Democratic Skunks in the Middle of the Road Not Dead Yet

Anybody who wants to see progressive government should realize that Republicans, who hate all Democrats, are not the people working hardest to block the path to progress. That distinction goes to the so-called “moderate” Democrats, who are nothing but pro-business shills who lack the sadistic streak necessary to win GOP primaries.

This has been obvious in Delaware for more than a decade, ever since the Tea Party loons purged the GOP of their Mike Castle-style moderates. In the years since, we’ve seen imposters who run as Democrats but get lots of campaign donations from Castle Republicans (looking at you, Matt Meyer), as well as self-interested pro-business labor organizations like those represented by Aunt Jemima-loving James Maravelias.

Instead of offering voters a clear choice between a GOP that serves the rich and a populist party that holds the rich accountable, so-called centrists want to do the same thing Republicans do: Lie to voters about whose interests they’re really out to protect.

You can’t find clearer evidence of this than an event held in South Carolina earlier this month by Third Way, the “moderate” bunch who still think we’re living in the Bill Clinton era. American Prospect published a report on it a couple of days ago.

A group of Democratic Party moderates gathered in Charleston, South Carolina, last Sunday and Monday for an [invitation-only} event organized by Third Way, an influential group in the party’s moderate wing.

The event, entitled “Winning the Middle,” brought together elected officials, prominent pundits, data gurus, communication savants, and industry figures with one goal in mind: how to block a progressive from winning the party’s nomination for president in 2028.

What is immediately apparent watching the event is a total lack of any positive vision. Rather than propose a worked-out centrist platform, or even suggest opposition to the Trump administration, the event largely defined itself in opposition to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

Third Way president Jonathan Cowan gave a speech that focused not on what Republicans are doing to destroy the country but all the progressive things his group opposes.

Explaining their health care vision, Cowan said that the assembled luminaries stood for “universal health care under the ACA, not Medicare for All and the end of private insurance.” While Cowan adopted the left’s rhetoric of “universal health care,” he failed to note that the Affordable Care Act not only has not achieved universal health care, but also only became net popular seven years after its passage, following an attempted repeal by the first Trump administration. The ACA was an improvement in many ways, but it was hardly the easy messaging win Cowan was making it out to be.

On work in the 21st century, the assembled moderates “believe in the dignity of work, not UBI [universal basic income]. And for that work to lead to wealth, we desperately need a new economic bargain for the working class.” On energy issues, Cowan outlined a 2010-vintage vision of “all of the above on clean energy, not just wind and solar,” as if renewables were not the cheapest form of power in history, and oil now shooting past $100 a barrel.

As if the speech were not already vague enough, on cultural issues Cowan stated that “we know we must be reasonable and normal,” and that “we can respect the humanity of transgender Americans while enforcing strict rules to protect kids.” What rules, precisely? Are we talking about right-wing gender inspectors at every middle school track meet? Because that’s how those “strict rules” tend to work out in practice.

Though the affirmative vision for the world may have been lacking, confidence in their diagnosis of the problem was not. The fact that the Democratic Party is more unpopular than ever before—even among its own base—was repeated ad nauseam, proof that the party had drifted so far left it had alienated even its own voters. The solution to this historic unpopularity? Coordination between the invitees to lock progressive candidates and groups out of the party.

I’ve probably exceeded fair use limits as it is, so to quote El Somnambulo, read the whole thing.