> This is really a very interesting way to think about the left and the
> dems,
> Marvin. I think you hit a nail on the head that I had never even
> discerned.
>
> The only quibble I would add is that while the politics of a clinton and
> giuliani are in some ways substantially similar, the republican right base
> is such a massive and fierce section of that party, that I think they
> would
> wring concessions out of giuliani we would find quite terrible. Maybe not
> the rollback of roe v wade, but, on the public sector, civil liberties and
> unions, I think a giuliani presidency will vastly overshadow even
> clinton's
> dismal swinish behavior.
======================
Thanks, Jim. There's no question that, disappointing as they are in
advancing the interests of working people and the social movements, the DP
and the social democratic parties do try, for the most part, to defend their
historic gains against the conservative parties which want to take them
away. If they can't or won't fully defend social security or other reforms
associated with the welfare state, they'll try to finesse and limit the
damage to them. By contrast, the conserviative base of the Republicans is,
as you say, deeply hostile to the social constituencies who form the
backbone of the DP, and the Republican program flat out rejects their
demands, which find expression instead in the Democrats' platform.
As you know from your own experience in the labour movement, the underlying differences may not be that apparent during elections or in the superficial media, but they become evident in the legislative committees and in the regulatory agencies and courts where the power to appoint is crucial.
Having said that, I'd be surprised if a another Republican presidency would turn out to be as reactionary as the current one. I think the bipartisan US ruling class recognizes that it needs to do something about the damage to US foreign policy and about growing domestic inequality and insecurity and resulting popular discontent, which is beginning to affect even the conservative base of the RP. So the Republicans, whether or not they recapture the presidency, may have to adapt to a more liberal political climate ushered in by the 2006 congressional election. That's assuming there's not another big terror attack to further traumatize the US population and again shift the political centre of gravity back to the right.