But it is not her theme alone. Regardless of who leads it, professional-class liberalism seems to be forever traveling on a quest for some place of greater righteousness. It is always engaged in a search for some subject of overwhelming, noncontroversial goodness with which it can identify itself, and under whose umbrella of virtue it can put across its self-interested class program.
—Thomas Frank, on Hillary Clinton, and what constitutes her true base.
Frank is a bit more reductive that I wold like, but it does a pretty good job of explaining Hillary Clinton’s real base.
I would further argue that his description accurately describes the DLC/New Democrat identity politics that have served to decimate the Democratic party and the American working man.
Read the rest.
Which goes a long way to explain why the soft left (my term for professional-class liberalism and the goo goos, the occupy fools, and the current protestors) can never bring themselves to make a practical argument for programs — e.g. government health care will reduce cost, increase health, make workers more productive.
Stokely Carmichael once said that a liberal will support you as long as it won't hurt his position.