The Chronicle is also running spin control with stories about how pro-war death penalty supporter Howard Dean took a stand against Newsom.
Now several of the very people who backed Matt Gonzalez have already forgiven the Democratic Party and are raising money for it with and event to promote Kucinich. The Chronicle is also running spin control with stories about how pro-war death penalty supporter Howard Dean took a stand against Newsom.
The Democratic Party cleanup operation to contain any negative fallout from their support for Newsom:
---
The Democrats did everything they could to prevent Matt Gonzalez from getting elected and they knew there were risks to that. When the election was close they sacrificed the credibility of Jesse Jackson for a few extra votes. Luckilly for them, while they did have to bring out Clinton and Gore to stump they never had to sacrifice their major candidates.
The candidates the Democratic Party is trying to sell to the progressive left are Dennis Kucinich and Howard Dean. Howard Dean is being portrayed as electable and being sold to Leftists who are willing to support the lesser of two evils. Kucinich is being sold to those who want to stick to their values. If there could be any negative impact to the Democratic Party for it’s support for Newsom, it will come in opposition by the Left to these two candidates. The Democrats know there is a danger so they are trying to mop up any negativity created by their support for Newsom.
The cleanup operation has started on two fronts. To contain the impact on Dean the Chronicle has started running stories distancing him from Newsom (see http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/12/state1114EST0040.DTL
) and to contain the impact on Kucinich the Party has somehow gotten a few well known Leftists to organize a fundraiser for the Democratic Party (see http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/12/1665306_comment.php )
---
The Democratic Party offers a diverse array of entrees for the 2004 political season. If you want a pro-war pro-Israel hard-liner who is to the right of Bush on many issues, you can order a Liberman. If you want a middle of the road frat boy who supported Bush but now questions the war in Iraq you can order a Gephardt. If you want to order the new hot item (that’s really just a Gephardt with special sauce) you can order a Howard Dean. And if you like something a little different you can order a Dennis Kucinich (who now comes with a free online copy of the dating game thrown in as part of your happy meal http://liberalhearts.com/contest/firstlady.htm); the Kucinich claims to be low fat and healthy but is rally just a slight variation on the standard compressed meat product.
No matter what you buy your adding to the Democratic Party's bottom line, your increasing its power and your getting cheap preprocessed food packaged to look a lot better than it really is. If Kucinich didn’t exist the Democrats would find an identical candidate to fill his place (they always do in every election). The Kucinich isn't intended to win, its intended to pull the wool over the public's eyes so it doesn’t realize that its supporting a corporate entity that cares about money and power and little else. When the Left stops falling for the Kucinich (or Brown or Jackson) it may start to find real alternatives, but until then its falling for a marketing ploy designed to produce short term feelings of hope with the same predictable outcome.
Howard Dean will be the nominee, get Kucinich's backing, some of the radical left will support Dean as the lesser of two evils, and Dean will lose to Bush and Bush will then be able to claim a more solid mandate. Issues related to ending the war in Iraq will come up in some of the Democrats first debates making some of the Left feel recognized but Dean will mainly argue about sending more troops swinging the debate to one which defines both Left and RIght in the US as prowar and splitting portions of the anti-war and anti-globalization movements.
Quotes From Howard Dean:
For keeping troops in Iraq and perhaps supportive of even starting his own wars:
"..I believe as president that you gotta be willing to send troops anywhere in the world to defend America"
...
“We have to be there. Now Iraq, this president has turned Iraq into a potential security emergency. So we can’t cut and run. We need foreign troops in Iraq.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/21/60II/main579140.shtml
He is for the death penalty in cases like that of Mumia (where the accusation is that a cop was killed). He is also for the death penalty for terrorists, so if someone accidently dies during a political direct action, Dean wants you dead:
"...In 1997, after a number of brutal crimes involving the murder of children, including the abduction, rape and murder of 12-year old Polly Klass in California, Dean spoke publicly about his reconsideration of his position on the death penalty.... After careful deliberation, Dean concluded that the death penalty may be an appropriate punishment in limited circumstances such as the murder of a child or a police officer.
...Finally, as a result of the mass murder that took place on September 11, 2001, he concluded that the death penalty should also be available in cases of terrorists who take human life.
"
http://www.talkleft.com/archives/003437.html
Howard Dean's supports the Israeli right and blames all of the problems in Israel on the Palestinians:
see:
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0226-04.htm
Howard Dean is opposed to affirmative action. While he claims he supports affirmative action based on "class", one should look at those statements carefully. Universities already use race and economic background when they look at student applicants so he essentially has the same position on affimative action as Pete Wilson and Ward Connerly:
"In a statement released this past week Rev. Al Sharpton stated that, "Howard Dean's opposition to affirmative action, his current support for the death penalty and historic support of the NRA's agenda, amounts to an anti-black agenda," he went on to say, "that [Dean's positions] will not sell in communities of color."
Sharpton's criticism came quickly after he was informed Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. had planned to endorse the ex-Vermont Governor. "
http://www.counterpunch.org/frank11012003.html
---
The Democrats did everything they could to prevent Matt Gonzalez from getting elected and they knew there were risks to that. When the election was close they sacrificed the credibility of Jesse Jackson for a few extra votes. Luckilly for them, while they did have to bring out Clinton and Gore to stump they never had to sacrifice their major candidates.
The candidates the Democratic Party is trying to sell to the progressive left are Dennis Kucinich and Howard Dean. Howard Dean is being portrayed as electable and being sold to Leftists who are willing to support the lesser of two evils. Kucinich is being sold to those who want to stick to their values. If there could be any negative impact to the Democratic Party for it’s support for Newsom, it will come in opposition by the Left to these two candidates. The Democrats know there is a danger so they are trying to mop up any negativity created by their support for Newsom.
The cleanup operation has started on two fronts. To contain the impact on Dean the Chronicle has started running stories distancing him from Newsom (see http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/12/state1114EST0040.DTL
) and to contain the impact on Kucinich the Party has somehow gotten a few well known Leftists to organize a fundraiser for the Democratic Party (see http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/12/1665306_comment.php )
---
The Democratic Party offers a diverse array of entrees for the 2004 political season. If you want a pro-war pro-Israel hard-liner who is to the right of Bush on many issues, you can order a Liberman. If you want a middle of the road frat boy who supported Bush but now questions the war in Iraq you can order a Gephardt. If you want to order the new hot item (that’s really just a Gephardt with special sauce) you can order a Howard Dean. And if you like something a little different you can order a Dennis Kucinich (who now comes with a free online copy of the dating game thrown in as part of your happy meal http://liberalhearts.com/contest/firstlady.htm); the Kucinich claims to be low fat and healthy but is rally just a slight variation on the standard compressed meat product.
No matter what you buy your adding to the Democratic Party's bottom line, your increasing its power and your getting cheap preprocessed food packaged to look a lot better than it really is. If Kucinich didn’t exist the Democrats would find an identical candidate to fill his place (they always do in every election). The Kucinich isn't intended to win, its intended to pull the wool over the public's eyes so it doesn’t realize that its supporting a corporate entity that cares about money and power and little else. When the Left stops falling for the Kucinich (or Brown or Jackson) it may start to find real alternatives, but until then its falling for a marketing ploy designed to produce short term feelings of hope with the same predictable outcome.
Howard Dean will be the nominee, get Kucinich's backing, some of the radical left will support Dean as the lesser of two evils, and Dean will lose to Bush and Bush will then be able to claim a more solid mandate. Issues related to ending the war in Iraq will come up in some of the Democrats first debates making some of the Left feel recognized but Dean will mainly argue about sending more troops swinging the debate to one which defines both Left and RIght in the US as prowar and splitting portions of the anti-war and anti-globalization movements.
Quotes From Howard Dean:
For keeping troops in Iraq and perhaps supportive of even starting his own wars:
"..I believe as president that you gotta be willing to send troops anywhere in the world to defend America"
...
“We have to be there. Now Iraq, this president has turned Iraq into a potential security emergency. So we can’t cut and run. We need foreign troops in Iraq.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/21/60II/main579140.shtml
He is for the death penalty in cases like that of Mumia (where the accusation is that a cop was killed). He is also for the death penalty for terrorists, so if someone accidently dies during a political direct action, Dean wants you dead:
"...In 1997, after a number of brutal crimes involving the murder of children, including the abduction, rape and murder of 12-year old Polly Klass in California, Dean spoke publicly about his reconsideration of his position on the death penalty.... After careful deliberation, Dean concluded that the death penalty may be an appropriate punishment in limited circumstances such as the murder of a child or a police officer.
...Finally, as a result of the mass murder that took place on September 11, 2001, he concluded that the death penalty should also be available in cases of terrorists who take human life.
"
http://www.talkleft.com/archives/003437.html
Howard Dean's supports the Israeli right and blames all of the problems in Israel on the Palestinians:
see:
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0226-04.htm
Howard Dean is opposed to affirmative action. While he claims he supports affirmative action based on "class", one should look at those statements carefully. Universities already use race and economic background when they look at student applicants so he essentially has the same position on affimative action as Pete Wilson and Ward Connerly:
"In a statement released this past week Rev. Al Sharpton stated that, "Howard Dean's opposition to affirmative action, his current support for the death penalty and historic support of the NRA's agenda, amounts to an anti-black agenda," he went on to say, "that [Dean's positions] will not sell in communities of color."
Sharpton's criticism came quickly after he was informed Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. had planned to endorse the ex-Vermont Governor. "
http://www.counterpunch.org/frank11012003.html
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But the more I think about it, the more I am becoming convinced that there *really* is no hope with them, or any individual that associates with them.
You're analysis of the 'clean-up' has helped me to realize this. So thanks for your observations and the efforts you put in. I'm officially letting go of any support for any Democrap, no matter how left they act. It's a fucking scam. Kucinich is going to be hopeless if he doesn't realize it. He's just being used. Sure he can get one or two letters out there, add a useless vote of dissent to the latest outrage in congress, but none of this is something he couldn't do by switching to Green or Independent, and getting out of the scam.
The issue is that the god-fearing majority in Ohio would freak, and he'd be out in a second, not to mention the God-fearing DLC. But how many candidates can the DLC try to oust at the same time? Their resources will run thin after awhile.
One idea is to create a committee of progressives who focus on pulling seemingly decent candidates away from the machine. Or to just give up on them altogether and focus on things like a People's Assemby, etc.
Anyway, I urge you to repost this on other imcs, esp Portland, NYC, LA, SCruz, and DC.
http://www.indybay.org/news/2003/12/1665014.php- Ken Morgan
I hadn't looked at Kucinch that way, this visit to SF coming up in particular. It makes perfect sense although it seems a bit conspiratorial. Still I think you are right on. Kucinich might be a good guy, and he may not see himself as a participant in this scheme, but nonetheless, the results are the same. It's the ol' bait and switch ploy. I would support DK, but not if he's a Dem. Sorry Dennis!
Husband and I are goin' Green. Thanks for the insight.
I wish I had more time to have written this post better, but feel free to repost and modify it for other sites (there are a lot of typos). If you post it outside the Bay Area I would suggest you include some background about who Matt Gonzalez and Gavin Newsom and how Matt was very close to winning and Jesse Jackson, Clinton and Gore's last minute support could easilly have made the several point difference in the outcome. If someone could come up with a list of the state and national figures who the DNC made endorse Newsom (and perhaps even Unions that responded to the DNC's pressure) that might help people to see how the problem isnt one or two candidates but instead the entire Democratic Party machine. For those outside the Bay Area you should also list all the leftwing parties that usually stay away from politics that lined up behind Matt. It was a very symbolic showdown between liberals and progressives and it was interesting to see which side people were on when push comes to shove.