WASHINGTON — The message coming from the Campaign for America’s
Future’s three-day Take Back America event is clear: Progressives
are on the march and they’ll win next time out.
Now if only they could convince themselves of it.
Speaker after speaker at Wednesday’s opening of the event, a
major annual gathering for liberal activists, talked passionately
about how their movement was breaking new ground, growing by leaps
and bounds, etc.
Then, inevitably, they dampened their own rousing words by
either reflecting on the last election, conceding they may not win
next time either or offering backhanded compliments to the
apparently all-powerful “right-wing message machine.”
Typical was Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who told the assembled
union guys, environmentalists, abortion rights activists and others
that “there is a mood for change in the air,” even comparing it to
1994 when Republicans took over the House.
Yet she followed that by saying most voters think liberals are
squishy and President Bush is tough. And that’s a problem because
“voters like tough, they don’t like tentative.”
Donna Brazile echoed her point.
“They (conservatives) know what they believe in and they’re not
afraid to say it. Why aren’t we?” she asked.
L.A. Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa pumped up the crowd by
talking about building up the progressive agenda only to warn them
that they may have to wait years before they actually win
elections. He also repeatedly noted the, well, whiteness of the
Take Back America audience, a problem for a movement that hopes to
win with minority voters.
“You look in this room tonight and you don’t see the diversity
we need to bring this country together,” he said.
Robert Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America’s
Future, warned the liberals that the conservatives have genuine
support at the grass roots level.
“There is a right-wing populism (in America) that can win their
votes — and is winning their votes,” Borosage said.
NOW IT CAN BE THE sign of a healthy political movement that its
leaders have realistic goals and a good understanding of their
opponents. So the comments at the Take Back America event could
suggest a new maturity for the left.
But it was also fairly typical of the neurotic tenor of many
liberal events your correspondent has seen since Bush took office
in 2000. Gone are the days when liberals believed that the vast
mainstream of America would rise up and cast conservatives out of
office because of the right’s extremism. Instead they’ve watched as
the Republicans took the White House and both houses of
Congress. They’re angry and upset over this. Spooked too.
When, for example, Karen Ackerman, an AFL-CIO political
director, used the words “among white men…” during a rundown on
exit poll numbers, one member of the audience actually hissed.
“Oh, that’s not right,” she replied.
For most attendees, the event’s name — Take Back America — was
meant quite literally. Though they’ve had some successes lately,
most notably stalling President Bush’s Social Security agenda
(which quite a few crowed about), most seem still to be unnerved by
Bush’s re-election and the continuing Republican control of
Congress.
After all, last time they had an unprecedented level of
cooperation among their various factions, huge fundraising and an
expanded base — and they still lost.
Clearly, it still hurts.
“As hard as we worked in 2004, we still didn’t do it,” said
Schakowsky.
Understanding these losses this isn’t any easier when so many
them earnestly believe that not only are they on the correct side
of the major issues, but that they are on the winning side too.
Several speakers Wednesday cited polls that they said proved the
public is on the liberals’ side, the obvious contradiction
notwithstanding.
“We know right now the issues are with us. The people will
gravitate towards us,” Brazile said.
Of course it’s possible that she’s correct. Liberals are, after
all, building a network, they do have energized volunteers and
deep-pocketed supporters. Why can’t they take back America or at
least Congress? Conservatives certainly shouldn’t get
complacent.
But the exact same argument Brazile made has been made at
gatherings like Take Back America for years. Some liberals are
beginning to sound doubtful.
“Some say the Democrats need only the courage of their
convictions to tap a deep well of progressive sentiment, but if
there is a latent national majority for that kind of pure and
unadulterated liberal politics, it has kept itself well hidden for
a long time,” writes Paul Starr in the current American
Prospect.
