Our New Anahuac

On election day, let us review some basic strategy.

I wrote a post in August about the futility of true progressives pledging continued loyalty to the Democratic Party. The post was in reference to several reports which concluded that Obama’s immigration policy was worse for our community than Bush’s policies. However, you can substitute almost any issue that progressives care about and you will quickly see that Democrats are in complete hegemonic control of the House, Senate and the presidency, and we are not far off from where we were under Bush: imperialist expansion in Colombia, fat cat bail outs at our peril, more troops in Afghanistan. Where is the progressive reform that this savior was supposed to deliver?

In my post, I conclude that the largest contributor to the failure of progressives to advance our agenda was our blind loyalty to the Democratic party. I believe that most on our side of the aisle would have to agree that the neo-con wing of the conservatives have had a much greater success at advancing their agenda in the last fifteen years than progressives have enjoyed. After all, signatories of the imperialist-inspired Project for the New American Century occupied the White House for eight years.

It is the spirit behind this neo-con movement which has made headlines in the past few days for FORCING THE RESIGNATION OF A MAJOR REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE. Yes, the conservatives, declaring that they would no longer accept what they perceive as the sell-out of their values, have forced the resignation of Republican Dede Scozzafava. They recognize the difference between being a conservative and being a Republican loyalist, and they understand the power dynamics that make the world go ’round.

Essentially, the conservatives formed their own party, The Conservative Party, and got some big time endorsements, including Palin, Limbaugh, and some other talking heads. To top it all off, The Republican candidate, after she dropped out, ended up endorsing the Democrat in the race, not the Conservative Party candidate.

Check out the LA Times for more details:

Reporting from Washington – The gulf between the moderate and conservative factions of the Republican Party appeared to spread Sunday when the Republican former candidate in a contentious congressional race endorsed the Democrat.

New York State Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava’s decision was essentially a rebuke of conservative activists who had mounted a wildcat effort to ensure her defeat. She had ended her campaign a day earlier after it became clear she could not win Tuesday’s special election…

Hoffman’s campaign Sunday labeled Scozzafava a traitor who had “betrayed the GOP.” Even her former campaign manager, Matt Burns, called her decision a mistake and urged Republicans to back Hoffman, the Associated Press reported.

 

This is all very instructive. For one, we can see that many players in the major parties are closer to each other than to the so-called radical wings of their own parties. In this case, the Republican candidate was closer and more loyal to a Democrat than to a successful splinter group from her own party.

The second lesson is that as soon as it is proven that the so-called radical segments of the party can spoil an election, the mainstream party leaders pay extra-special attention to the rabble-rousers. As soon as Scozzafava dropped out, party leaders, who had previously fought like hell for the Scozzafava, changed their tune faster than the beat for the Jarabe Tapatio:

Gingrich now backs Hoffman — who had sought the Republican nomination, joining the Conservative ticket after his bid failed.

GOP leaders made it clear Sunday that Hoffman had their full support. In an effort to court the military vote in New York, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the minority whip, pledged that if Hoffman wins, they’ll work to land him on the House Armed Services Committee. The congressional district includes Ft. Drum, which is home to the Army’s 10th Mountain Division.

Tell your landlord that you are considering moving, and if you are a good tenant, you might get more attention than ever before. I don’t think that any of this is rocket science, but I do think that those of you who believe in progressive change and who still vote Democrat need to get organized and mount a serious challenge to the Democratic patrones.  Those of us who are true believers in reparations, self-determination, peace and freedom must be ready to put our values first, work like hell, and recognize that blogging and speeches won’t cut it.  Hasta la victoria.