Democrats divided not by the issues but by a feeling and a theory
By E.J. Dionne
Truthdig.com

This helps explain why the preferences of voters in the Democratic presidential primaries so far have gyrated so wildly. In the absence of deep divisions on policy, Democrats have been cut loose from their ideological moorings. Philosophical unity has bred new forms of conflict.

Barack Obama has surged to rough parity with Hillary Clinton in the national polls not because Democrats reject her carefully thought-out solutions to the central public problems but because he has created in the party’s rank and file a feeling of liberation-from intimidation by Republicans, from old divisions, from history itself.

At a packed rally in a downtown square here on Sunday, emblematic of those Obama has staged across the country, the candidate drew the usual applause for the usual Democratic applause lines on the infamy of the Bush administration, the urgency of universal health care and the unfairness of Republican economic policies.

But he connected most when he spoke of his willingness to oppose the Iraq War when many, including Clinton, didn’t. This marked his liberation from Republican bullying on national security. He spoke of the surge of young people into politics and the extraordinary levels of participation in the Democratic primaries. This spoke to his party’s desire to be liberated from the old math of the Reagan era.

And on it went: He noted the multitude he drew to a rally in Boise, Idaho, of all places (liberation from the old electoral map); the support he has won from Republicans (liberation from divisiveness); and his determination to govern “not by the polls but by principle” (liberation from calculation and, to some, from Clintonism).

All this strikes Hillary Clinton’s supporters as terribly unfair. Some liberals who support Obama acknowledge privately that many of her positions on domestic issues are more carefully crafted and, in some respects, more liberal than his.

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Though few are paying attention now, the vote could impact November’s General Election.
by Jonathan Nack
San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center

Ignored by the corporate media, and derided by even many of their progressive and left-wing friends, registrants of California’s two leftist ballot eligible parties will also be voting in tomorrow’s Presidential primary in California. The decision these voters make will have implications on the General Election in November.

While blacked out of establishment mass media coverage, the California Green Party and Peace and Freedom Party primaries are stories of note and import. Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, and perennial candidate Ralph Nader headline fields of candidates on the ballots for both parties. In addition to these two nationally known leaders, lesser-known candidates include Bay Area socialist leader Gloria La Riva, who is competing for the Peace and Freedom Party nomination. Interested readers can check out all the candidate statements on line.

Cynthia McKinney is a rare example of a long-time Democratic Party politician, who served six terms in Congress, and who jumped from the Democrats to the Greens late last year. In abandoning hope in the Democrats, she’s embraced the Green Party as building an alternative. She’s since campaigned in 21 states, frequently appearing with Green Party candidates for local office.

McKinney is a seasoned and skilled politician, well versed on the issues, articulate, and courageously outspoken. An African American, who spent twelve years in Congress representing one of the poorest districts in the country, McKinney has the potential to get a hearing beyond the mainly White audiences whom generally receive the Green Party message.

Ralph Nader announced last week that he was forming an exploratory committee, so he’s not even committed to running yet. While it’s quite late in the primary season to begin exploring a candidacy, Nader’s name recognition, his unwavering anti-corporate message, his considerable network of supporters, and his past ability to run campaigns in all fifty states, make him an instant player.

Nader has said that if he runs, it will be as an independent, but he will seek the nomination of the Green Party, and other small left parties which have ballot lines in some states. In most states, he’d petition to make the November ballot as an independent.

The story of how both McKinney and Nader each came to be on both the Green Party and Peace and Freedom Party ballots has yet to be told. It’s part of the story of how the U. S. left continues to search for relevance in elections. Each had enough support in each party to be nominated. Nader wasn’t even officially exploring a candidacy at the time he was nominated. McKinney was nominated as a Peace and Freedom candidate, even though she has publicly registered as a Green.

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