f{"id":18189,"date":"2021-04-01T14:45:49","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T21:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=18189"},"modified":"2021-04-01T14:45:51","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T21:45:51","slug":"the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"The Moment When Democrats Recovered Their Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">March 31, 2021 (info@prospect.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<table class=\"wp-block-table\"><tbody><tr><td>Democrats got off track around 1967, when Lyndon Johnson, who was well on the way to becoming a second FDR, blew it all on Vietnam. He also sought to go FDR one better by getting serious about racial justice.<br><br>But that led to the infamous white backlash, as exploited by Nixon\u2019s Southern strategy of coded racism. On both issues, Democrats splintered, and it\u2019s been downhill ever since.<br><br>Under Carter, Clinton, and Obama, Democrats sought to recoup by becoming a Wall Street neoliberal party that was liberal-ish on social issues. That demolished any prospects of reviving a multiracial coalition based on common pocketbook interests. And so we got the Tea Parties and then Trump.<br><br>Now, something unexpected and miraculous is happening. Joe Biden, the most centrist of the 2020 Democratic field, is governing as if he were FDR.<br><br>The Democrats are&nbsp;<em>Democrats&nbsp;<\/em>again. On pocketbook help for struggling people. On public investment, big-time. On using public debt for public purposes. On taxing the rich. On backing the labor movement. Biden is taking risks to be a racial progressive. He is beginning to rein in corporate abuses. He has even defined infrastructure as not just bricks, mortar, and steel, but as caring infrastructure.<br><br>That model was there all along, waiting to be revived. But Biden\u2019s three Democratic predecessors dismissed it and evaded it.<br><br>We can speculate on why Biden chose this path. Was it the pandemic? Was it Trump? Did the moment help him discover his inner progressive, which was hidden there all along?<br><br>The point is that he did it. And it is popular.<br><br>And Biden, unlike FDR and LBJ, is doing it with the slimmest of legislative majorities. But as Lincoln famously said, &#8220;Public sentiment&nbsp;is everything. With it, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.&#8221;<br><br>And of course, public sentiment is not static. Success builds on success.<br><br>Now, we can depress ourselves with all the ways this could come off the rails.<br><br>The Democrats could lose their nerve on using budget reconciliation to pass all major economic legislation with a simple majority. Joe Manchin could continue to play the role of dog in the manger, and resist breaking the filibuster on other urgent legislation like voting rights. A Democratic senator could die, leaving Republicans to take back the Senate.<br><br>But remember, this wasn\u2019t supposed to happen at all. Dems were not supposed to take back the Senate, and Biden was not supposed to be a progressive.<br><br>So for now, let us relish the moment and work to maximize it. I am not especially religious, but I am reminded of my favorite Jewish prayer, the Shehecheyanu, which gives thanks to the Almighty for allowing us to reach this day.<br><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>~&nbsp;ROBERT KUTTNER<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect\u00a0 March 31, 2021 (info@prospect.org) Democrats got off track around 1967, when Lyndon Johnson, who was well on the way to becoming a second FDR, blew it all on Vietnam. He also sought to go FDR one better by getting serious about racial justice. But that&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Moment When Democrats Recovered Their Soul -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Moment When Democrats Recovered Their Soul -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect\u00a0 March 31, 2021 (info@prospect.org) Democrats got off track around 1967, when Lyndon Johnson, who was well on the way to becoming a second FDR, blew it all on Vietnam. He also sought to go FDR one better by getting serious about racial justice. But that... Continue reading &rarr;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-01T21:45:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-01T21:45:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/01\\\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/01\\\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/00e700b75aa844f4f1c87e65b5f31a18\"},\"headline\":\"The Moment When Democrats Recovered Their Soul\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-01T21:45:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-01T21:45:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/01\\\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":474,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/00e700b75aa844f4f1c87e65b5f31a18\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/01\\\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/01\\\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/01\\\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Moment When Democrats Recovered Their Soul -\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-01T21:45:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-01T21:45:51+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/01\\\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/01\\\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/01\\\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Moment When Democrats Recovered Their Soul\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/\",\"name\":\"OccupySF.net\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/00e700b75aa844f4f1c87e65b5f31a18\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/00e700b75aa844f4f1c87e65b5f31a18\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/OccupySF-Bulletin-Board-2-150x128.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/OccupySF-Bulletin-Board-2-150x128.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/OccupySF-Bulletin-Board-2-150x128.jpg\",\"width\":150,\"height\":128,\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/OccupySF-Bulletin-Board-2-150x128.jpg\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/occupysf.net\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Moment When Democrats Recovered Their Soul -","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Moment When Democrats Recovered Their Soul -","og_description":"Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect\u00a0 March 31, 2021 (info@prospect.org) Democrats got off track around 1967, when Lyndon Johnson, who was well on the way to becoming a second FDR, blew it all on Vietnam. He also sought to go FDR one better by getting serious about racial justice. But that... Continue reading &rarr;","og_url":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\/","article_published_time":"2021-04-01T21:45:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-04-01T21:45:51+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/#\/schema\/person\/00e700b75aa844f4f1c87e65b5f31a18"},"headline":"The Moment When Democrats Recovered Their Soul","datePublished":"2021-04-01T21:45:49+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-01T21:45:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\/"},"wordCount":474,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/#\/schema\/person\/00e700b75aa844f4f1c87e65b5f31a18"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\/","url":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\/","name":"The Moment When Democrats Recovered Their Soul -","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-04-01T21:45:49+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-01T21:45:51+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/the-moment-when-democrats-recovered-their-soul\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Moment When Democrats Recovered Their Soul"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/","name":"OccupySF.net","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/#\/schema\/person\/00e700b75aa844f4f1c87e65b5f31a18"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/#\/schema\/person\/00e700b75aa844f4f1c87e65b5f31a18","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/OccupySF-Bulletin-Board-2-150x128.jpg","url":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/OccupySF-Bulletin-Board-2-150x128.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/OccupySF-Bulletin-Board-2-150x128.jpg","width":150,"height":128,"caption":"admin"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/OccupySF-Bulletin-Board-2-150x128.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18189\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}