(November 14, 2016 at 1:42 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Just what is it about a constant rightward drift that's supposed to be progressive?
IMO, the dems get alot of underved credit from progressives, and for being progressive. Remember Hillary;s stance on gay marriage? It only turned when the tide of public opinion turned and became overwhelming. The same could be said of many dems and most democratic party platform statements. -They- aren't progressives, it's just that progressives have no one else to vote for, so they get to be the coat-tail riding party.
But that is the way it works. Hillary's stance on same-sex marriage progressed. That's not a rightward drift; it's the exact opposite.
And there is the reality of political expediency. Same-sex marriage wasn't going to happen until most of the population was ready for it. Pushing it in 1992 would have been political suicide.
Here's a good example. In 2004, the mayor of San Francisco announced that same-sex marriage was legal in that city. Up until that time, George W. Bush was on a steady decline in the polls against Kerrey. Many Republicans didn't like him and weren't going to bother to vote. But when that news hit, it galvanized conservatives to get to the ballot box because whether they liked W. or not, they wasn't gonna have no faggits gettin' married while they had some say so. It also simultaneously caused a backlash against same-sex marriage that lasted for years. Now, that wasn't the only thing that got W re-elected that year, but it played an important role.
That's because the public wasn't ready for it. But as time went on the public warmed to it until the point that it was ready.
"Progress now" is a slogan, which most often doesn't reflect what can be accomplished in the moment.
It's the Democrats who had the first black President, and [leaving out a lot of my own bullshit] almost got the first woman elected President. Did it take way too long? Absolutely. But this kind of stuff is not going to come from the GOP---that's certain. And that's the reality of the political situation in the U.S. The Greens aren't going to do shit and as Libertarians become more vocal we realize what a nightmare they would be.
Despite this most recent election, a majority of Americans are center to just left of center. So if more far left-leaning progressives show up and vote for more progressive Democrats, then we will see more progress. But it isn't going to happen overnight and it's not going to happen with any other party.
