Open Left

Of course it's horse trading

I model the Democratic Party as acting somewhat like a coalition of smaller parties such as you would find in a parliamentary system, rather than as a big party.

If we lived in a government like Israel's system, what ministries should progressives offer centrist Democrats and Blue Dogs to induce them to form a center-left rather than a center-right coalition?  I've always been an advocate of holding firm on liberal economic issues and buying cooperation with compromises on non-economic issues, so I'd prefer to use ministries dealing with non-economic issues as trading chips.

I sincerely believe that progressives need to engage in horse trading to maximize political effect, but I don't feel as if there is any sense of prioritization in order to give a sense of what to hold firm on and what to compromise on to win votes for key issues.  The House Progressive Caucus insisting on a public option is a start and there needs to be more of that.  I would argue for holding Afghanistan-related legislation hostage, withholding things like body armor from the troops if necessary to get the point across.

Things You Don't Talk About in Polite Company: Religion, Politics, the Occasional Intersection of Both

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by: Anthony de Jesus @ Fri Jun 12, 2009 at 17:11:57 PM CDT