unConventional Reflections

One of the tactics that the republican machine is attempting to use in the 2008 election season is the old "divide and conquer" technique. We see this in their efforts to cause divisions between the Clinton and Obama camps. The second tactic is to use their puppets in the corporate media to portray Barack Obama as being a weak candidate, in the image of a George McGovern in 1972 or a Michael Dukakis in ’88. Their goal is to plant the seeds of doubt within the democratic party, and to fertilize them with misinformation about the race being a virtual tie, and hysteria about what Obama "must do now!"

I think that it might be of interest to take a closer look at the reality behind the smoke and mirrors. To do that, we should take a brief look at some of the historic examples of how the democratic party has been divided in the past, and failed to live up to its full potential. Then, we can see how the Obama campaign is taking positive steps to insure that the republican attempts to damage our party’s unity will fail.

There are numerous sources of information on the history of the democratic party from 1968 to 1972, the years when Richard Nixon was elected, then re-elected, President of the United States. One of the single best books in recent years is Rick Perlstein’s "Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America." I bought and read it a couple of weeks ago, and found some of the cable news yesterday reminded me of a few interesting points the author made.

Up until the 1968 Democratic National Convention, in Chicago, the national news media took a rather sympathetic stance on the youth culture and the growing anti-war movement. Obviously, there were many times the media took either dismissive or harsh positions against them. But, along with the rest of this country, the media changed in 1968.

For progressive and liberal democrats, the primary season was a disaster. Both Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. Senator Eugene McCarthy had harnessed much of the energy of the idealistic youth and anti-war people, but the democratic party prepared to nominate VP Hubert Humphrey as their candidate for president. It is worth noting that Humphrey had not entered, much less won, a single primary.

There was, of course, violence both inside and outside of the convention. This included a surprising number of journalists having the cameras either destroyed or stolen by police, and many being physically assaulted. There were expectations that the American public would respond by supporting the journalists, but by a wide margin, most of the citizens who spoke out afterward supported Mayor Daley and the Chicago police force’s brutality.

The democratic leadership would attempt to regroup in anticipation of the 1972 election, but a number of factors worked against them. One of the most important was that, as peaceful protest was becoming impossible, there was an increase in the use of violence by extremists in the anti-war, anti- establishment youth. Groups such as the Weather Underground scared the general public.

Another important factor was the attempt by one faction of the democratic leadership to change the way the party would select its presidential nominee. The leadership of the party machine was concerned that such attempts would take away their power to simply appoint a candidate such as VP Humphrey, and allow the party membership to play a more significant role.

This reached a climax on July 5, 1971, when 18-year olds were given the right to vote in local, state, and national elections. The progressive and liberal community believed this potential addition of millions of new voters would give the democratic party far greater power at the polls. The Nixonites, on the other hand, saw its potential to divide the democratic party, between the progressive/liberal wing and the moderate/conservative wing.

The results of the ’72 election show that the Nixonites won. Where the 1968 contest was close, Nixon won a landslide in 1972.

In the 2008 democratic primary contest, it became evident that there were some divisions within the party. On one hand, there is the Obama camp, which was comprised primarily of progressive and liberal democrats. On the other hand, there is the Clinton wing of the party, which is made up of a combination of the moderate and conservative democrats, as well as a significant number of liberals.

The republican party has invested in operatives who attempt to create friction between the two sides. This includes activities that try to cause hostilities between Obama and Clinton supporters, including spreading infections in the manner of the PUMA.

Just as there was violence on the part of the left in the 1968-72 era, there are numerous examples of right-wing violence today. Law enforcement officials across the country rely upon the investigations and reports of the Southern Poverty Law Center in regard to the growing number of right-wing hate groups. But the corporate media ignores this.

The corporate media also spends more time attempting to promote a divide between the Obama and Clinton camps, than it does in providing meaningful coverage on issues such as the war of occupation in Iraq, the suffering caused by the greed of the energy executives, and the corruption of the Bush-Cheney administration.

The corporate media is engaged in the destruction of the fabric of our society. Right-wing extremists like Rush Limbaugh as are feces ground into the national linen, and Sean Hannity is the stain from Richard Nixon’s wet dreams. More, even those who pretend to be more moderate tend to ignore serious issues, such as the triplets of the war of occupation in Iraq, the suffering caused by the greed of the energy executives, and the corrupt activities of the Bush-Cheney administration.

Instead, they attempt to foster mistrust and hostilities between the Obama and Clinton camps, and to pretend that John McCain’s campaign has raised a powerful issue when they compare Barack Obama to Brittney and Paris.

As a result, many good democrats are demanding that the Obama campaign and party leadership respond to everything the McCain campaign and media throw at them. In time, they will respond in a forceful manner, which will satisfy all but the most unrealistic of people – who are republicans, anyhow.

At this point, the Obama camp is correct in focusing more attention on preparations for the up-coming Democratic National Convention. Although the corporate media is not reporting on it, there are significant efforts underway to strengthen the unity between the different groups which make up the party.

Conventions include a great deal of theater. This will be the best democratic convention in generations. It will include speeches by a variety of party leaders, including former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton. And Senator Barack Obama will speak on the 45th anniversary of Dr. King’s historic "I Have a Dream" speech. By the end of the convention, we will not only know who the next vice president will be, but we will be fully prepared to confront the opposition in a coordinated way.

In the fall, the republicans will continue to try to scare Americans, and the corporate media will continue to spread information But we will not be fighting them with one hand tied behind our backs. We will be throwing combinations with our left hand and right hand, and this will be the experience of a life-time for those active in the democratic party’s efforts in the 2008 elections.

Peace,
H2O Man

(PS: Please read and K&R DUer "autorank’s" OP on GD, which features a fascinating talk with Vincent Bugliosi. It is by far the most important thread on DU at this time.)

Yes I know that things like ss have stuck in their craw, but if they destroy the very fabric of society and the economy, don't they get that they are not impervious to the effects of that, that it will harm them and their families too? I've never understood the shortsightedness of it all.

This needs a another hit on attention spans

it might get a bit more attention. Thank you for volunteering for the lonely job of babysitting my abandoned OP!

didn't ya know and the 5000 threads that will be generated by that news is going to suck all the oxygen out of GDP

the DU moderators will zap those threads (except for Jackpineradical & Will Pitt's), and send them to the gossip forum.