Weird Coalitions - Or, How to Make Bipartisanship Work for Us

By David Sirota
Created Jan 8 2007 - 4:46pm

Successful movements - as opposed to Partisan Wars [1] - pull their
traditional opponents into coalitions on specific issues, rather than
selling out their principles in the name of the faux "bipartisanship" [2]
that Washington pundits seem to think is the ultimate goal of politics. And
clearly there are many new opportunities for the progressive movement to
build non-traditional coalitions.

Take, for instance, the fight to increase fuel efficiency standards for
automobiles. This is usually seen as a purely Democratic issue, but here's
the Wall Street Journal today [3]:

"Alaska's Sen. Ted Stevens, a Republican known for aggressively advocating
more oil drilling, is pushing a greener proposal: higher mileage standards
for passenger cars. Stevens introduced legislation today that would require
cars to get an average of 40 miles per gallon by 2017...Stevens tied his
support for better fuel economy to the reduction of greenhouse gases."

Stevens' proposal ain't perfect, especially his long timeline. But it's a
start - and an opportunity. So is this story from the Washington Post [4],
which details what I call the New Conservation Coalition [5] between
outdoorsmen and environmentalists that we pioneered out here on Brian
Schweitzer's 2004 campaign [6]:

"After years of close association with the Republican Party and hard-nosed
opposition to federal land-use regulation, the National Rifle Association is
being pressured by its membership to distance itself from President Bush's
energy policies that have opened more public land for oil and gas drilling
and limited access to hunters and anglers. The new emphasis on the issue of
access to public lands, which Schmeits said is at the "discussion" level
among the NRA's directors, would represent a strategic shift for the
NRA...During the past six years, an increasing number of the country's 46
million hunters and anglers, including Republican-leaning shooting
organizations such as the Boone and Crockett Club, have been grumbling about
the Bush's administration fast-tracking of oil and gas drilling leases on
public lands."

Similarly, take the fight for public financing of elections. In the typical
trick of using defeatism to justify inertia, the Washington Monthly reports
that an unnamed Senate "aide" says: "Right now, there aren't 25 votes [in
the Senate] for a full public-financing system." But how does anyone know
this if there hasn't been a pressure campaign to try to pass such a
proposal? Last I checked, the Democratic Leadership Council [7] - which
regularly supports those other 25 or so Democrats who often undermine the
party - has long pushed for public financing. Additionally, there is some
very real opportunity to peel off Republicans. Here's the Hill Newspaper
from less than a year ago [8]:

"Sen. George Voinovich, Ethics Committee chairman and a sometime gadfly to
Republican leadership, is warming to Democratic-backed proposals for public
financing of federal elections. Voinovich (R-Ohio) told The Hill that he has
met with Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) to discuss collaboration
on the public-financing pitch Durbin is crafting with Sen. Chris Dodd
(Conn.), the Rules Committee's ranking Democrat...Voinovich [has] enthusiasm
for a public financing system, versions of which have been instituted at
state and local levels in seven states."

The story goes on to quote corporate lobbyists attacking the idea, but -
encouragingly - also Dodd's staffer saying the Connecticut senator "has
discussed the issue with various senators and believes bipartisan support
for such an effort is essential to its enactment."

The same thing can be said for an issue like trade. Opposition to
Friedman-esque World-Is-Flat nonsense has been building in both political
parties across many different regions of the country. Groups like the U.S.
Business and Industry Council are joining with progressive organizations
like the AFL-CIO [9] and agriculture groups to forge a powerful coalition
that cannot be pigeon-holed in right-left stereotypes. The same thing can be
said of the coalition fighting for Net Neutrality.

Of course, this kind of coalition building on individual issues isn't
limited to Congress. Check out how Wal-Mart has been pressured [10] into
embracing more environmentally sound practices by the coalition of groups
trying to make the corporate giant behave more responsibly. Just recently,
Wal-Mart announced its support for more energy-efficient light bulbs as a
way to save costs [11]. This doesn't mean Wal-Mart is suddenly an
environmental saint - but it does show the benefits of working with a
powerful force like the world's largest corporation on individual issues.

The media and political elites in Washington would have us believe we live
in a purely Red and Blue world. But that storyline is both an excuse for
lazy reporting and a subtle rationale for a stalemate that perpetuates the
status quo. If the progressive movement is smart, nimble and serious about
being a movement and not just an extension of a political party, we will
seize these opportunities. For our efforts, we will be rewarded with
something much longer lasting than one fleeting election victory - we will
be rewarded with actual, real-world change.
_______

About author David Sirota is a political strategist and NY Times bestselling
author whose work appears in major newspapers and magazines. He has appeared
on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and The Colbert Report. He has appeared in TV debates
with right-wing icons like Ann Coulter, John Stossel and John Fund. Email:
david [at] davidsirota.com.

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"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson