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| - Activists who label themselves as "progressives," from the liberal wings of the Democratic Party, met June 12-14, 2006, in Washington, D.C. Organizers had two apparent objectives for the conference, called "Take Back America" -- to organize the Democratic Party around specific themes, and to send a message to the party's idealistic base that the Democrats still have a place for activists. High-profile leaders, including Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., were featured speakers.
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| abstract
| - Activists who label themselves as "progressives," from the liberal wings of the Democratic Party, met June 12-14, 2006, in Washington, D.C. Organizers had two apparent objectives for the conference, called "Take Back America" -- to organize the Democratic Party around specific themes, and to send a message to the party's idealistic base that the Democrats still have a place for activists. High-profile leaders, including Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., were featured speakers. Evident at the conference was an interesting schism between the idealism of the party's liberal activists and a newfound pragmatism among those on the political left. The idealist strain was obvious when activists cheered Democratic Party leaders who called for the Bush administration to withdraw troops immediately from Iraq (and jeered others, including Clinton, who did not make such demands). But pragmatism was evident with every other issue discussed -- and particularly when the issue at hand was taking back power in Washington. As the "Take Back America" theme suggests, the meeting was about ending the Republican Party's dominance of federal policy. The Democrats discussed issues in a realistic political context, with the idea of getting and retaining power as the guiding frame. With progressives, apparently resigned to the idea that they cannot change the current U.S. approach to Iraq, energy issues became a focal point. It is in this area that liberal idealists (who appeared to make up most of the attendance at the conference) believe they can make significant headway on both the path to political power and toward their idealistic goals -- which is important, since these paths usually diverge. The interesting question is whether idealistic political activists can develop a strategy that allows the Democrats to win power and also allows them to keep it long enough to make significant policy changes. The answer to the first question appears to be yes: There is a strategy emerging from progressive activists that promises the potential to win significant public support. The answer to the second question is more difficult to discern, but our read at this point is that it is not likely that supporters of the progressives' policies will keep power long enough to achieve their goals.
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