The Argument: billionaires, bloggers, and the battle to remake democratic politics.
| Author | Hundal, Sunny |
| Position | Book review |
Matt Bai
PENGUIN PRESS, 2007
Imagine a left-of-centre political party without much electoral support, chided for not having enough bold ideas, facing a grumbling bunch of institutional backers that accuse it of betraying its ideological roots. Sound like New Labour? You may not be surprised to hear the same being said of the Democratic Party in the United States. This is the picture painted by New York Times journalist Matt Bai in The Argument. Away from the day-to-day concerns of most Democrat politicians and voters, Bai delves into three tightly-knit and politically-charged worlds seeking to influence the Party and its agenda: billionaire donors, radical bloggers and activist groups such as MoveOn.
The billionaires met in 2004 to try and forge a new path for progressive politics in the United States. Frustrated by George Bush's presidency and the apparent inability of Democrats to put up a serious fight, they were brought together on the back of a Powerpoint slide by Rob Stein. A long-time political operator, Stein's presentation showed how over decades conservatives had built and financed a 'message machine' to develop ideas and promote them across the country, to the advantage of Republicans and detriment of Democrats. If progressives wanted to shift the political landscape in their favour, they were going to have to develop a message machine of their own by financing it. They were soon joined in their efforts by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the AFL-CIO.
Similar observations were being made around the same time among American bloggers, who wanted to 'take back the country' from George Bush and the neo-cons by re-energising the Democrats. Chief among them were Markos Moulitsas Zuniga of the popular Daily Kos site and Jerome Armstrong of MyDD, who focused on how America could come back into the progressive fold. Bloggers were having increasing impact on Democrat politics, demonstrated by Howard Dean's emergence as a presidential candidate in 2004 and subsequent election as national party chairman.
The third focus of Bai's book is MoveOn, an online campaign founded in the wake of Republican attempts to impeach Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair. MoveOn evolved from an online petition to an action-orientated campaign group tapping into the wealth and support of liberals frustrated by political parties but still interested in politics and having an impact. Bai attends 'house-parties' organised by MoveOn...
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