American Broadside

A New Year, A New Beginning

Okay, so that vote is in and finalized. P.T. Barnum summed it up when he said, "There's a sucker born every minute." I think old P.T. also said something like, "I've never lost money by under-estimating the taste of the American people."

Nuff said.

2005 is, as they say in sports, a building year. It's a year to send the scouts down to the minor leagues to find the talented neophytes that can be groomed for the Bigs.

There is one significant difference however. In 2005, the scouts are coming up from the minors to see if there are any players in the Majors worth cultivating.

The Democratic National Committee has, for at least 8 years, failed to deliver a viable liberal/progressive message to the American people. Instead, the DNC has provided a shallow and timid approximation of the liberal dream. What the DNC has supplied has been a bloodless, nay-saying shadow of what once had been a roaring populist lion.

In mid February, the DNC meets to elect a new Chairman to run the party for the next 4 years. This person will be responsible for setting the political agenda and philosophical tone of the party as well as directing vast human and financial resources. The new leader of the Democratic Party has an historic challenge.

In practice, the United States has a two party system. However, there is no guarantee what parties will make up that dynamic duo. The Democratic Party faces the serious possibility that it will fragment, sending its human and financial resources to the Greens and Independents, as well as new parties. In the past, other parties have faded or metamorphosed into something distinctly different.

The upper Midwest, has traditionally been the birthing place for populist parties, splinter groups with short lives but powerful legacies: honest government, protecting small people from big business, social responsibility.

The DNC has the opportunity to elect a leader that will harness that history and power. The DNC will also need to reform its internal structure and open its membership to average Americans, not keeping it restricted to the moneyed elite. Surprisingly, Minnesota is one of only a few states that has a truly permanent Democratic Party organization. In addition, Minnesota DFL'ers elect their representatives to the DNC, again a rarity. These are two important reforms that the DNC must mirror. Building permanent state organizations in very state and opening the DNC membership to ballot.

If the new DNC Chair is unable to make these changes, and many more, the Democratic party will begin to unravel and usher in a period of political ferment that we haven't seen since the early 20th century.

posted by Les @ 8:15 AM