When I saw this Tweet this morning,
@postpoliticsPostPoliticsHow the Occupy Wall Street movement could help Democratshttp://wapo.st/vIrMv8
My first thought was hopeful: By… making them look moderate by contrast?
But I was whistling past a political graveyard. I knew that’s not what I would find when I followed the link:
The Occupy Wall Street movement is very much in its infancy, and many Americans still don’t know what to think of it. But there is also growing evidence that it could become a boon to Democrats.
A new CBS News-New York Times poll shows 43 percent of people agree with the aims of the movement, while just 27 percent say they disagree.
Set aside the unanswerable question, “agree and disagree with what?” Read on…
This is ominous. Expect Democrats to start sounding much more like populist class warriors than they already do. Expect them to go gaga over this movement the way Republicans did the Tea Party in 2010. Expect there to be no candidates out there trying to appeal to sensible independents who just go to work every day and try to earn a living and hope and pray, often in vain, that their political leaders might approach things as seriously as they do.
Think I’m wrong? Well, Phil Noble — who seems determined to turn the old Third Way movement (in SC, at least) into a vanguard of the populist left — is now using his SC New Democrats as a megaphone for OWS. From his Facebook page:
OCCUPY IN SC NEWS 10/26…TOP STORY: ‘Meet Rick Perry” in Cola and Occupy media http://bit.ly/sP332P … STATEWIDE – Occupy Your State Capital, National event, Oct 29, 12 -3, Columbia http://bit.ly/nSYBGD … Occupy the Streets / Occupy the World Nov 11, http://on.fb.me/nkgtw6 … COLA – 10 days, State House Occupation continues, Site with daily schedule http://bit.ly/nVmW80 Media on Occupy at Rick Perry event http://bit.ly/sP332P …CHAS – GA will be at the ILA Hall on Morrison Dr at 6pm on ThursdayOct 27 …G’VILLE – Sunday Oct 30, McPherson Park at 2, Main Street march at 4 http://grnol.co/pCBBlQ Nov 7 Occupy Concert 7pm, The Handelbar http://bit.ly/rufODV media: http://bit.ly/tBbyuL … S’BURG – pix from recent events http://on.fb.me/nrgPgz … MYRTLE BEACH – GA Sat, October 29 • 2:00pm – 5:00pm Chapin Park http://bit.ly/usVR88 … GREER – March Nov 5, N Main & College 12am http://bit.ly/psITUI … CLEMSON – Event Oct 27, 12pm Bowman Field http://bit.ly/roRWaD NEW Facebook pagehttp://on.fb.me/r85P0d … AIKEN – 1st GA meeting, Sun Oct 30, 2:30- 4:30 at Odell Weeks Park http://bit.ly/vLXk7Y new Facebook pagehttp://on.fb.me/nD18hp … Cache of good Occupy designs http://bit.ly/pLV62r … SEND INFO to phil@philnoble.com
Yeah, I couldn’t make much out of that, either, but I get the general idea. He’s all for OWS, or at least wants to persuade them that he is.
Dang. There’s just not going to be anyplace for the rest of us to go, is there?
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Yeah, I know. I’m calling the GOP jumping on the Tea Party wagon a “mistake,” and the partisans are all like, “Whaddya mean, ‘mistake?’ They won elections doing that, didn’t they?”
Yes, they did, and look at the result. Look no further than what happened to the SC congressional delegation. That is, what it did to the country, and to our state’s quality of representation.
Of course, in SC, there’s not as much harm to be done in that arena, because now that the Tea Party got rid of John Spratt, there are no Dems besides Clyburn in the delegation. And Clyburn is so safe, he does whatever he wants. The usual dynamics don’t apply.