Why do liberals not fight back?
Jun. 28th, 2009 03:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
illusionofjoyBDBlue at Corrente posits a theory as to why the Democrats are not taking a more aggressive stance in pushing policy. An excerpt:
[Obama] is a symptom of a disease that the left caught some time ago, going back at least to the 1980s if not to the 1970s. In other words, the left is not weak because we have Barack Obama. We have Barack Obama because we are weak.
There are lots of reasons for why the left weakened since the 1960s. The domestic successes of the Johnson era were undermined by Vietnam, in both its political and economic costs. The rise of the conservatives and neocons fueled in part by resentment over the civil rights victories of the 1960s (backlashes against minorities and women). And so on.
The Democrats have the White House, and majorities in Congress. Yet, there remains no fight in this party...the phrase "learned helplessness" comes to mind. I can only wonder if I'd have a chance of winning if ever I ran for public office; would I lose because I am truly unelectable or would I lose because I don't care what the world thinks as I pursue the course I think best, which is something the establishment simply couldn't allow?
