March 19, 2008 5:27
Take Back America
Not unsurprisingly, Obama won the Take Back America straw poll. The progressives today finish their annual three-day conference here in DC. A whopping 72% were for Obama, compared to 16% for Clinton, with just 12% saying they’d be happy with either. And 69% said Obama was better equipped to beat McCain versus 15% for Clinton. (See Politico story here.)
I had intended to go to the conference but was kept busy doing my civic duty (jury duty) and then my professional duty (Obama’s speech yesterday). That said, I did spend some time last Friday with progressive legends Robert Borosage and Roger Hickey, who run Campaign for America’s Future. They had some interesting insights on their movement and the general election:
1) Progressives have already started and will continue to spend unprecedented amounts of money and effort in this election against John McCain. Several groups already have tv ads up against him.
2) Progressive issues, such as the war in Iraq and universal healthcare, will dominate the general election because they are where the greatest differences lie with McCain.
3) They will not make the same mistake that progressives for Bill Clinton made in 1992: if a Democrat wins they will not, in their euphoria, simply assume the next president will actively pursue their agenda. This time, they will hold his/her feet to the fire.
4) They believe this is the beginning of the decline of conservatism, that the right wing is in retreat. Progressives are where conservatives were in 1993 and the left cannot be allowed to blow this chance.
Add this to MoveOn's endorsement of Obama, it seems that while he's split the union vote with Clinton, he's winning the progressive vote. Though living up to their expectations might be easier said than done, they are realistic about what the president might be able to do right off the bat: asked what he expected the next president to do when he/she takes office Hickey said the first priority should be a plan to end the war in Iraq "or face a revolt from the left." But second, he said, would probably have be an economic stimulus package and he said that universal healthcare would likely have to be a longer term goal.
About Swampland
Ana Marie Cox, Washington Editor of Time.com, is the founding editor of Wonkette and the author of the novel Dog Days. Read more
Joe Klein is TIME's political columnist and author of six books, most recently Politics Lost. Read more
Karen Tumulty is TIME's National Political Correspondent and has also covered the White House and Congress. Read more
Jay Carney is TIME's Washington bureau chief. He has covered the Clinton and Bush 43 White Houses as well as Congress. Read more
Jay Newton-Small has covered the Bush 43 White House and Congress since the DeLay era. Read more
Michael Scherer is a TIME Washington bureau correspondent covering the 2008 presidential campaign. Read more
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Reader Comments (5)
Though living up to their expectations might be easier said than done, they are realistic about what the president might be able to do right off the bat:
I think we need to speak separately about what the President might be willing to do right off the bat.
While Obama clearly represents the best choice for progressives (among the candidates left standing), I think there's still a major disconnect between his agenda and theirs. Obama stands to profit greatly by from the tendency of people to see themselves reflected in their chosen representative. If he manages to pull together the starry-eyed idealists AND the stern-eyed realists, he might be able to build quite a powerful coalition.
Posted by Paul Dirks
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March 19, 2008 6:36 PM
I'd say he won the vote more by default. Hillary's triangulation strategy did not take into account a credable primary challenge. Also, the DLC...yeah.
I am quite an Obama fan, but I do know a lot of progressives voting against Hillary, rather than for Obama. (Though I have yet to meet one who would hesitate to vote for Hillary in the General if it comes to that)
Posted by Ozzie
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March 19, 2008 7:58 PM
Barack Obama gave what could be deemed as an eloquent and courageous speech the other day on race and racial politics in reaction to the controversy over the comments by his spiritual advisor and pastor of twenty years Reverend Jerimah Wright. When you get beyond the words and method of the speech, however, questions still remain.
In his speech Obama stated that he could not denounce or disavow his pastor anymore than he could distance himself from his white grandmother who he says made comments that he found to be divisive or derogatory.
While I will admit to not knowing Barack Obama’s grandmother I would suspect that she has never stated words that rise to the level of blaming America for 9/11, that this is the US of KKK-America, that we should not say God Bless America but God Damn America, and that the US helped South Africa put Nelson Mandela in jail which are all things that Barack Obama’s pastor, who he has called his spiritual advisor and baptized his children, has all said.
I would also remind Barack Obama that you cannot choose your family (which his grandmother is) but you can choose which church you go to and what language you expose your children to. Barack Obama chose the church in Chicago where a pastor has blamed white people for all that is wrong with this country, who traveled to Libya to meet with the leaders of that country, and who honored Reverend Farrakhan.
Moreover, Barack Obama throughout his denials of the last week has stated repeatedly that he had never heard any of the controversial statements of this pastor and that when the campaign had started he only heard about a couple of the statements and then only heard about the rest in the past few days. In his speech he stated that he WAS there for some of these remarks, without stating specifically which ones, and claimed that he was bothered by some of these statements although he also stated he never talked to Pastor Wright about these. So was Barack Obama lying earlier when he stated he did not hear about these statements or is he lying now when he said he did? Also, if Barack Obama could not stand up to his Pastor when he spoke the way he did about this country, its government, and the majority of the people in it how can we expect Barack Obama to stand up to the people who are blocking ending the Iraq war, who are not for universal health care, and to those who wish to do harm to this country and their allies.
Regardless of a speech by Barack Obama that most say was done well this is not about speeches and words but about integrity and judgment and on both of these tests Barack Obama has failed.
Posted by ericrsiny | March 19, 2008 10:24 PM
Hey Eric - have you actually read anything the pastor said?
He didn't blame America for 9/11... that was Jerry Falwell.
He also did not say "that this is the US of KKK-America," or "that we should not say God Bless America but God Damn America," these are not "all things that Barack Obama’s pastor... has all said."
This is the risk of relying on second-hand sources for your information. You're being manipulated and played the fool, and your anger should be at the people who are playing you.
Posted by Paul Daniel Ash
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March 19, 2008 11:57 PM
Ah, el diablo:
"Regardless of a speech by Barack Obama that most say was done well this is not about speeches and words but about integrity and judgment and on both of these tests Barack Obama has failed."
And who would you like to hold up as the epitome of integrity & judgment you flaming nutjob--W, Mac, Ronny Reagan? Do you know where you are? Do you need a compass to find your way back over to Morlocks.com?
Posted by Oregon JC | March 20, 2008 9:22 AM