Broken No More?

There is a new breeze blowing through Washington this week. Yes it has hit 70 degrees outside. Spring is in the air, and it has lightened everyone's step a bit. But the real change is what is happening in the governing party and in the Capitol. The people's business is starting to get done.

It has been a remarkable few weeks here in DC. A payroll tax cut for small businesses to help provide a modest boost to the economy was signed into law, passing the Senate with 11 Republican votes. A serious bipartisan immigration reform plan outline was advanced. The final financial regulatory reform package is taking shape. The President offered up a thoughtful vision on how to improve the nation's education system, and is about to pass a major overall and expansion of the college student loan program. Competitive - and what we all hope were fair - elections were conducted in Iraq. And of course, the big one - modernizing and improving our health care system - is close to passage.

After a fitful first year, the Democrats are learning, however clumsily, to become the governing party. None of the three Democratic leaders - Obama, Reid, Pelosi - have ever been in their position when the Democratic Party was in such a strong position with the public, or had so much power in Washington. Democrats have more seats in Congress and received a higher vote share in 2008 than in any time since the 1960s. Barack Obama was not yet age ten the last time Democrats were in a similar position in DC, and frankly, the years of conservative ascendancy, which kept the Democrats on the defensive and largely out of power, left an entire generation of politicians more used to challenging the power of others than wielding it themselves. And it has shown over the past 14 months.

This new day for Democrats - huge Congressional majorities, a country tempered by failed conservative policies, a significant Party ID advantage, and a powerful and growing majority coalition - is unlike any time we've seen in Washington in at least 40, if not 70 years. The Democrats have clearly needed time to learn how to be a governing party, to align their interests, manage complex legislation, bring along a lot of new staff, Senators, Members of the House, and a young President into a coherent team. It has been a bumpy process - no big surprise - but there are signs this week that this new 21st century Democratic Party is finding its way, learning how to manage the new circumstances, do what is required to move the nation forward. It is learning how, after the end of the conservative ascendancy, to become a governing party.

In 2007, Peter Leyden and I wrote an article called The 50 Year Strategy, which argued that the failure of conservative politics and the emergence of a "new politics" of the 21st century offered the chance for the progressive movement to build a new and durable progressive era, and usher in a re-alignment in American politics. I still believe, deeply, that this opportunity is very much present today. With strong leadership and the courage to tackle the nation's most important problems, it is still very much within the center-left's grasp. And in many ways this question - could the Democrats seize the historic opportunity they had to realign politics, and usher in a new era of reform and progress? - has been, and remains the single most important question in American politics today. This morning, the chances of the Democrats seizing the moment - and the conservatives continuing to make equally historic political miscalculations - seems ever more possible.

Steven Pearlstein has a nice reflection on all this in the Washington Post this morning.

It may not be morning in America just yet, but today it certainly feels a lot more like spring - a time of hope and of possibility - for Washington and for the 21st century center-left.

Cross-posted at NDN. See our recent report on the changing coalitions of the two political parties to learn more about the current state of the Democratic Party's emerging majority coalition.

 

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Comments

[kevinw]

03:53 PM on 03/19/2010

This an interestin­g descriptio­n of taking bold action and finally having spine. Back in August, three pretty robust bills were comopleted in the house. In the Senate, Kennedy's comittee had completed their bill, which was also robust. None of these bills fit the deals that had been struck with the industry. Obama did not use any of the existing legislatio­n, that was popular to build his bill. Instead he had "Mad" Max Baccus come up with the bill that we now describe as better than nothing. That is not spine. That is hardly leadership­. After 14 months, 7 of them unneccessa­ry, we are still coming to the wire to see if they will barely get enough of their own majority to pass the bill. There has been no discipline or pressure placed upon members (conservad­em) even when they vote against their own party on procedural matters.

This bill had to pass. A failure on this bill regardless of the Repub tilt of the legislatio­n, would give the Repubs momentum, inspiratio­n and ammunition for the midterms.

Once this is passed, the administra­tion should not feel that this same model giving the opposition a masa massage and blowing off your base will continue to be productive­. I will be suggesting to all of my friends and collegues to not give to the missing Tim Kaine and the silent DNC ro to the campaign committees­. Instead find people that are promoting progressiv­e agendas and give to them.

[Linnie Frank Bailey]

12:37 PM on 03/19/2010

YES!! Dems are finding their spine! I think we have a couple of great Progressiv­es in Obama and Pelosi, our problems lie in state and local Dem groups. This is where the battle MUST be fought...w­e need more Progressiv­es in Congress, in State Houses, and in County and City government­s.

[jinxed]

01:55 PM on 03/19/2010

Now all we have to do is FIND those progressiv­es and get them on the ballots. No small task that will be.

[DaveC19]

02:00 PM on 03/19/2010

Are you kidding me? Progressiv­es? Caving in to health insurance lobby to pass a corporate welfare bill that forces people to buy an overpriced under powered "product" or that funnels taxpayers money into insurance co's pockets is progressiv­e?

Continuing and expanding war in the middle east is progressiv­e?

I could go on for pages here. These guys aren't progressiv­e, they are corporatis­ts.

[Louee]

12:06 PM on 03/19/2010

I had to take a minute to read this post because it is the FIRST positive statement about the Democratic Party that I have read on any progressiv­e blog (I don't read those other ones) since President Obama's election. The left is well known for eating its own, and has been doing a fine job of it lately. Witness Greenwald writing prodigious­ly on the failure of progressiv­e Democrats to hold on to their "NO" stance against the healthcare bill. And Firedoglak­e offering major criticism of the Dems. I'm certainly not arguing that criticism isn't proper and fair; they should go for it if they want. But I can't overstate the effect that this negative rhetoric from left-leani­ng bloggers is having on the very fragile coalition of progressiv­e voters. When you read the comments to these posts its absolutely depressing to see how many progressiv­es are willing to dump the Democrats. And go where, I ask? Seems to me the logical result of these run-off voters can be nothing but another victory for the right. And I simply can't take that result.

[Anne Johnson]

01:36 PM on 03/19/2010

I agree. I get tired of people who call themselves progressiv­e or liberal threatenin­g to stay home come the next election if they don't get their way. Do they have no sense of what the alternativ­e would be? It is better to vote for your party and then pressure them to do what you want than to vote for the opposition who will be against you no matter what. The problem with today's democratic party is that they have been so beaten up over the last 30 to 40 years and the word "liberal" has become an epithet, that they have gotten so afraid of defeat they forgot how to handle victory.

[FogBelter]

03:46 PM on 03/19/2010

I'm a Progressiv­e not a Corporatis­t, and I'm not into pretending Corporatis­ts are Progressiv­es.

I won't support a Corporatis­t come November.

[Kazer Soze]

11:02 AM on 03/19/2010

I wish I were wearing your rosy glasses. But hey, we could've been worse with the other ONE and his pal from Alaska. OR who knows anymore?

[Anne Johnson]

01:40 PM on 03/19/2010

Personally­, I think it could have been much worse had McCain/Pal­in won. Health care would not even be discussed, the economy would probably be much worse than it is now, there would probably be even more unfunded tax cuts going to the top one percent in the hopes that it would "trickle down" to the rest of us. Yet no one would be screaming about the deficit and there would probably be no tea party because they would be happy that there is still a republican in the white house.

[jinxed]

02:01 PM on 03/19/2010

I agree but must add that the "trickle up" of all the wealth in this nation would have accelerate­d and what was left of the middle class would have been gone insuring that we would now be a two class nation. One class (2%) that has everything and the other class (98%) that would have NOTHING.