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Mark Gisleson's avatar

2009 is a very convenient starting date. Perhaps that's when the neoliberals took charge, but for thirty years they sabotaged the Left resulting in a party with a damaged left wing. The party then went corporate style top>down leadership with ambitious but visionless talking heads who promoted lab-tested ideologies seemingly designed to tear huge holes in the party's big tent but that was OK because all the action was in the party suites where the lobbyists handed out the gift bags.

Judge the neoliberals not just for what they have done, but for all that they've thwarted. The latter may be an even bigger crime than the former.

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Feral Finster's avatar

Around the time of the rise of William Jefferson Rodham Clinton, Team D discovered high living and decided that they liked it.

Sweet donor cash means better digs for staffers, better pay, fat expense accounts, comfortable travel arrangements and most importantly, the ability to dispense favors, "consulting" gigs to cronies and to get your footloose film studies major roommate from Brown off the couch and producing some campaign ads.

Easy money is one hell of a drug. And a very hard drug to kick.

Take away their big advantage, and the 2016 and 2020 Team D presidential campaigns would have long been dead in the water.

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