Vol. 3 No. 9 (January 2005)
Uncommon Denominator
The Newsletter of the Commonweal Institute
www.commonwealinstitute.org
"Hope is the
pillar that holds up the world."
-- Pliny the Elder
CONTENTS
Talking
Points: Keeping young progressives energized
Poll-Watch: Conservatives and the mainstream
Wit and Wisdom: The year in words
Check It Out: What does GOP spell?
Quoted! A
Featured Article: From Andersonville to Abu
Ghraib
Happenings: Monthly round-up
Endorsements: Nancy Pelosi
Get Involved: Spread the word; become a
contributor
TALKING POINTS
"No progressive change," says Bernard Goldberg, "has ever
occurred anywhere in the world without the energy and inspiration of young
people." If that is the case, then progressives should take solace in the
fact that, in 2004, Americans under 30 voted in record numbers -- over 21
million, that is, surpassing 50 percent turnout for the first time in 12 years.
These voters generally supported the more progressive candidates, and gave John
Kerry a 2.1 million vote advantage over the conservative policies of President
Bush-the only age group that broke for the challenger. (On youth attitudes and
involvement in the election, see the press release
by The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement
[CIRCLE] and CNN's
pre-election poll).
Moreover, the last several years have seen a large increase in political
activism among the "youth vote." Whether it was waiting in
Yet progressive losses in the 2004 election -- along with the media's framing
of the results as a massive defeat -- have left many of these new voters,
volunteers, and activists feeling helpless and skeptical of electoral
involvement. To channel and maintain the energy and activism of younger
voters, progressive groups need to act now to support and develop programs for
this crucial constituency. Younger voters are, after all, our source of
future progressive activists and politicians.
In sharp contrast to the conservative movement, which has made a priority of
recruiting and training future leaders, progressive organizations have more or
less left the younger generation, especially college students, to fend for
themselves. While more than half of all college students are active in
community service of some sort, few of these students have a dedicated
infrastructure to help them get involved in the electoral process or policy
making. It is this lack of infrastructure that has forced many students to
take it upon themselves to create an infrastructure to sustain the current
positive energy of college students.
The Stanford Democrats, for
example, have reorganized their efforts to include a speaker series to
highlight the constructive role that responsible government plays in everyday
lives. They are also working with local political groups to encourage and help
young progressive candidates run for local offices, including school boards and
city councils -- a strategy perfected by ultraconservatives, as evidenced by
the recent attacks on evolution and sexual education programs. The group is
also planning leadership training courses for students interested in the
electoral process. Other Stanford students have revamped The Stanford Progressive, a
monthly campus newspaper promoting progressive policies and views. Even more,
students have begun planning for "The Roosevelt Institution," a
student-led "think tank" that will take advantage of the significant
policy work already being undertaken by students.
Stanford is not unique. Progressive students across the country are writing for
newspapers, organizing political groups, and encouraging young people to run
for local office. One of the biggest challenges these groups face, however,
is a lack of resources and public visibility. Recently, the Center for American Progress has
started Campus Progress, a branch
that provides funding sources for progressive campus publications as well as
helping to organize nationwide speaker series. This group, although limited in
resources right now, will both encourage groups already organized and provide a
mechanism for new groups to get started.
Although the trends in the youth vote and youth activism are favorable for the
future of progressive politics, this is a group of people that must be actively
engaged and cultivated immediately, while the level of interest is still high. Progressive
organizations need to work with the younger generation and allow them the
freedom to pursue their own ideas. As Marie Jonas, president of the
Stanford Democrats says, "[We need] to feel our contribution is
valuable…not merely being written off as cheap labor." The funding and
credibility of established progressive institutions will allow these student
groups to attract more prominent speakers, help students obtain important
campaign positions, allow for proper training sessions, and give students the
flexibility to be successful and contribute on a substantial level.
The future of progressive politics is in those under thirty. It's time for
progressives to realize this and act accordingly. The future, and near term, of
progressive politics depends on it.
-- Gilbert Martinez
1. blog
2. incumbent
3. electoral
4. insurgent
5. hurricane
6. cicada
7. peloton
8. partisan
9. sovereignty
10. defenestration
No.
6 calls to mind worried homeowners and curious school-kids on the East Coast.
No. 7 makes a bit more sense in light of the 2004 Tour de France. The others
are pretty clear. But what's up with No. 10? Is there something going on out
there that we should be aware of?
POLL-WATCH
The Uncommon Denominator is pleased to introduce a new regular
section providing information and commentary on major current surveys of public
attitudes. This month, CI Senior Fellow Patrick O'Heffernan finds that, despite
the results of the 2004 election, conservative policies and public opinion are
actually out of step in some important areas. PollWatch archives are
available online.
PollWatch examined the new 2005 Gallup polls
(requires subscription) and tested conservative priorities against several key
indicators: gay rights and acceptance of gays in American society, the right to
choose, the influence of big business in society, and the place of religion in
America. In all but one of these -- the role of religion in solving
Gays in society (Jan 3-5, 2005): Conservatives -- the Religious Right in
particular -- object to the visibility of gays in American society and
vehemently condemn what they misleadingly call "the gay lifestyle."
However, Americans by 54% to 42% accept gays in society, by 52% to 48% think
gay sex should be legal, and by a huge 89% to 8% feel that gays should have the
same rights as straights. The trends in each of these indicators has been
toward a more gay-friendly position over the past 25 years.
Big business (Jan 3-5, 2005): Conservatives promote a stronger role for big
business in both society and the Administration, and they vigorously oppose
pro-environmental, pro-worker, and pro-stockholder regulations. However,
Americans by 60% to 8% think big business has too much influence in society,
and by 65% to 35% sees big business as wielding too much influence on the Bush
Administration. A substantial majority -- 58% to 37% -- believe that current
regulation of business should be maintained or strengthened. These attitudes
have remained relatively constant since 1993, when
The right to choose (Jan. 3-5, 2005): Conservatives, and especially the
Religious Right, are fighting hard to ban abortion at the Federal level, and
wage a constant war at the state level to restrict its availability. Americans
are divided on abortion, but disagree with the conservatives who want to ban
it; 60% want current abortion laws either unchanged or liberalized, while 38%
would like to see additional restrictions on abortion. When asked, 52% of
Americans identify themselves as pro-choice and 41% as pro-life. Only 19%
support a ban on abortion. Given that polls show that between 38% and 41% of
Americans self-identify as evangelical Christians, the 19% figure suggests that
a majority of evangelicals do not support the religious right's drive to ban
all abortions.
Religion in American society and politics (conducted 2004; published Jan.
2005): Conservatives argue for a greater role for religion in society and see
nothing wrong with using religion to direct government policy. Here Americans
are closer to them than not, but are trending slowly away. The 2004 Gallup
Religious Index (RI, a measure of religiosity in
-- Patrick O'Heffernan
CHECK IT OUT
Progressives are not the only ones feeling the heat nowadays. The far right,
intolerant as ever yet newly triumphant, is coming down hard on moderate
Republicans who don't toe the line. In the past four years, the political body
count has risen steadily: Paul O'Neill, Jim Jeffords, Eric Shinseki, and Colin
Powell, to name some of the most prominent.
Add to that list Christie Whitman, the former governor of
QUOTED!
"It gets to a point where you can't wait to see guys with guns, so you
start shooting everybody … It gets to a point where you don't mind the bad
stuff you do." -- an unnamed U.S. marine lieutenant, on waging a
counter-insurgency, as quoted in The Economist
FEATURED ARTICLE
Now that Army Reserve Specialist Charles A. Graner, Jr., has been convicted in
the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, one wonders whether the "few bad
apples" theory will prevail in the public imagination. Hopefully not, for
that would obscure the systemic failures and the anything-goes climate that are
ultimately responsible for the horrors at the Iraqi prison. One also wonders
how the series of trials stemming from the scandal will affect the nation's
perception of itself. By and large, Americans tend to be positive, optimistic
people who take pride in the country's ideals and its history -- that is one of
our greatest strengths, but it is also a potential weakness, insofar as optimism
can blind us to our own failings, and to the past. There is an abiding need for
introspection and retrospection.
In that spirit, the following excerpts are taken from Douglas Herman's
insightful, disturbing essay "
"What--you rightly
wonder -- does this horrific prison, located in the heart of
"In
Click here to read
the whole article.
HAPPENINGS
Radio interview -- CI President Leonard Salle was interviewed on KPFK (
New contributor -- The Commonweal Institute is proud to welcome Gilbert
Martinez, the author of this month's "Talking Points." Mr. Martinez
is a Ph.D. candidate in Biophysics at
New article -- "Creating Progressive
Infrastructure Now: An Action Plan for Reclaiming America's Heart and Sou,"
by CI co-founders Leonard Salle and Katherine Forrest, is available on CI's
website. This groundbreaking article discusses the nature of political
infrastructure, including the basic functions that a progressive infrastructure
should fulfill, and suggests specific action steps and funding approaches.
TV panel discussion -- CI co-founder Katherine Forrest participated in a
panel discussion at the Media Center December 13 about problems in the election
process, and what citizens can do going forward. The one-hour program,
"Election USA: How our System Worked-and Didn't-in 2004," will be
broadcast as part of the Fast Forward series on Palo Alto community-access
television, Channels 27 & 28, in the near future.
"The Conservative Marketing Machine" -- A new article by CI
Fellow Laurie Spivak, on the clever "packaging, promotion and
distribution" of right-wing ideas, has appeared on AlterNet.
Talking Politics Workshop -- The Commonweal Institute will be holding
another workshop on "Talking Politics with People Unlike Ourselves."
The workshop, designed to help activists communicate more effectively with
people who differ from themselves in style, interests, party affiliation or
level of interest in politics, is scheduled for Saturday, February 12, from
9:30am to 12:30pm, at the
ENDORSEMENTS
"In these challenging times, we need an advocacy think tank like
Commonweal Institute to communicate our principles and programs in ways that
will resonate with the broad public and empower citizens to take a more active
role in our democracy. Commonweal takes a strategic approach to advancing
issues in a way that will help decision-makers be proactive in confronting the
challenges of the future." -- Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, D-San
Francisco, 8th CD-CA, Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives
GET INVOLVED
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© 2005 The Commonweal Institute