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Views > May 19, 2003

The War at Home

By Joel Bleifuss

The battlefield is mapped: tax cuts, military spending, environmental deregulation, booming prisons, a health care crisis, curtailed liberties ...
This lull between the war in Iraq and whatever adventure the Bush neocons next drag us into provides an opportunity to focus on the war at home.

The battlefield is mapped: tax cuts, military spending, environmental deregulation, booming prisons, a health care crisis, curtailed liberties …

It is a first step to demonstrate on a weekend afternoon, directing anger and ridicule at an emperor who would be naked were it not for media costume managers. But where do we go from there?

The Democratic primaries are one place to begin. Candidates who opposed the war, including Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich, Carol Mosely Braun and Al Sharpton, should be supported. Kucinich, while great on the issues, has failed to inspire with lackluster debate appearances. No one I know supports former Sen. Mosley Braun, who has burned bridges to her once fervent supporters. Sharpton carries the burden, fairly or not, of having promoted Tawana Brawley’s lies. Which leaves Dean. Straight-talking, progressive and personable, he is a candidate who could galvanize the progressive electorate.

The Democratic primaries are the one national venue where progressives can put their issues on the nation’s agenda. Imagine if Ralph Nader had challenged Al Gore’s centrism in the Democratic primaries in 2000. For the first time in years, Americans would have been exposed to a debate around a common-sense progressive agenda.

But while the primaries have potential, any organizing done around Democratic candidates must dovetail with efforts to build lasting electoral organizations at the local, state and congressional district levels. Models for this exist in Minnesota, where the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party is supplemented by a statewide coalition, Progressive Minnesota, and is pressured by a vibrant Green Party of Minnesota. In Massachusetts, the state’s Neighbor to Neighbor organization has made itself a key player in several congressional districts. And rumors are floating that Robert Reich, Clinton’s labor secretary and a 2002 gubernatorial candidate, is organizing a Massachusetts-wide progressive Democratic organization.

Such strategies face several obstacles.

Few models for effective party organization exist. In Europe, ideologically based political parties are integrated into civil society and connect the individual to electoral politics. In the United States, the Democratic Party has for the past 25 years eschewed popular participation in favor of an oligarchy of office holders, rich donors and corporate contributors. The result: the Democratic Leadership Council, an organization whose political philosophy is sustained not by a principled winning strategy, but by the fact that it has the financial (corporate) clout to confer electoral success or failure, and thus set the Democratic agenda.

This lack of effective democratic political parties is compounded by a progressive movement that has evolved into a feudal system that makes coalition-building difficult. In effect, national organizations pursue narrow single-issue mandates under the leadership of executive directors who have an interest in consolidating their organizational fiefdoms and guarding their foundation funding base. Coalition efforts thus threaten them on both counts. Further, like the Democratic Party, most of these organizations are not accountable to their members, if they have them. (The Sierra Club stands out as a notable exception.)

Finally, we are plagued by an electoral structure that is crippled by two defects. First, a campaign finance system that lets anyone run for office but ensures that only candidates who can raise big money will be taken seriously. Proposals for publicly funded elections being promoted at the state level by Public Campaign address this inequity. Second, our winner-take-all system of electing leaders disenfranchises those who don’t vote with the majority. Systems of proportional representation, which ensure that minority viewpoints gain representation, as championed by the Center for Voting and Democracy, would solve this problem.

Those are the obstacles, but with collective effort and smart organizing, they are not insurmountable.
Joel Bleifuss is the editor of In These Times, where he has worked as an investigative reporter, columnist and editor since 1986. Bleifuss has had more stories on Project Censored's annual list of the “10 Most Censored Stories” than any other journalist.

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  • Reader Comments

    It’s time for:
    Operation USA Freedom - Here At Home!

    We have so many issues here in our own backyard that we need to pay attention to that this is where the Peace movement is going.

    This is how we as a Peace movement will grow also, since right now we must be able to identify with Americans who are in pain - seeing their jobs cut, seeing their education cuts (Parents in Oregon are giving Blood - literally - to pay for their teachers), seeing they are not able to pay for medical care.

    Make signs that IDENTIFY with their Personal Pain. Then you got their attention. Later they can learn about other more complex issues around the world, but FIRST reach out to something they feel daily - make your signs Personal.

    Then you got their attention - and a new person joins our Peace movement.

    Here are some suggestions for the Anti-War Signs Now as of May 19:

    Stop Media Monopoly!

    Stop the FCC June 2!

    Education, Health Care and Jobs - NOT WAR

    Teachers & Books - Not Bombs

    Operation USA Freedom - Here At Home (with Peace Signs!)

    No More Bush!

    Corporate Accountability - Including Bush and Cheney

    SAVE OUR CONSITITUTION!

    SAVE THE U.S.A. - PATRIOTS FOR PEACE !

    REGIME CHANGE BEGINS AT HOME!

    Stop Violence Here At Home

    Stop the War HERE AT HOME

    Decent Jobs Wanted Here At Home

    Help Our Gulf War Vets ñ www.GulfWarVets.com

    Tax Cuts for the Rich ñ Hurt US Here At Home !

    Stop Hurting Our Citizens Here At Home, Bush!

    Stop Media Lies!

    No More Media Monopoly!

    Our Future Here At Home ñ ourfuture.org

    Patriots For Peace ñ And For A Better America!

    Support GW Vets ñ Donít CUT their Benefits!

    Stop Hurting Our Vets ñ Stop CUTTING Aid!

    Stop Layoffs- Give Us Jobs Here At Home!

    Stop Patriot Act 2 ñ Stop Attacking Our Civil Liberties!

    (By now, you get the point:  there are so many attacks on us people here at home, that any issue that you are feeling the pain in is probably what other people here at home feel, too.

    By reaching out to them and keeping your Peace Vigils or other Peace Actions in Your Local Communities, you acknowledge their pain and can bring them into the peace movement.

    It is so important that the Anti-War movement stays visible now—more than ever, the American People need to see that Peace IS Patriotic - And that they are NOT Alone ! )

    Posted by Nicole on May 19, 2003 at 2:56 PM

    Good article, except the point on Nader, do you really think the country would be better off he were president? Would you really support a max-income of 100,000 dollars? That’s what he proposed.

    You’re also forgetting about Joe Lieberman (who was for the war) who is definitely the favorite to go against Bush, but it’s no matter, Bush is very popular and the candidates on the left aren’t exactly murderer’s row. 

    Posted by Brad on May 21, 2003 at 5:22 PM

    You keep talking about a Peace movement, you should really watch the news, the war’s over.

    By the way, there is no media monopoly. The Brits have a media monopoly. We don’t. Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC, and CNN are all owned by different people. 

    Posted by Brad on May 24, 2003 at 2:03 PM

    Brad -

    The peace movement is not only for peace.  Nicole’s post shows many of the issues we are focusing on.

    We don’t have a media monopoly by the strict definition—at least not yet.  Certainly right now only one corporation doesn’t own all of the major media networks, but there isn’t much differenciation between each of them.  They fail to show any viewpoint other than that of the ruling party and they (esp. Fox News) have regularly denounced protestors.  When they do show an alternate view, they tend to cut the person off in the middle of a sentence.
    Plus, the FCC will be voting on June 2 on “relaxing” restrictions on who owns the media.  The resulting mergers will cause even more concentration and even less liberal views.  The free press is being choked and we are being silenced..

    Personally, I think Lieberman is a pathetic excuse for a democrat.  He’s an opportunist.  He constantly contradicts himself.  The argument in favor of him is that he will win over “swing voters,” but he can’t win swing voters by being Bush-Lite.

    And yes, I would support a max-income limit.

    Posted by Amanda on May 29, 2003 at 12:20 PM

    Here we are in the year 2003 and yet i get the distinct feeling that we are in the dark ages for so many reasons.  Everything is black and truth is replaced by twisted “superstitions.” Second, we are being ruled by a king and a not so noble “noble” class so far from us that we all feel utterly hopeless. And lastly, the majority of people have been brainwashed into this inane idea of national loyalty that they have all been blinded to the truth. This leaves the few of us not blinded being attacked and “burnt at the stake” by constant critizism and paranoid accusations. We have to find a way to get bush out of office.  All the damage he put us through will take a good 20 years to repair. Bush has been so retroactive… Hail to the theif…

    Posted by Lana on May 29, 2003 at 10:57 PM

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