Hillary Shifts to the Right, and Eventual Cognitive Dissonance

I am not one of those people who will claim that Hillary shifts to the "center." When you are to the right on far too many issues, the only direction that you can really shift is rightward.

The reason I am posting this is because of the cognitive dissonance that Hillary Clinton supporters will be feeling soon. I remember not that long ago how much flack Bernie Sanders received at TOP when he talked about why Trump supporters should support him. The regular Hillary sycophants (many of them front pagers over there) blasted him for considering courting Republicans and especially the "racist Trump supporters." Unlike the Democratic Party sycophants at TOP, Bernie recognized that that these voters have a right to be angry. He recognized that Donald Trump was tapping into a real frustration among voters. Bernie talked about reaching out to them in order to show them where the real problems are. He wanted to convince them that non-whites are simply scapegoats that the establishment uses to hide what they do to screw us all. These working class people recognize that they are "being fucked by a system that threw them overboard 30 fucking years ago." (trying to quote George Carlin) It was, disappointing to say the least, that there was a broad brush being painted about these people. This idea that the only reason that these people could support Trump is because they hated non-white people is ridiculous. Even if their reasons for supporting Trump are based on misinformation, I can empathize with their desire for someone who will not do things the same way as everyone else. They might not know the ins and outs of how politics works, but they are correct in the fact that they have been left behind by our, supposedly, representative government.

Now we have Hillary Clinton courting Republican voters, among them will be the likely wavering Trump supporters. Personally, I can't get over the hypocrisy of this. I am sure Hillary's supporters over there will point out that she isn't courting Trump's hardline supporters. She is going after "reasonable" Republicans, like Robert Kagan, Max Boot, and the economic elites in the Republican Party. They will do this without asking the question, "why would these right wingers, who have done horrible damage to this country and have more horrible ideas that they would like to institute, support Hillary Clinton over a billionaire businessman?" What is it about this particular Democrat that makes them support her over a candidate who embodies their ideas. Shouldn't her desire to bring these people into the "big tent" scare Democrats? Of course it won't because the Democratic Party no longer stands for anything.

I know that I have been pounding this message a lot lately, but it has been on my mind a ton. I am also not the type of person that has to know the numbers to know that we are getting the shaft. It is plainly obvious to anyone that truly pays attention. It is also plainly obvious that the Democrats are just as guilty as the Republicans and maybe more so. The Democratic Party, if it wants a future, has to purge the Clinton Democrats from the party. Until then, reforming the party is all but impossible. On this issue, Michelle Alexander is completely correct.

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cardboardurinal's picture

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boriscleto's picture

The fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white and blue dick that’s being jammed up their assholes everyday, because the owners of this country know the truth. It’s called the American Dream cause you have to be asleep to believe it . . .

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

cardboardurinal's picture

for bringing up TOP again in this post, but I find it is fairly indicative of Hillary's supporters as whole. They are a microcosm for how disconnected some of them can be to the struggles of the working people.

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Slightkc's picture

-IF- the number of those over at TOP are any indication, Third Way has successfully co-opted the Democratic Party. I've watched them appeal to "moderate" republicans for several election cycles, and raised the question several times regarding filling our party with repubs of any stripe. As you can guess, that was not well received. I got the "we're a big tent party" reasons among others I won't quote. You'd have to have blinders on not to see what was happening!

Now that we've got so much "power" money invested in the DNC, the DINO democrats in office, and greasing the way forward for more Dems the big money likes, I think the question changes from "How do we take back the party?" to "Is it worth the time and effort to throw them out and take the party back to the party of FDR?"

Lately, I've been leaning toward either finding another party and seeing if we liberals would be a good fit, or hoping a whole new "Progressive Party" would crop up to throw in with.

Bernie started months behind the curve because he didn't have the name recognition of Hillary, nor did he get any media time. While he used this time to his advantage and gained a huge backing, Hillary used the time to do whatever needed to be done to secure as many super-delegates as she could. Totally lopsided, unfair, and anti-democratic, if you ask me. But what it also tells me is Hillary KNEW she wouldn't get the FDR libs if anyone else ran, and she discounted us front the start. Instead, she'd try for the "women's vote," (and notice, that wasn't the Feminist vote!)... and then reach out to more repubicans to try to bring them into the party. That Trump actually was the last man standing over there has totally worked to her advantage now.

So, Bernie's got the election wins and a huge backing of people, but Hillary has most of the super delegates in her pocket.

Against this, Bernie may have started enough of a revolution for a whole new party. And I don't think it'd be long, after we once got organized and established, that we could start pushing back on the two party system... particularly when the main difference between the other two parties is how socially liberal one is over the other!

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earthling1's picture

Bernie Sanders supporters hold the power to decide whom will be our next President.
And that frightens the shit out of Hillary and her little Clintonoid minions.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Meteor Man's picture

Am I missing something? Isn't the Green Party the movement that we've been looking for?

Already established in 50 states. Check.

An environmental platform we can all agree on. Check.

A human rights program we can all agree on. Check.

A commitment to economic equality we can all agree on. Check.

A pro choice platform we can all agree on. Check.

What more can Berniacs ask for?

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"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn

Slightkc's picture

As far as I know, the Green Party (Jill Stein, right?) is the closest fit I've checked into. But I doubt any two groups are going to be 100% on everything -- whether that be an issue or the method to accomplish it. That's why a confab between the two groups to establish a combined platform would be important to accomplish quickly first. No use wasting time if we see our message isn't welcome...

I tried checking earlier on the Green Party thru a link on the site in an earlier diary, but got nowhere. I do believe I remember seeing the Green Party listed last Prez election. And this is in Kansas! Wonder of Wonders... I'm amazed Brownback hasn't "pruned" that list, as well!

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earthling1's picture

Is Trump admits the entire system is rigged.
Bernie castigates the system as rigged .
Hillary says "Ummm ", bla bla something something this n' that.
Hillary supporters say "Bernie lies bla bla yadda yadda loser something something.
Figuring this shit out in NOT rocket science folks.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

I think we all knew "Progressive Hillary" was a limited-time offer. The only question was which would last longer, KFC's Nashville Hot Chicken or "Progressive Hillary."

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"We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."

Slightkc's picture

I gave the whole notion of "Progressive Hillary" my biggest Witch's cackle!

And "Progressive Hillary" lasted about as long as that cackle, too! (LOL)

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ngant17's picture

an idea built into the Hillary "progressive" concept from the beginning.

Her duplicity and treachery is the hidden but permanent fixture of whatever political incarnation she will take on in the coming political charades.

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A shift towards the center from Hillary would be a most welcome thing.

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

Damnit Janet's picture

is telling us we have a two party of Lesser of Two Evils, when we all know that they are just the same.

Fuck the R&Ds. Same corruption.

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"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison

cardboardurinal's picture

I don't think the parties are the same. There are a number of issues where there are differences. Where they are the same, however, is that neither actually care for most of the people in this country. They both have different sets of masters with slightly different agendas.

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Damnit Janet's picture

If you are the "master" and you have a puppet that attracts one portion of the people and you also have another puppet that attracts the other side... then you have both. But at the end of the day, they each work for the same owner.

I'm just done with being strung along.

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"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison

Alphalop's picture

I think it is quite clear that progressives shouldn't.

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"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me

GreyWolf's picture

As a regular diet of Big Macs is nutritionally deficient, the constant delusional perspective presented as bread and circus for the masses by the corporate media is morally and intellectually deficient. The Intercept, Counter Punch, ShadowProof, I think these news sites probably have the vitamins you head craves. ;->

"Rather than Campaign as a Liberal Alternative to Trump, Clinton to Run as a Smarter Republican" - shadowproof.com

"... Hillary Clinton will directly appeal to moderate Republicans in order to win the general election, if she becomes the nominee.

The strategy will not only allow Clinton to be her authentic political self again, but it will also end the charade of moving to the left to appease supporters of her opponent, Bernie Sanders. It would also diminish any confusion over whether Clinton is anything more than a corporate Democrat, who progressives should approach with great skepticism and opposition. ..."

"Hillary Clinton and the End of the Democratic Party" - counterpunch.org

... what about Mrs. Clinton’s policies, or those of any other establishment Democrat for that matter, could inheritance babies, oil and gas industry magnates and long-term supporters of the radical Right like Mr. Koch possibly object to? Mr. Koch was simply saying out loud what anyone paying attention to American politics in recent decades already knows: the Democratic Party is the Party of Wall Street and of corporate America.

To the political inconvenience of said establishment Democrats, including Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Koch’s endorsement has content behind it. His charge (link above) is that establishment Democrats have the softer touch needed in present circumstance to sell Conservative policies like deregulation of industry and fiscal austerity. As Bill Clinton, whose policies Mr. Koch preferred to those of George W. Bush, and Barack Obama have demonstrated— it is socially liberal Democrats who have been the better proponents of Wall Street’s neo-capitalist takeover precisely because they accomplish with stealth economic policies what Republicans attempt more straightforwardly through politics. ...

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cardboardurinal's picture

I just felt "mainstream" sources were better to use in this situation.

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ZimInSeattle's picture

It went over well, but I was kind of hoping I'd get banned. I particularly like this paragraph:

Another term for universal health care coverage, high-quality public education, guaranteed jobs that pay a living wage and income security in old age is ‘civilization.’ The contortions of the (Charles) Kochian ‘maker / taker’ shit-logic that Hillary Clinton and her Liberal zen economicseconomists put themselves through to conclude that ‘we can’t afford civilization for the rest of you’ well-illustrates whose interests they serve. Insipid nonsense like economic ‘models’ that demonstrate that the universal healthcare, public education and living wages offered by other developed nations are Left-wing fantasies are declarations of class war launched by the Liberal class against the working classes and the poor.
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"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020

ZimInSeattle's picture

TOP has a particularly acute case. Why not court Republicans? They are her natural constituency. I too have my doubts whether or not the Democratic Party is beyond repair. I think a lot of the appeal of Trump on the right and even some on the left, is not that he would be a good president, but rather electing him is the one and only sure fire way of destroying both parties and the Clinton's at the same time. I may be #BernieOrBust, but they are #BurnItAllDown, Because Fuck This Shit. And I must say I understand the sentiment. It may be easier just to start over. It's looking more and more like my sig line.

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"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020

Unabashed Liberal's picture

just like I'm sure that the term will make her supporters' heads explode!

Thanks for the diary. You would think that FSC's pandering to Republicans would tell these folks something--but, I wouldn't hold my breath. I think they're allergic to facts.

Wink

Mollie


“If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.”
--Charles Darwin
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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Hillary clearly thinks she's won already, and is wasting no time in returning to her true positions. She can't dump the memes she stole from Bernie fast enough. After all, where else do we liberals have to do with our votes?

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Vowing To Oppose Everything Trump Attempts.

issues, both domestic and foreign. He's actually exposed the BS debt meme today!! (is he an MMTer???)
"Whether through debt buyback or restructuring, neither of Trump's debt-reduction proposals from the past week square with his party's core approach on the issue -- deep spending cuts and entitlement program reform."
(and Grover agreed with that idea-thus exposing the debt argument as strictly an ideological position not based on facts. but is being used to impoverish the citizens and the commons)
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/09/politics/donald-trump-national-debt-strategy/

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actually prefer Clinton because of her stance on policy issues? I'm sure there are some, but I suspect those that do, prefer Clinton on economic and foreign policy, specifically because she will be more like a Republican.

A lot of the defenses of Clinton that I'm seeing don't really deal with policy. The biggest selling point that her backers are pushing is that she isn't Donald Trump. It's a very low bar.

I think the bigger problem with her move to the right is that it will only further dampen enthusiasm from those Democrats and Democratic leaning independents who didn't vote for her in the primary. It's doubtful that she can fill the gap with disaffected GOP support.

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riverlover's picture

Pretty much worldwide. The Clinton adorers either plan to personally gain or are completely blind to what's been done to them. The DNC/DLC/Third Wayers have effectively persuaded that Fear of Republicans is right up there with fear of ISIS, and everything possible should be done to take back our government for our beneficent rulers. Somehow, not noticing that the Republican Party is running most government levels in the US. Just keep saying encouraging words like "Run for School Board for a start, in 50 years you could be on the City Council!".

We can't even hold the multinational corporations to blame, and they run the globe.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

clarkatticus's picture

Hillary is an incrementalist. She moves the liberal platform forward as far as she thinks is possible given the political climate at that place and time. She "evolves", a lot. This may dismay you, it sure pissed me off when she voted to give GW war powers. In some cases this may be the best way foreword, it has worked in the past (DADT), in some cases it would have been better to vote your conscience (war powers). Our intervention in Libya was at the behest of our European allies, sort of a quid pro quo for their support in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was a large turd sandwich to swallow but I saw little way out of it. Bernie has the advantage of being right on every issue with a complete accurate analysis of what will happen if we choose wrong, on video even. History will decide who will be more effective, I believe in Bernie but I'm not going to destroy the world and not vote for Hillary if Bernie loses.

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"Oh, uh, there won't be any money but when you die, on your death bed, you will receive total consciousness", so I got that join' for me...-Carl Spackler, Caddyshack

cardboardurinal's picture

kind of shit I am talking about. Donald Trump becoming POTUS would not be the end of the world. Would things get shittier? Yes. But this idea that one President would "destroy the world" is bullshit and it is scaremongering. I have argued many times before that Hillary is actually much more dangerous than Trump. For one, she is an insider who will have a lot of support (even among Republicans) on too many ideas. They agree on trade, banking, foreign policy, privacy, etc. Donald Trump, for all of his bluster, knows jack shit about politics in America. He has few allies on the Hill, and thus would get NOTHING done.
Please give up on the scaremongering. It is untrue, too simplistic, and perpetuates the disconnect between the Democratic Party and the people. If the Democratic Party wants my vote, they have to court it. They have done absolutely fucking nothing on the issues I find important. So I say fuck them!!!!!

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clarkatticus's picture

I have faith that even this insane congress and a competent military would prevent Trump from nuking Great Britain, but it would probably be the end of NATO. More important, another 4 years and maybe 2 more supreme court justices would give us 20 years of a conservative court. This may not be the end of the world but it is certainly 20 years of radical conservatism and setting back civil rights a couple decades, that to me is unmitigated disaster. Maybe you are OK with 20 years, I'm not good with 4. If you think not voting or voting for "No Chance" Charlie in another party will advance your agenda you are delusional, Hillary is not my dream candidate but she will advance some of my agenda, I'll take it.

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"Oh, uh, there won't be any money but when you die, on your death bed, you will receive total consciousness", so I got that join' for me...-Carl Spackler, Caddyshack