Progressives Seize the Moment

Liberals to spend $150 million on ‘08

A loose coalition of liberal and labor organizations expects to spend about $150 million this fall to push its causes and help Democrats win the White House and strengthen their grip on Congress…

While the groups cannot coordinate with candidates, they can coordinate with each other — a change from 2004 when top Democratic donors relied on newly formed groups to influence the presidential election.

…Liberal and labor strategists say an animated Democratic electorate and a dispirited Republican base have created a political environment tailor-made to advance their agenda.

“In ‘04 the right mobilized its base and its resources,” … “Liberals mobilized, although we were still building at the time. Well, we’ve continued to build and expand and gotten more enthusiastic and more mobilized and their coalition has collapsed.”

This is somewhat good news for Moderates, Centrists and Independents in that the political pendulum may be swinging back towards the middle. But if it swings to far to the left and too many are elected with more loyalty to the party than to pragmatic collaborative leadership we risk abuse from a different set of special interests. I can only hope that Democratic leaders are wise enough to see that their long term aims are best served by helping to reform the election system to promote consensus builders from both parties and not just in rolling over Conservatives.