The Bolshevikization of the Democratic Party

Bolsheviks (or “the Majority”) were an organization of professional revolutionaries under a strict internal hierarchy governed by the principle of democratic centralism and quasi-military discipline, who considered themselves as a vanguard of the revolutionary proletariat. Their beliefs and practices were often referred to as Bolshevism. We can safely say that Obamaism can be equated with Bolshevism, this is nothing less than a coup led by a new caudillo, Barack Obama. For someone who professes to want to run a campaign from the bottom-up, this is the inverse. It’s centralized control from the top down.

Via Ben Smith at Politico:

In a major shakeup at the Democratic National Committee — and a departure from tradition — large parts of the committee’s operations are relocating to Chicago to be fully integrated with the Obama campaign.

The DNC’s political department, housed in Washington, D.C., will be dramatically rebuilt, with staffers offered a choice of moving to Chicago, joining state operations, or staying in Washington, DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney said.

But the power will clearly be shifting to a centralized Chicago hub.

The DNC’s key role in coordinating political operations with state parties is expected to largely be taken over and overseen by Obama’s senior staff in Chicago, state party officials said.

“This is part of the implementation of the plans Paul [Tewes] discussed last week with the state party chairs,” Finney said. “As part of the efforts to fully integrate DNC operations with the Obama campaign here in Washington, in Chicago and in the states, political, field and constituency operations are moving to Chicago to work in the Obama headquarters. The goal is to consolidate these efforts into one operation and effectively drive one national strategy.”

People familiar with the plan said that state party staffers paid for under Howard Dean’s 50 State Program would be shifted to working for the presidential campaign, at least in targeted battleground states.

The move reflects Obama’s desire to maintain an unusually streamlined campaign, as well as his swift and complete takeover of a Democratic Party that isn’t always known for its unity. The move may also save the campaign money, as the Obama campaign can use DNC salaries and staff to pay for elements of its organizing campaign and avoid some of the duplication that has often dogged presidential efforts.

Such a centralization of the Party’s apparatus is an inherent danger to the big tent character of the Democratic Party. Obama is seeking to personify the Democratic Party. No one person personifies the Democratic Party. This is an internal coup following on the heels of the May 31st Rules and By-Laws Committee that was anything but democratic, the Democratic Party is now a Bolshevik party. Political parties in Western democracies are governed by consensus, not by fiat. There is no place for a Politburo or a Central Committee that dictates commands. Such an apparatus is inherently anti-democratic and against the long-standing principles of the US Democratic Party, we were a party of inclusion, not exclusion. The more you tighten the screws, the more we shall resist you.

Obama and his cohorts need to be reminded of Barbara Jordan’s Keynote Address at the Democratic Convention in 1976:

We are a party — We are a party of innovation. We do not reject our traditions, but we are willing to adapt to changing circumstances, when change we must. We are willing to suffer the discomfort of change in order to achieve a better future. We have a positive vision of the future founded on the belief that the gap between the promise and reality of America can one day be finally closed. We believe that.

This, my friends is the bedrock of our concept of governing. This is a part of the reason why Americans have turned to the Democratic Party. These are the foundations upon which a national community can be built. Let all understand that these guiding principles cannot be discarded for short-term political gains. They represent what this country is all about. They are indigenous to the American idea. And these are principles which are not negotiable.

There is no executive order; there is no law that can require the American people to form a national community. This we must do as individuals, and if we do it as individuals, there is no President of the United States who can veto that decision.

As a first step — As a first step, we must restore our belief in ourselves. We are a generous people, so why can’t we be generous with each other? We need to take to heart the words spoken by Thomas Jefferson:

Let us restore the social intercourse — “Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and that affection without which liberty and even life are but dreary things.”

A nation is formed by the willingness of each of us to share in the responsibility for upholding the common good. A government is invigorated when each one of us is willing to participate in shaping the future of this nation. In this election year, we must define the “common good” and begin again to shape a common future. Let each person do his or her part. If one citizen is unwilling to participate, all of us are going to suffer. For the American idea, though it is shared by all of us, is realized in each one of us.

To listen to her full speech, please visit American Rhetoric.

The essence of a party is a diversity of opinion, a plurality of views. One person does not personify a party for the concept of party is, ipso facto, more than one. And I must ask this question, if this had been Senator Clinton moving the DNC to New York, can you imagine the outrage and indignation that would have resulted?

As Barbara Jordan put it, there is no executive order.

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From my blog, By The Fault.