To see today's Democratic squabble in proper context, it helps to take a longer view. On domestic policy, Clinton's presidency consisted of two years on offense followed by six years on defense. The meltdown of his health-care plan in 1994 cost Democrats control of Congress and ended the affirmative phase of Clinton's presidency.
Clinton's great achievement on defense was to move the country from large budget deficits (which put Democratic domestic ambitions in a straitjacket) to unprecedented budget surpluses. As 2000 drew near, it was clear that Clinton's surreal odyssey of survival would be vindicated only if he were succeeded by a president who would use the surpluses he was bequeathing to pursue the unfinished progressive agenda he never had a second chance to pursue himself.
But Al Gore did not become president. And now, in record time, President Bush has dissipated the surpluses.
This guy has his head buried up to his shoulders.
More:
Dean argued that Democrats should again raise their sights. But this isn't abandoning Clinton's legacy - it's precisely the opportunity that Clinton's defeat of the Newt Gingrich "revolution" and his surplus-generating survival was intended to create.
What "radical" goals would Dean urge the party to pursue, in what he now calls a "New Social Contract for Working Families"? Affordable health care for the 44 million uninsured. Affordable child care. Universal preschool for millions of poorer kids who don't have it. A new commitment to make college more affordable. A modest increase in the minimum wage. New efforts to encourage savings for average citizens.
These goals aren't radical; they're common sense.
Nah, not radical, just pie in the sky. Kinda like saying that NAFTA and GATT will be just fine if an international minimum wage is instituted. LOL!
There has been a measurable rightward shift in the black electorate. In 2002 the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a liberal think tank, asked black respondents in its national survey to identify themselves as either Democrats, independents or Republicans. Although 63 percent claimed to be Democrats, the number was down from 74 percent in 2000. The decrease occurred in nearly every age group, including among respondents 65 and older (where the drop was from 82 percent to 75 percent). There was a significant increase in those calling themselves independents, especially between the ages of 26 and 35. Respondents identifying themselves as Republicans also increased: Between ages 26 and 35, the share tripled, going from 5 percent in 2000 to 15 percent in 2002.
None of this is coincidental. More African Americans now have college degrees, ushering them into the middle class, shifting their values and priorities while prompting them to abandon the "blacks-as-victims" theology. Many low-income blacks have gained an appreciation for the opportunities provided by the free enterprise system and are rejecting the notion of government as savior. Meanwhile, there has been an emergence of a new generation of African Americans that exists in a multiracial, crossover world.
There is one more reason for the changes in affiliations: Some African Americans have accused the Democratic Party of practicing "plantation politics." They say that although blacks repeatedly are depended on to keep the party in elected office, African Americans often are overlooked for key leadership posts. Link
Dims just can't admit the truth. They call fact, accusations and accusations, fact.
It's not an accusation that dims have been practicing plantation politics, it's a fact. Or is the writer saying that those who have gotten fed up with being played for a sucker are just stupid and have gotten the dim policy wrong? Perhaps the writer thought dims wouldn't keep reading if she put this nugget of truth in the story, so she saves it for the last paragraph.
If Democrats want to avoid an erosion of their African American base, they can start by opening the door for more and younger blacks to assume leadership posts, and by abandoning the outdated left-wing politics they seem intent on playing. Most important, they can stop navel-gazing and do what Republicans are doing: Pay attention to the evolving African American electorate.