June 24-30, 2004

slant

Getting It Together

A progressive movement marches toward Election Day.

by Thomas Soper

More than 2,000 political progressives descended on the nation's capital earlier this month for the Take Back America conference, aiming to build a force that President Bush and his conservative cronies will have to reckon with. The meeting was organized by the Campaign for America's Future and a number of unions and leftist political groups like www.MoveOn.org, True Majority and Jobs with Justice. These organizations are gaining strength in an age where conservative politics reigns.

The success of conservatives is largely due to four decades of developing large-scale think tanks, recruiting and training candidates at the state and federal levels, running huge voter registration drives, and working to inject the news media with their own slant of "fair and balanced" news. They've energized their side, and thanks to these efforts, Republicans can boast control over both houses of Congress and 23 state houses of legislature, as well as having 29 governors and the presidency.

At the conference, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton echoed the thoughts of many when she said the Bush administration is turning the clock on American politics "back to the days of the robber barons." Clinton claimed the administration has done everything in its power to undo Roosevelt's New Deal, the social safety net that helped us out of the Depression and that many depend on today for basic subsistence. During this administration, like in Reagan's time, we've seen an increase in the gap between rich and poor. Real wages are now less than they were in Nixon's time.

The administration has positioned itself squarely against traditional populist causes, such as unions, civil rights, women's rights and the environment. They've deregulated industry and trade, increasing the flow of money to corporations and the wealthy and decreasing jobs. They've cut health care coverage for the elderly and benefits for veterans and are waging an internationally criminal war against terror and basic human rights as spelled out in the Geneva Convention.

But if millionaire philanthropist George Soros is right, Bush's bubble is about to burst. In his new book "The Bubble of American Supremacy," Soros explains our political situation in terms of market booms and busts, stating that Bush has reached a bust point where the perception of a product so far outstrips the true value of it that the truth inevitably invades and the inflated perception collapses.

"Can [progressives] galvanize the public like they say they can?" asks Gloria Totten, founder of Progressive Majority, an organization spearheading PROPAC, a project intended to counter Newt Gingrich's conservative candidate recruitment and training group GOPAC.

There are already signs that the political awakening has begun. The Bush administration has inspired more books criticizing its policies than any other administration in our nation's history. Movies such as Fahrenheit 9/11, by Michael Moore, which won Cannes' highest prize, and John Sayles' Silver City will take additional stabs at the Bushies before Election Day arrives.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg recently found 21 percent of survey respondents identifying themselves as "liberals," which is up from 16 percent just a month earlier. Those who identified themselves as "conservatives" dropped from 41 percent to 37. Additionally, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found 42 percent of voters identifying themselves as Democrat versus 39 percent Republican. Two years ago, Republicans showed a 1 percent edge over Democrats. But perhaps the most promising evidence of a potential swing in favor of a comeback for the progressives is Bush's approval rating, which, at 47 percent, is the lowest of his presidency.

If Kerry is going to win on Nov. 2, he needs to carry a strong message to the public this summer. The progressives who met in Washington said they can help Kerry do this by defining the issues. It's going to be a long road to the White House regardless, but if Kerry chooses to ignore the resources of this organized and mobilizing base, that road will only get steeper.

Thomas Soper is a freelance journalist from Elkins Park. If you would like to respond to this Slant or have one of your own (800 words), contact Brian Hickey, City Paper managing editor/news, 123 Chestnut St., third floor, Phila. PA 19106 or e-mail hickey@citypaper.net.