Reality Politics
Sometimes I
wonder if Democrats realize the parallels between the travails of our party and
reality TV.
In January
2001, we watched in disbelief as George W. Bush was sworn into office, all the
time praying that at any moment Ashton Kutcher would jump outta nowhere and
yell that we’d just been punk’d.
In 2004, we could
have renamed our presidential primary season America’s Next Top Democrat, as we emulated Tyra Banks and went for
commercial appeal over the more dynamic candidates.
In 2008, we
recreated the tension from season two of American
Idol and selected Barack Obama (a Black American who made us feel warm and
fuzzy inside a la Ruben Studdard)
over Hillary Clinton (a White-American who never quite fit neatly into her
gender role, a la Clay Aiken).
While in the
here and now, President Obama must feel more and more like he’s the political
equivalent of Kate Gosselin. Both
Kate and Barack showed up with a partner they thought qualified to manage the
challenges ahead. Kate had Jon;
Barack had a Progressive coalition of Democratic voters. But as soon as things got a rough
(raising eight bad-ass kids; reversing the trend of nearly 800,000 job losses a
month) both Jon and Progressives seem to have peaced out and absolved themselves
of the real work of parenting/governing.
Add to that the former ardent supporters who now love to hate on Kate
and Barack for what they can’t do (dance with the stars; close down Guantanamo
and remove its bars) and conveniently ignore what they have done (put herself
out there so she can provide for her children cuz their father surely ain’t
paying the bills; establish universal health insurance cuz
Clinton/Carter/Johnson/Kennedy/Truman/Roosevelt surely didn’t).
Over the course of this election season, one of
the dominant discourses has been that the liberal coalition of voters—the
Black, the Brown, the Women, the Gays, the Youths—who gave Democrats control of
Congress in 2006 and placed Barack Obama in the White House in 2008 were so
demoralized by the slow and painful pace of change that they rather stay at
home than even bother to show up on Election Day. This “enthusiasm gap” for progressive causes would cause
Democrats to run from their record and distance themselves from their
legislative achievements.
But the reality of the matter speaks to a
different set of facts.
Last Tuesday, I was volunteering for the
Democrats down at their Manhattan headquarters and in walked Nancy Pelosi. Now for those of you who don’t know, my
girl Nance is what a tranny would call “Legendary.” She’s fiercely pro-choice,
pro-gay, pro-environment, pro-diplomacy…in a word, the very definition of
Progressivism. To top it
all off, she is the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House of
Representatives, making her—Constitutionally-speaking—the most powerful woman
in our country’s history and a living example of what being pro-diversity can
mean for our nation. Naturally, I
was more than a touch excited.
She shook my hand, thanked me for all my hard
work and in near-pubescent glee I squeaked, "No, thank, you, Madame
Speaker!"
On that night, Nance reminded me that the
President and Congress have produced an enviable progressive record that The New York Times called the “biggest attack on economic inequality since inequality
began rising more than three decades ago.” And carrying forth that message is
just what the Democratic Party seems to be doing. Melissa DeRosa, the New York State
Director of Organizing for America (OFA)—which is what the Obama campaign apparatus
morphed into post-election—framed for me what she called the President’s “Youth
Agenda,” or three campaign promises aimed at young voters on which Obama has
delivered: reforming the college loan process, extending parents’ health insurance
to their children up to age 26, and outlawing predatory practices of credit
card companies that target college students. OFA is actively promoting these accomplishments to young
people throughout the nation. Similar
efforts are being replicated with African-American, Latino and women voters.
The results of the stepped up efforts of
Bammers and crew are evident in the polls. In New York, Democrats are poised to
sweep all statewide offices. In
Pennsylvania, the Democratic candidate for Senate has closed the gap between
him and his Republican opponent, surprising many along the way. The same is true in Illinois and
Colorado. In California and Connecticut, the Dems have managed to grow their
leads despite facing challengers from GOP candidates willing to spend tens of
millions of their own dollars in what is proving a futile effort to appeal to
voters. And the supposed theory
that the agitated masses had grabbed their pitchforks and were aiming them at
any Democrat they could find has yet to dissuade Democrats from outpacing
Republicans in the race for early voters.
In short, Progressives are coming to their
senses and coming home. And that
reality check bodes very well for Democrats on November 2.
Jamaal Young is a
Fellow with the Truman National Security Project and
Co-chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee for Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century.