THE GADFLYER

If you haven't yet, check out the Gadflyer, now officially up and running. Here's a taste of what the folks at the Gadflyer are up to, from executive editor (and Oswego grad) Tom Schaller, who is now at UMBC:

Years from now, we will look back on this time as a critical moment in the history of American politics in general and progressive politics in particular. It will be either the moment when progressivism was beaten into utter submission and began its long walk in the wilderness, or the moment when progressives got up off their knees and turned the tide.

There is no doubt that the right has many advantages in the war of ideas and the war of politics, not least of which is the seemingly limitless stream of money that funds their efforts. But more than any other factor, their successes have been built on the mindset with which they approach politics. Simply put, they play to win.

It's time for progressives to do the same. With that in mind, during this week we will present a series of articles outlining ways progressives can get tough.

And in the first installment of these "getting tough essays," editor-in-chief Paul Waldman tells progressives about "Getting tough with the Right." One of the central points of Waldman's argument is that conservatives have built up an impressive communications infrastructure in order to frame issues in ways congenial to their goals and to coordinate the efforts of disparate political actors in order to advance their policies. Aside from the influence of money (which is required to build a radio network that will put folks like Rush Limbaugh and Sean "Deliver us from Liberals" Hannity on the air), Waldman notes that conservatives have used cultural issues to divide and distract the public:

So we've come to the point where the term "elitist" is used almost exclusively to describe those on the left, at a time when the government is controlled by a party that daily demonstrates its devotion to enhancing the power of the powerful, the influence of the influential, and the wealth of the wealthy. It's not too late to reverse these images and bring them back to reality. But it won't happen by itself, particularly given how hard the right works to convince Americans that progressives are elitists who want to tell them how to run their lives. There are plenty of issues progressives can use to reverse these images – if they are presented in a coherent way around a small number of themes.

Part of the agenda of the site is to help in charting out those themes.

This is a promising start to an important venture. If you like what you see, consider contributing, here.