Red All Over

Facing up and Moving On

Marc Cooper has some good thoughts (and links) on the phenomenon of progressive activists refusing to face up to the reality of the electoral defeat. His LA Weekly column is particularly insightful, if a tad strident:

I demand no mea culpas from the Democrats. In fact, I don’t really care what the Democrats do. The hardened inner shell of the party can and will go on as it pleases, raising gazillions and favoring sure-fire loser candidates like Hillary Clinton.

I do care, however, about all those liberals and radicals and young voters who invested so much of their hope in MoveOn and similar groups as the backbone of some new progressive movement. Please proceed with great caution and even more skepticism.

The attendees at the MoveOn parties were asked to vote on what they think are the most important issues to be pursued over the next four years. The results, by my reckoning, are mind-blowing. Election reform and media reform came in first and second.

This is classic denial, a clumsy outsourcing of political responsibility. The inherent message: We or, if you prefer, Kerry lost because the voting was fishy and the media were skewed. Not our fault that we couldn’t rouse a majority. The only big problem Democrats have are external, not internal.