El Universal, Venezuela

With Barack Obama,

Democrats Find Answer

to the Paucity of Ideas

 

"Confronted with the flood of proposals from their Republican counterparts, the fonts of Democratic thought seem to have dried up. ... As if by magic, these past limitations seem to be disappearing due to the impact of the Obama phenomenon. He offers Democrats and his campaign a 'vision' which offers a solid counterweight to the strong conservative tendency that characterizes the national mood."

 

By Alfredo Toro Hardy

 

Translated By Barbara Howe

 

March 13, 2008

 

Venezuela - El Universal - Original Article (Spanish)

Democrats have begun confronting some serious limitations. Their lack of policy proposals and ideas has often played into the hands of Republicans - and often just when Republicans have been particularly prolific in this regard. It’s from the right side of the political spectrum that the majority of the ideas which have fed the public life of that country have emerged over the past five years. Confronted with the flood of proposals from their Republican counterparts, the fonts of Democratic thought which in the past conceived "The New Deal,” "The Great Society,” The League of Nations and the United Nations, the Marshall Plan and “Doctrine of Containment,” seem to have dried up. This lack of “vision” has placed them in a more reactive posture.

 

[The New Zealand Herald, New Zealand]

The country veered to the right with the ascendancy of conservative values. This not only left Liberals - the most dynamic sector of the Democratic Party - without sustenance, but it left them directionless. To cope with this reality, the Democratic Party has had to cover itself with a cloak of pragmatism and blur its identity. It won the legislative elections of 2006 by putting forward a large number of candidates with conservative ideas that differed little from their Republican counterparts.  

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As a result of this, the confrontation between various sectors of the party has generated a clear incapacity to offer a sense of direction. On the center-right is the Democratic Leadership Council, which expresses the pragmatic side of the party. To the right are the so-called “New Democrats” who respond to conservative values. On the left is the liberal sector that makes-up the so-called “Democratic wing” of the party.

 

And then there is the traditional Democratic coalition forged by Franklin Roosevelt (the Northern White working class, Southern whites, racial and ethnic minorities and liberal intellectuals) which crumbled long ago without an adequate substitute having ever been found. Republicans, however, managed to forge a powerful coalition: the business community, social conservatives, suburban areas, religious fundamentalists, southern populists and right-wing intellectuals. Despite the fact that during Bush’s second term, this convergence of forces began to unravel, what remains is greater than anything the Democrats can muster. 

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So despite the fact that the climate is clearly in their favor, the Democrats still confront serious problems reaching the White House.

 

But these past limitations seem to be disappearing as if by magic due to the impact of the Obama phenomenon. He has been responsible with offering Democrats and his campaign a “vision” which, combined with his oratory and charisma, offers a solid counterweight to the strong conservative tendency that characterizes the national mood. At the same time, under his influence has been a convergence of the three great sectors of the Party that have been hitherto divided. Moreover, he is creating a coalition capable of competing with the Republicans and robbing them of part of their suburban base.

altohar@hotmail.com

FOR SPANISH VERSION CLICK HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US March 18, 10:05am]