Signs of a liberal revival

[WillyBrandt]

Let's play optimists for a minute. This is a trite point, sure, but the extremism and the deceit of the adminitration might (finally) spur a liberal revival, especially after the debacle of 2002.

Signs?

(1) The American Constitution Society formed to fight right-wing The Federalist Society. http://www.acslaw.org/

(2) The ACLU has a huge jump in membership.

(3) Left-wingers who don't have bulk-buyers supporting them are dominating the book bestseller lists.

(4) Finally getting liberal radio online, for us left-wing commuters. http://anshellmedia.com/anshell_home.htm

(5) Finally getting a serious liberal think tank with some serious dough. http://www.centerforamericanprogress.org/

(6) We're starting, after a right-wing start, to dominate the blogosphere. We've got the MoJo (well, left wing bloggers do). http://www.atrios.com

(7) We've got a couple of very, very rich old white guys on our side--finally! George Soros, we love you, man! Screw the Bank of England!

(8) I am very handsome. So handsome.

(9) The Democrats--Dean blazed the way here, I will admit--are restructuring their party to be more net-savvy, and have a far broader base of fundraising support. We might, finally, combine solid grassroots and establishment support. (I think we could do it better than the GOPers)

(10) The "liberal media" meme is finally facing constant assault, especially with the rise of a Dem think tank. It took the Right decades to Establish this claptrap. It's a long hard slog, but we've got to ridicule this meme constantly. (I think, ironically, that Fox News is contributing to the decline of this notion.)

(11) Liberals are (slowly) starting to understand how to fight the propaganda war: http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/10/27_lakoff.shtml

(12) MoveOn.org. Nothing like it. The more they do, the more people help them. A virtuous circle.

(12) Democratic politicians are starting to become, I think, more afraid of their angry liberal constituents than the GOP.

Any other signs, folks? Good news, people. We need to smile, and to fight.

[alexwcovington]

1. Don't forget--

That we all have a role to play. I'm sure that DUers are a fairly vocal audience as a whole, but if you haven't expressed your views in your community, this is the time to start doing it...

[elperromagico]

2. It's good to be optimistic

(8) I am very handsome. So handsome.

Heh, you're confident too. I'm not so bad-lookin' myself, and I'm a pretty good public speaker. I gave a speech last year about the importance of voting, and I think I changed some minds.

It's not much, but it's a start.

[WillyBrandt]

3. good work!

n/t

[diplomats]

4. I love your list

Very comprehensive, and it gave me a real jolt of optimism, because a lot your items are long-term.

[WillyBrandt]

5. the bad news is...

...that if we "lose" this election, we could be fucked. not so much as a party, but as a nation.

but if we can win a chamber of congress -- preferably the house -- plus the white house, then i really think the tide could SERIOUSLY turn our way. (of course, i think clark is the guy who can best do that, but that's another discussion)

[mzmolly]

7. I agree, this is perhaps the most important election of our time.

We HAVE to win!

[WillyBrandt]

6. kicking myself

feels good

[Terwilliger]

8. kicking you too

hope it doesnt hurt

[William Seger]

9. (13) Drudge, AndrewSullivan, NewsMax, FreeRepublic, etc....

... are all running on fumes. They're trapped by their own dogmatism into defending BushCo, and it's clearly taking a toll.

[WillyBrandt]

10. Excellent point

I was watching Jon Conason give a speech on CSPAN at my beloved Harvard COOP Bookstore, and one of the people in the audience--I think it was Stirling Newberry, who writes draftclark.com--made this point...

Basically, the hordes of angry Bush supporters who would swat down opponents with fire, and a modicum of plausibility in their arguments, are running out of steam. They've been exposed. Everyone knows it.

Before you could say, "Saddam is going to kill us!" with surface plausibility. Now they're digging themselves into a hole.

[proud patriot]

11. Great thread

Great list ..Hope springs eternal

[Ellen Forradalom]

12. I'm too sexy for DU

Too sexy for FR
Too sexy by far....

[Skittles]

14. ILLINOIS WOMEN *ROCK*

Susan
*native of Rantoul* :D

[Skittles]

13. FOX "news"

stumbled badly allowing their chief propagandist to sue Al Franken. That brought a lot of attention to the fact that they weren't disputing the "LIES AND THE LYING LIARS" part. . .

"howdy handsome" :hi:

[WillyBrandt]

15. Hello Beautiful!

[Dr Fate]

16. One place we can start is for EVERY DUer to become an activist...

POST at DU!

REGISTER folks to VOTE!

JOIN your local Democratic organization!!!

Give some time or $$$ to a Liberal cause!!

Go to a rally/protest!!

Remember- the polls are where its at- The #1 goal of our activism should be to get DEM voters to the polls!!!!

Great post handsome!!!!!

[William Seger]

17. The DLC...

... is rapidly fading into oblivion.

[WillyBrandt]

18. yes, it is

I know the DLC is a hate-symbol here, but it had its purpose in the 80s, I believe. But it's a different time. The party centrists need to refocus their energies on drawing distinctions between moderate politics and Republican radicalism, not on muddying the waters between the two.

[William Seger]

20. I never hated them...

... but I got real danged tired of that "failed liberal policies" crap. What failed was liberal leadership, not liberal policies. When you allow your opponents to define the terms of the debate, you're guaranteed to lose. One of the reasons we're in this mess today is that too many people have been misled about what "liberal" means, so they don't yet understand what the far right's anti-liberalism really means. They think they're just voting for lower taxes.

[knight_of_the_star]

19. (14) A cause to unite us

The only thing that George W. Bush has done that has been GOOD for this country is give the left something to unite against. Nothing has united the American Left so thoroughly since the Vietnam War and Watergate.

"An army does not win by the number of soliders in it but by the cause that unites the hearts of those who fight."

[BritishHuman]

21. Everybody should go read (11)

It's the big deal. I think journalists should be made to read it especially, as it's an area where they can stop kowtowing to the government without looking partisan, if they just stop using the government's terms for everything.