Stealth from the Left!

Here is the must-read of the day: Jonathan Cohn on how Howard Dean is attempting to pull the Democrats farther to the left by emulating Ralph Reed and the Christian Coalition's influence on the Republican Party. Why? In essence, the left-wing fringe is accepting the two-party reality of US politics and feels that it can get influence by working within the party structure.

There are some concepts here worth noting: (1) it is only the ultra-far Left, such as Greens, Communists (the Communist Party of the USA supports Kerry), Socialists, International ANSWER and MoveOn types that really are trying to gain influence in this manner because the mid- to far-left already has tremendous standing in the Democratic Party -- unions, Ralph Neas, feminists, Nan Aron, NARAL Pro-Choice America, ACT-UP, etc.; (2) the point of the exercise is to prevent another split vote on the left by a Nader type of candidacy; (3) but the unification of the ultra-far Left with the establishment Left has the effect of letting the Democrats quiet all those voices so that they can present a moderate image for Kerry and the party whilst being assured that the whole left-wing will support the presidential ticket. Thus, a Kerry Administration would owe a LOT to the far-Left and would bring that circus to town if it wins in November.

The Democratic Party in the US is functionally a far-Left party. Its most prominent members are: Kerry, H. Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Carl Levin, Robert Byrd, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Al Gore Jr., Bill Clinton, and Howard Dean. Kennedy, Byrd and Levin all have far-Left voting records; Kerry's is more liberal than theirs. The only near-moderate in the bunch is former president Clinton -- and his instincts are much more liberal than his actions were, thanks to a gridlocked government. But the effect of getting the loony-leftists who wandered off the farm back into the party and quiescent is part of a greater strategy to present a presidential candidate who can appeal to people that do NOT, by any stretch of the imagination, concur with the Left's broader agenda.

Thus, Cohn explains:

Although nearly all activists here oppose the war in Iraq, they've embraced in Kerry a candidate who voted for it and has yet to disavow that vote; although nearly all favor not just civil unions but actual marriage rights for gays, they've signed off on a candidate who says he opposes same-sex marriage; and, although nearly all are critical of--if not steadfastly opposed to--free trade, they have endorsed a candidate who voted for NAFTA and said he continues to support free trade. All this has given Kerry and the Democratic leadership leeway to project a broadly appealing moderate image--by, for example, herding the high-profile liberal convention speakers through early on Tuesday night when the networks weren't broadcasting.

And the press will enable all this so that its preferred candidate wins in November.