Obama’s Subversion of the Democratic Party

It is all laid out here, at Digby’s blog, in “The Obama Party.” This is not written by Digby who, I sense, would have a different take on this, but by a contributor named dday.

Qualifier: I could give a rat’s ass about the Democratic party per se, but I am horrified that this party could allow itself to be taken over by what is essentially a CULT of “The One.” And to the exclusion of the MILLIONS of us who have no desire to be part of a cult. Especially having witnessed and been subjected to the brute force of his followers — who represent the coarsening of American society — I want no part of it.

Please read through the entire article … try to ignore dday’s obvious excitement about this, and look at the complete restructuring involved, which includes the banishment of people like Lanny Davis (who has become my hero for his passionate, brainy support for Hillary) and everyone who has anything to do with the Clintons — including you and me.

… He’s building a new Democratic infrastructure, regimenting it under his brand, and enlisting new technologies and more sophisticated voter contacting techniques to turn it from a normal GOTV effort into a lasting movement. The short-term goal is to increase voter turnout by such a degree that Republicans will wither in November, not just from a swamp of cash but a flood of numbers. The long-term goal is to subvert the traditional structures of the Democratic Party since the early 1990s, subvert the nascent structures that the progressive movement has been building since the late 1990s, and build a parallel structure, under his brand, that will become the new power center in American politics. This is tremendous news. [ARE YOU F--KING NUTS?!?]

However, despite his calls that change always occurs from the bottom up, these structures are very much being created and controlled from the top down. …

Here is what some longtime Dems have to say about this:

Mr. O wants to do away with ALL independent progressive groups that can not march in lockstep with his “movement”. This means that groups ranging from Media Matters to Women’s Voices Women’s Votes to EMILY’s List to the Sierra Club to Democratic Party orgs themselves are threatened by Mr. O telling his donors NOT to donate to anything other than “official Barack Obama” outfits.

Mr. O is setting up parallel party infrastructure to not only compete with the current Democratic Party, but ultimately OVERTAKE IT. He’s not just looking for control, but he wants to weed out EVERYONE who still has ties to Bill & Hillary Clinton. So say bye-bye to everyone
currently working in some capacity on Hillary’s campaign… We’re not welcome any more! …

I can’t believe this comes to mind, but this is what this takeover reminds me of: In 1969, the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) had a big convention in Chicago (ahem) in which those who advocated the violent overthrow of the U.S. government took over — and threw out — those who persisted in believing in the Martin Luther King legacy of non-violent protest. The non-violent groups were no longer welcome. They were cast-offs. It was made VERY clear that they were not to be trusted by the new violent leaders in charge.

Another person writes in an e-mail:

People, we should get this out. The Kos Boyz may be celebrating the “death of the Clintons” now, but they don’t know that they could very well be next on the chopping block themselves if they won’t fully assimilate into “The Obama Party”. This is what I feared would happen all along… If we don’t stop this madness ASAP, we can say goodbye to the Democratic Party we know and love.

From now on, we’d have to choose between the GOP and “The Obama Party”. Scary, isn’t it?

Then a person, whose opinion I particularly pay attention to, writes:

Darn right it’s scary and it’s among the reasons why, after voting a straight democratic ticket since 1972, I won’t vote for Obama. It basically means re-aligning the entire party away from the people and values that I’ve supported for decades.

Susan HERE: I’ve never been burdened by having voted straight Democrat because I’ve never seen the point in supporting a single party all the time, and prefer — ideally — voting for the best candidate. But, overall, my choices have usually been for the Democratic candidate. But NOW? With this CULT apparatus taking over the party? No, thank you.

More reactions:

This is sick. This is just like facism, which was one thing when it was just his cultist, but now he’s intent on shutting the rest of us down. Yikes.

And one more:

Against my own financial interest and in the interest of what I believed was the greater good, I’ve supported the Democratic Party (since 1960) and given it my all even when it gave me lousy candidates. But I’m done. I will not be Obotomized.

IF I HAVE TO VOTE FOR JOHN McCAIN TO STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING, I WILL DO IT. Frankly, I think he is not only more sane — his anger management issues aside — but I also think he is more qualified to be president.

MY THOUGHTS about all of this are embryonic. I’m still in such shock after reading this piece, that I need time to think it through.

And I need YOUR feedback on what this portends.

ONE MORE E-MAIL:

. But how can we get more folks to see this danger fast approaching? I mean, Mr. O wants to obliterate the whole Democratic Party, kill off all of us “Clintonites”, and centralize all power to himself. This should be frightening to more self-proclaimed “progressives”… So why are they now so docile? Why are they ready to sell their souls to this guy?

Or shall we all just buy Mr. O’s version of Mao’s Little Red Book and march in lockstep?