[Marxism] Blacks, Latinos and the Democratic Primaries -- a Bureau of Electoral Cretinism special report

[Louis Proyect]

Walter wrote:
>Thanks to Louis for posting that item by Susan Eisenhower today. She 
>is supporting Obama for GOOD reasons: "Deep in America's heart, I 
>believe, is the nagging fear that our best years as a nation may be 
>over. We are disliked overseas and feel insecure at home. We watch 
>as our federal budget hemorrhages red ink and our civil liberties 
>are eroded. Crises in energy, health care and education threaten our 
>way of life and our ability to compete internationally. There are 
>also the issues of a costly, unpopular war; a long-neglected 
>infrastructure; and an aging and increasingly needy population."

Perhaps you did not understand why I posted it. Let me make very 
simple so that everybody will understand it, including you. There is 
no longer a Democratic Party in the sense that there once was when 
the trade unions were more powerful and when the ruling class had 
more crumbs to toss from the dining table.  You can even date when 
this shift took place. It was under the Carter presidency. From 
Carter onwards, every Democratic candidate for president has run as a 
liberal Republican. Back in the early 1960s, the Republican Party had 
many more such politicians, including Nelson Rockefeller, But after 
the triumph of Reaganism (Thatcherism in Great Britain), liberal 
Republicanism became extinct. It was up to Carter, Clinton and now 
either his wife or Obama to carry on in the Eisenhower tradition. 
Susan Eisenhower says Obama can "inspire and pursue genuine 
bipartisan cooperation." Although I doubt that he will end up as the 
DP candidate, I am quite sure that he will govern the country in the 
spirit of "bipartisan cooperation".

Bipartisan cooperation is just another word for the centrist rule 
that marked the Clinton administration. It involves trade deals like 
NAFTA, ending aid to dependent children, moves to privatize social 
security, etc. Leaving aside the rhetoric of "hope" and "change", the 
Obama economic program will leave the social and economic cleavage 
wrought by Bush and his predecessor Bill Clinton untouched.