Most discussions about the Democratic party in this election cycle focus on the remarkable rise of progressive Democrats, such as the Florida state representative Angie Nixon, a democratic socialist who scored an upset win in the Democratic US Senate primary on Tuesday.
asserted
who → focus → Tuesday
Some Democrats worry about this.
asserted
Democrats → worry → this
My old friend James Carville compares the current wave of progressive primary wins to progressive campaigns in 2016 – especially that of Bernie Sanders – that he believes fractured the Democratic coalition.
asserted
he → compare → coalition
“Bernie Sanders is the reason that Donald Trump is president,” the Democratic strategist said recently, claiming that Bernie’s primary challenge to Hillary Clinton convinced voters in battleground states that establishment Democrats were no different from establishment Republicans, thereby weakening her prospects in the general election.
asserted
Democrats → say → election
Even if James is right about 2016 (and I don’t believe he is), his assessment is irrelevant now because we’re at a radically different point in US politics than we were 10 years ago.
asserted
we → believe → politics
The silver lining in the dark storm cloud of Trump and his detestable regime is that it has exposed the greed, venality, cupidity and corruption of the US’s corporate elite.
asserted
it → expose → elite
Trump has allowed the CEOs of giant corporations and the titans of Wall Street to do whatever they want as long as they suck up to him.
asserted
they → allow → him
And he’s providing all sorts of corporate welfare to those who generously woo him – no-bid government contracts, exclusive licenses, tax loopholes, tariff exemptions, use of public lands, and permission to become even bigger monopolies.
asserted
who → provide → lands
Trump has thereby unveiled a truth about corporate America that for many years has been hidden behind a soothing blanket of corporate PR bullshit about social responsibility, corporate charity, and “trickle-down” economics.
asserted
that → unveil → responsibility
That truth is the captains of corporate America are so rapacious that they’re willing to throw average working Americans under the bus to make billions more.
asserted
they → ’re → billions
Corporate avarice under Trump has become so blatant and corporate America’s contempt for the needs of average Americans so flagrant that most Americans are now catching on.
asserted
Americans → become → Americans
They’re voting for progressive Democrats not because they want socialism, support the Democratic Socialists of America, or reject candidates called “moderate”.
asserted
they → vote → candidates
They’re voting for candidates whom they believe will fight to make housing, food, healthcare and childcare affordable to average working families.
asserted
housing → vote → families
And who’ll take on Trump’s billionaire backers, CEOs and Wall Street titans who are rigging the economy against them.
asserted
who → take → them
Much of the corporate media won’t tell this story.
asserted
Much → tell → story
When Dr Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s Democratic primary over Haley Stevens, the media overflowed with accounts of how much smaller El-Sayed’s margin of victory was than polls had predicted.
asserted
polls → win → victory
Yet the most remarkable thing about El-Sayed’s victory was that he won despite being dramatically outspent by Super Pacs arrayed against him.
asserted
he → win → him
Stevens benefited from tens of millions of dollars in outside spending, including the largest investment in a senatorial race ever made by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which traditionally supports pro-Israel candidates but in recent election cycles has supported candidates most favored by corporate America.
asserted
which → benefit → America
Aipac’s ads in favor of Stevens and against El-Sayed never even mentioned Israel.
asserted
ads → mention → Israel
Outside Super Pacs put an estimated $54m to $60m into backing Stevens and opposing El-Sayed, compared with only about $5m for El-Sayed.
asserted
Pacs → put → Sayed
Pro-Stevens groups outspent El-Sayed on TV advertising alone by more than 12 to one ($26.9m to $2.1m) in the closing weeks.
asserted
groups → outspent → weeks
An average of $95 was spent for every vote against El-Sayed versus just $9 per vote for him.
asserted
average → spend → him
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer backed Stevens and encouraged donors to back her campaign, as did other corporate-aligned politicians such as the Michigan senator Gary Peters.
asserted
politicians → back → senator
On the other hand, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez supported El-Sayed, as did progressives such as the US senators Chris Van Hollen and Elizabeth Warren.
asserted
progressives → support → senators
El-Sayed justifiably made a campaign issue out of how much corporate money was backing his rival.
asserted
money → make → rival
He argued that Democrats should reject corporate influence and embrace an agenda that helps average Americans.
asserted
that → argue → Americans
His campaign centered on providing Medicare for All, lowering prescription drug costs, and banning corporate Pac money.
asserted
campaign → center → money
“We’re in a situation right now where the rich keep getting hyper-rich on the backs of figuring out how to monetize everyday people,” El-Sayed told the Associated Press while supporters chanted: “Money out of politics! Money in your pockets!”
asserted
supporters → ’re → pockets
El-Sayed’s victory marked a turning point for the corporate wing of the Democratic party.
asserted
victory → mark → party
I saw the start of the corporate Democrats in the early 1980s, when Democrats in Congress began drinking from the same campaign funding trough as the Republicans, mostly from big corporations.
asserted
Democrats → see → corporations
“Business has to deal with us whether they want to or not,” crowed the Democratic representative Tony Coelho, who then headed the Democratic congressional campaign committee.
asserted
who → have → committee
Democrats had controlled Congress since 1955 and assumed they’d continue to run the House for years.
asserted
they → control → years
They thought they could take advantage of their seemingly permanent power to raise cash for their campaigns.
uncertain
they → think → campaigns
Coelho’s Democrats soon achieved a rough parity with Republicans in contributions from corporate and Wall Street campaign coffers, but it proved a Faustian bargain as big corporations and Wall Street gained increasing influence in the party.
asserted
corporations → achieve → party
It is a truism in politics as in nature: one dares not bite the hands that feed.
asserted
that → dare → hands
Corporate Democrats thereafter stopped the Democratic party from pursuing an agenda that would have dramatically helped America’s working class.
asserted
that → stop → class
To be sure, over the last three decades Democrats have scored some important victories for working families – the Affordable Care Act, an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Family and Medical Leave Act, for example.
asserted
Democrats → score → example
Yet they’ve done little to alter the widening economic inequalities that have taken a huge toll on working-class families.
asserted
that → do → families
Both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama ardently pushed for free-trade agreements, for example, but didn’t provide the millions of blue-collar workers who thereby lost their jobs means of getting new ones that paid at least as well.
asserted
that → push → ones
They also stood by as corporations hammered trade unions, the backbone of the white working class.
asserted
corporations → stand → class
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
