Howard Dean
And The PDA
By Joshua Frank
10 August, 2005
Countercurrents.org
After
all they have been through, they still don't get it. The Democrats are
as inept a political opposition as George W. Bush is at running his
daddy's oil companies. DNC Chairman Howard Dean has just finished a
long 30-state trip across the country, during which he met with thousands
of enthusiastic
Democrats looking for some way to challenge the Republican Party.
"There are
Democrats everywhere," Dean exclaimed in Vermont on August 8 at
the finale of his barn-storming tour. Still taking the lead from George
Lakoff's assessment that the Democrats don't get the language right,
Dean announced, "We need a message. It has to be clear. The framing
of the debate determines who wins the debate. Running away from issues
is how you lose elections."
Sure, the rhetoric
sounds nice. Issues do matter. But Dean's vision has no teeth. As DNC
chair he has run away from women's rights by attempting to court anti-choicers
into the Dem fold. He has also called for a prolonged occupation of
Iraq.
So much for the
"issues" that matter.
However, Dean hopes
his populist mantra is enough to keep progressive Democrats well situated
within the confines of the Democratic establishment. The Progressive
Democrats of America (PDA) are also taking the same line, as they hope
the progressive wing of the Democratic Party can gain some power out
in Washington.
Sadly, the PDA has
the blessing of several boisterous Green Party members, including David
Cobb and Ted Glick, who are obviously disinterested in re-building their
own struggling party. But the PDA, like DNC guru Howard Dean, is not
to be trusted as an avenue for progressive change.
The best way to
wage a fight against the Washington Democrats is to challenge them from
outside the party. If PDA Democrats left in protest of their marginalization,
change might be possible. That is, of course, if they don't take the
same stance as Cobb and Glick who continue to act as progressive Democrats
and not Green Party leaders.
That's wishful thinking,
of course. Instead the Dems continue to act as the party of opposition
but continually fail to distinguish themselves from the Republicans
on a host of critical issues. Dean's new call for a realigning of Democratic
values is all for naught, as he is only talking about changing
the failing rhetoric, not the failing policy.
Dean's promise to
change the way the Democrats talk about issues is a sure sign his party
will never ever genuinely embrace the issues that matter most to progressives.
They'll only talk about the issues differently. The Democrats will never
be anti-war. They will never be pro-living wage. They will never be
in favor of real universal health-care; they'll only pretend they are.
So don't' believe the hype, for nothing could be more damaging to building
a left alternative than believing Howard Dean and the PDA are avenues
for legitimate change in the US.
Joshua Frank
is the author of Left Out!: How Liberals Helped Reelect George W. Bush,
published by Common Courage Press. You can reach Frank and order a copy
at a discounted rate at www.brickburner.org