Shane wrote: >> The "inside" of the Dumbocratic Party--a "party" with >> no members--is even harder to find than the "struggle" >> within it
Julio: > If the DP is such an empty shell, then why do you even bother taxing > your brain with such an ingenious wordplay? Isn't that an overkill? It's obvious to me that the DP isn't an "empty shell." It's a coalition of political organizations and interest groups. It's more than the standard organization we see on the near-left, i.e., those with a staff and a mailing list, that's always soliciting funds and then distributing them and doesn't do much else: the DP actually has to run electoral campaigns. The DP is mostly dominated by the elected & appointed officials (and their staffs) and the main sources of donations. There's a serious rank and file of professional Democrats, i.e., those who not only generally accept the somewhat vague principles of the DP but also want jobs in the various Party apparati and in government. There's also a halo of non-professionals who identify with the DP (and usually vote for it). There's also a bunch of organizations such as what's left of organized labor, which allies with DP efforts, scratching the Party's back in return for hopes that the Party will scratch theirs. The GOP does have much more coherence, both in organization and ideology. Perhaps the DP is an empty shell only in the sense that it doesn't live up to (or down to) the GOP's standards. The DP also isn't coherent relative to "Leninist" parties. -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
