"Another Wall Street Dem is running for pres.Once again we must choose btn acquiescence & rebellion" [View all]

[RiverLover]

This is written by Bill Curry. He was White House counselor to President Clinton and a two-time Democratic nominee for governor of Connecticut. He is at work on a book on President Obama and the politics of populism.

I'm posting here the last part of his piece & leaving out the painful look at HRC's sad roll-out as our nominee. He makes some excellent points below & its really good to see further proof we are NOT alone in our deep desire to see a better path for our party, & for our country..

....

My differences with Clinton are entirely substantive. Today’s issues may not divide as deeply as those of 1968 but they’re just as important. Because Clinton’s history on them is problematic, real debate is indispensable. Let me sketch out four overarching issues.

The Economy: The great dispute between Democratic elites and the Democratic base is over the economy. For years the elites have cheered globalization. Like Tom Friedman they see it as a ‘golden straightjacket’; a thing we can’t escape but wouldn’t want to as it will soon answer all our prayers. They view unfettered growth, trade and markets and nearly all technology as benign. Most of us see that a rising tide no longer lifts all boats, or most boats, or hardly any boats at all. Not them. We see how our tools no longer seem to need us. We seek a more permanent and humane economy rooted in enterprises of smaller scale. They say fine but see no conflict between their agenda and ours. The next big fight in this war is the battle over the Trans Pacific Trade agreement. The Democratic base along with just about the entire middle class opposes it in its present form. The next leader of the Democratic Party should be on the same side as the base and the middle class.

The Government: How can 60 percent of the country agree with Democrats on taxes, Social Security, Medicare, same sex marriage, gun safety, every last plank of the President’s immigration plan, the Cuban embargo, the Iran nuclear weapons deal and the truth about global warming and still vote Republican? The answer may be their identification of Democrats as the party of a government they despise. They care about frugality but what they hate most is corruption. All across the world public anger over corruption now drives politics. Our politicians hardly mention it but our people care as much about it as anyone. The big problem isn’t the petty bribes. It’s what Anthony Kennedy foolishly calls ‘soft corruption.’ Suffice it to say the Clinton record on it is spotty. The Democrats’ next leader must have a credible plan to curb public corruption. It won’t happen without robust debate.

National Security: Here the public’s views are less settled. There’s an uptick in fear due to ISIS and Republicans do all they can to fan its flames. It isn’t enough to be for peace or against military interventions. We need to show people why our old military doctrines are defunct and that we have a better way to keep them safe. There may have been a time when America had to be the world’s policeman. God knows it needs one and for many years nobody else could afford to take the job. No more. It’s time to stop shooting our way into places we don’t belong. We can go on paying the price and taking all the blowback or we can fix the UN and honor the rule of law. I don’t think Clinton grasps the argument. In 2008 she ran as Xena, the Warrior Princess. In four years as Secretary of State she was Obama’s resident hawk. For all her travels she has yet to wake up to the world we now live in.

Climate Change: Every Democrat has grown more attuned to climate change and Hillary’s no exception. Obama’s second term has been a vast improvement on his first. Any Democrat will continue the forward movement just as any Republican may wind up putting our species out of business. The question here isn’t about whether Hillary wants to do the right thing it is whether anyone will do enough. If nearly all our scientists are right it is the overarching political and moral issue of our age. It isn’t enough just to beat the Republicans or improve on the past. We need to solve the problem. Anyone who knows anything about the issue knows this: we’re running out of time.

Democrats can no longer pretend these differences don’t exist. If they insist on doing so, progressives can’t let them.

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/19/my_party_fears_a_debate_this_same_nervous_centrism_created_the_tea_party/