LEFT TURN (R.Perlstein's solution for Dem Woes=Blast Wal-Mart)

The Corner ^ | 11/7/04 | John Miller

[finnman69]

The Boston Globe has asked five Democrats to explain what's next for the party. As with so many of these symposia, my favorite entry is the one that gives the worst advice. In this case, it's from Rick Perlstein, a Village Voice writer. He believes Democrats should declare war on Wal-Mart: "When heartland Americans are asked what they think is going wrong with America, 'Wal-Mart' is one of the first words out of their mouths." Why? Because there aren't enough of them? Because they wish the aisles were cleaned up a little better? No, because Wal-Mart is a corporate predator that breaks anti-discrimination laws and destroy jobs. Hillary Clinton, Perlstein reminds us, "is a former member of the board of directors of Wal-Mart. She should not be able to get within spitting distance of a Democratic presidential nomination until she explains, if not apologizes for, her service on it."

[finnman69]

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/11/07/wheres_the_party?pg=full

[finnman69]

Where's the party?

An Ideas forum on what the reelection of George W. Bush means for the Democrats

By Lawrence S. DiCara, Elaine Kamarck, Thomas E. Mann, Harold Meyerson, and Rick Perlstein | November 7, 2004

DEMOCRATS WOKE UP on Wednesday morning to a cold rain and a colder reality: Despite the hopes raised by historic turnouts and illusive early exit polls on Tuesday, the Curse of 2000 would not be reversed. No amount of lawyering in Ohio or anywhere else would change the fact that George W. Bush, shrugging off all the rage and reason Democrats hurled against him, had won an undeniable, if undeniably slight, majority of the popular and electoral vote. All those "Re-Defeat Bush" stickers looked pitifully dated in the new light.

Now the Democratic Party finds itself in a familiar place, in search not only of national leadership but of something even more basic: a compass point. The tactical lessons of the ground-war defeat will be hashed over from now until 2008. The harder, more immediate, questions have to do with fundamental principles. What do Democrats believe in? How should they act as the opposition party? What, if anything, can they do to recapture middle America?

To assess the challenges facing Democrats in the wake of Bush's victory, we asked five astute observers to offer their views on where the party of Jackson, Roosevelt, and Clinton now stands, and where it goes from here.

[finnman69]

The Wal-Mart factor

By Rick Perlstein

ON ELECTION MORNING I was listening to National Public Radio -- part of what Nation columnist Eric Alterman calls the "So-Called Liberal Media" -- when I heard the kind of thing that drives Democrats like me around the bend. A commentator was explaining that the answer to all of Japan's economic woes was . . . Wal-Mart.

"It could drive smaller retailers out of business, free up land for better uses," I heard -- although I barely heard it over my own cursing. This is not a matter of free trade. It is about the fact that Wal-Mart is a corporate predator, alleged to have broken all kinds of labor, immigration, and anti-discrimination laws. What's more, economists have argued that, far from boosting weak local economies, the presence of a Wal-Mart store in a town kills more jobs than it replaces. Why, I asked my radio, does NPR feel that the dictates of "balance" require them to put on radical right-wing free market ideologues, even when they're telling less than half the truth?

Then, the announcer gave the identity of the commentator, and I really got mad. It was a former undersecretary of commerce for the Clinton administration -- a Democrat.

This is an election story. One year ago, I reported in an article from Rockford, Ill., that when heartland Americans are asked what they think is going wrong with America, "Wal-Mart" is one of the first words out of their mouths. "They pay their workers substandard wages," one factory worker told me. Interestingly, his boss hates them even more -- for the way they force manufacturing jobs out of the country in their too-ruthless drive to cut costs. Judy, another factory owner, who soon after I spoke to her lost her business, said it was a family values issue: "The moms that used to have a factory job with me and who go home at the end of eight hours . . . and take care of their children and have decent day care, now they're working two jobs at Wal-Mart with no health benefits."

And yet the Democrats are not in a position to capitalize on this sort of broad-based frustration with our nation's present Wal-Mart economy, because they are complicit in it. Here's one example: Hillary Clinton is a former member of the board of directors of Wal-Mart. She should not be able to get within spitting distance of a Democratic presidential nomination until she explains, if not apologizes for, her service on it.

For a party whose major competitive advantage over the opposition is its credibility in protecting ordinary people from economic insecurity, anything that compromises that credibility is disastrous.

Even worse, the Democrats don't need Wal-Mart's support -- but the Republicans certainly do: Eighty percent of the staggering $1.5 million in contributions from Wal-Mart's political action committee, the second biggest in corporate America, went to Republicans. The stronger this corporation is, the better off the Republican Party is. And, this Democrat believes, the worse off America is.

We've already heard a lot about the rise of the evangelical vote in this presidential election. Well, God-fearing middle Americans who also fear for their families' economic security would be far more likely to vote their economic interests -- rather than on matters like gay marriage and abortion -- if the Democratic Party beat a public retreat from a politics that condones or even celebrates the Wal-Martization of America and the world. This is the way forward for the Democrats.

Rick Perlstein is chief national political correspondent for the Village Voice and the author of "Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus."

[starfish923]

Harhar. I love it.
Democrats eating their own.
They are pro-abortion...like eating their own young.
Completely in character for the ultra liberals.

[dr_who_2]

Rural voters may b***h and moan about Walmarts popping up all over, but they'll also shop there every chance they get.

[finnman69]

Paranoid Post-election Perlstein Ping!

[dr_who_2]

What's more, economists have argued that, far from boosting weak local economies, the presence of a Wal-Mart store in a town kills more jobs than it replaces.

Funny how they don't mention who these economists are.

[Batrachian]

Going after Halliburton didn't work, so they try another company.

Why do we keep hearing how smart Democrats are? I see little evidence of it. They're good at screwing up our country, but fools can break things too. They're not very good at anything else.

[claudiustg]

Walmart has certainly done a number on Kmart, a big Dem supporter. All the Democrats can come up with anymore is lie, attack, and destroy. It appears the radical anti-everything contingent is in full control.

[pollwatcher]

Leave the solution to someone who's own paper is GIVEN AWAY in NYC!

[SKI NOW]

Why do liberal dems, who are always mouthing their concern for the downtrodden, actually hate the poor so much? Their hatred of the Walmarts of the world, means that the poor will pay more for the everyday necessties.

OK, I'll answer my own question. Their so called "concern" is no more than moral preening, Their versioin of elitism.

[SunnySide]

"Rural voters may b***h and moan about Walmarts popping up all over, but they'll also shop there every chance they get."

True and in the true spirit of American competition many dollar stores have popped up and are gaining on Wal-mart so... ie., nobody stays at the top forever and the turn over is getting shorter.

[NaughtiusMaximus]

OOOOOOOOHHHHH! I'm so sad. My tears are dripping into my soymilk latte! BOOOHOOO!! BOOOHOOO!! How could Bush have won? I don't know anyone who voted for him. (Pass the Prozac bottle, Bruce, it's not yours you know.) WHINE! SNIVEL! I spent six years learning interpretive dance and now all the grant money's gone. I'll have to go to work at Walmart! BAWL!! I'm going to sell the Volvo and move to Canada where I'm appreciated. HOWL!

[dr_who_2]

What I'd like to see is a store that sells goods (like clothing) that last. I'd pay more for clothing if it could withstand multiple washings and wear without the fabric giving way. Funny how any brand of jeans you buy develops holes in the seat after a certain amount of time. That, and the edges always fray on any pair of trousers. Innovation and function trumps style.

[dead]

Perlstein used to be a fairly reasonable observer of the political dynamic in this country, but like so many liberal commenatators, the relentless success of Bush has knocked him completely off the rails.

He's gone for intelligent liberal observations to complete Michael Moorian DU paranoia and rage.

It's a little sad, but its mostly funny.

[finnman69]

Clearly Perlstein wont be one of the Democrats required to recognize that they are simultaneously driving and losing the Culture War that was a part of Bush's re-election.


It's as if they keep sticking their hand in a fan,growing angrier and angrier, blaming the fan for their pain.

[Libertina]

No amount of lawyering in Ohio or anywhere
These people care for themselves more than they do their country... Praise God we were not under their thumbs.

[SunnySide]

"What I'd like to see is a store that sells goods (like clothing) that last."

It's called comparison shopping. Many have jumped from Levi jean's ever since a Japanese company bought Levi's, dropped the thick canvas material and now make the jeans with an inferior thinner fabric yet charge the same or more. They're out there you just have to search them out. Things change so your shopping habits will have to keep up.

[riri]

It's as if they keep sticking their hand in a fan,growing angrier and angrier, blaming the fan for their pain

And I pray they keep it up.

[Malleus Dei]

There's a Super Wal-Mart about ten blocks from my house. It's clean, has good prices, and is open 24/7. I like it.

As to the barking moonbats, what's their damage? It's a free country; if you moonbats don't like Wal-Mart, then don't shop there. Sheesh.