So, what do we do about this?

[merrily]

Last edited Sat May 30, 2015, 04:58 AM - Edit history (2)

As an experiment, earlier, I googled "Centrists betrayed the values of the Democratic Party." One of the hits was this article from shortly after passage of ACA, sans a strong public option.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/08/power-struggle-inside-the_n_529884.html

You know how some of us have been saying we don't give to the DNC, DCCC or DSCC anymore, only to individual liberal candidates? Well, according to this 2010 article, the joke's on us. (Isn't it always?)

As you read it and weep, bear in mind that the Progressive Caucus is, and always has been, larger than the New Democrat Coalition and the Blue Dog Coalition.

Since 1995, members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus have collectively given $6.3 million directly to members of the Blue Dog and New Democrat coalitions, according to an analysis by the Huffington Post of data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. That's not an overwhelming sum when the average winning campaign nowadays costs more than $1 million, but it represents one-sixth of all giving from one faction within the party to another. It doesn't include the millions that progressives have given to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee -- rank-and-file members are supposed to cough up $150,000 every two years (though many miss that mark), committee chairmen $250,000 and up. The DCCC turns around and funnels that money to conservative Democrats in close races. Add to that the millions spent by organized labor and outside groups such as MoveOn.org, and it's clear that progressive donors have become major financial benefactors of the conservative Democrats who battled to undermine their agenda. "That tension exists a lot," George Miller says about the party's demand that progressives fund their intramural rivals. "That tension exists a lot. And it's real."

Democrats play it too safe, says Grijalva. "When I give my dues to the DCCC, or when you contribute to it, you have no distinction as to where your money is going to go. And it goes to front-liners and usually Blue Dogs and [they] usually vote against our issues. And that's a real frustration. And usually, if there's a progressive running, it's the last consideration in terms of support," he says.

The Blue Dog and New Democrat coalitions emerged in the 1990s in the wake of the successful Republican campaign to take control of Congress, and have continuously expanded their membership ever since. The prototypical Blue Dog comes from a socially conservative, rural district; New Democrats are more likely to represent pro-choice bankers from the suburbs. Both groups offer automatic protection against accusations that their members are too liberal.

The money flows almost entirely in one direction: The conservative coalitions have given progressives less than $600,000. While Blue Dogs and New Democrats have each given their fellow travelers $2.4 million in the past 15 years, members of the much larger progressive caucus have helped each other to the tune of just $1.3 million.

Please do read the entire article.

So, as we've preened over donating only to the most left candidates we identify, our money has been going to New Democrats and/or Blue Dogs anyway. How you like your selective donating now?

Every time I think I'm getting too cynical, I find out I'm not even close.

Can anyone think of a way out of this bind, short of not donating at all?