The Gadflyer: Where Do We Go From Here?

The Gadflyer: Where Do We Go From Here?: "So where do progressives go from here? First, they should spend the next four years fighting. If Kerry had won, there would be Republicans drafting articles of impeachment at this very moment, ready to fill in the blank of an imagined crime in January. As I did in the article I wrote for the launch of this magazine, I offer the movie quote that best describes today's Republican Party, from The Terminator: 'It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity or remorse or fear. And it absolutely will not stop – ever – until you are dead.' There are a lot of very bad things George W. Bush is going to try to do over the next four years, but they can be stopped.


Second, progressives should abandon any illusion that Democratic candidates or the Democratic Party can be trusted to do anything right. Like so many campaigns before it – and like the Party itself – the defining characteristic of John Kerry's effort was fear. As E.J. Dionne wrote in his recent book Stand Up Fight Back,


Instead of framing new choices, Democrats run away from their old commitments. Instead of reaching for greatness, they argue that they are not as bad as everyone thinks they are. The party that once galvanized a nation by declaring that there is nothing to fear but fear itself has become afraid – afraid of being too liberal, afraid of being weak on defense, afraid of being culturally permissive, afraid of being seen as apologizing for big government. Democrats are obsessed with telling people who they are not. As a result, no one knows who they are.



This is not going to change until the progressives in the party force it to show some courage."