Right now the progressive community, and DailyKos with it, is switching gears - for the first time in a very long time, not only is one of our own in power, but we nearly have both houses of congress! But we have to learn how to now move from simply getting our people in office, to making sure our folks deliver.
And this is how we can learn from the republicans. More below-
I'm greeted this morning by a headline on Huffington Post, "GOP Moderates Live in Fear of Right Wing Republican Study Committee."
Republicans fear deserting their base because they fear they'll be 'primaried' - from the right. And yet those on the left seem to always feel they need to move to the center once they get elected, rather than finally move this country in a progressive direction. And when in the minority, we always feel we need to compromise to get in office!
Repubs do the opposite, they always stick to their base (which is madness, in this case, because their base is kinda mad in the first place, and right now reality and tax cuts aren't exactly on the same page). But think about it - because nobody on their side ever deserts their base, the nutty ideas the base stands for ('tax cuts no matter what!') come to seem reasonable simple because they say it with so much conviction.
But why do they have such conviction, and as soon as they govern, fear letting their constituents down? Because their afraid of getting a primary on their right!
Its time our progressive movement shifts gears, from getting our folks elected to holding them accountable. And we did it once with Ned Lamont. But we need to keep our people honest.
And one word does it. PRIMARY. From the left. And the repubs, it seems, have a 'Republican Study Committee' around just to make sure that those who stray too far know well in advance to keep to the right. Well, we need some way to make sure our lefties stay honest, and know that if they don't, that a primary on the left could hapeen, one called for actively by the netroots.
Time to switch gears, and learn how to be an accountability machine, methinks. And who said keeping our people a little scared of a primary from the left isn't a good thing? If anything, it will keep our message in the media, and hopefully, keep our folks from putting centrism over activism.
Why don't we have some sort of equivalent of this 'Republican Study Committee'? We Need One!