No quick fixes
Michelle Goldberg explores whether the left might learn something from the success of the decades-long anti-abortion movement in overturning Roe. Women’s rights activists may be taking the wrong lessons from the most violent and confrontational tactics of anti-abortion activists (emphasis mine):
Besides being immoral, these tactics suggest a misunderstanding of how the anti-abortion movement got to this point. Anti-abortion terrorism has been correlated with greater support for abortion rights, harming the political campaign to reverse Roe. That campaign prevailed because of a movement that spent decades mastering the nuts and bolts of American politics, persisting despite years of failure and disappointment.
This doesn’t just mean “vote harder.” It means contesting every level of power, all the time, including local elections, judicial selections and administrative rule-making. It means drawing people into a community that will make continuous struggle seem rewarding rather than depleting.
In effect, as Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez told women outside the Supreme Court on Friday, “This is a generational fight. This is not instant gratification.”
The Achiles heel of much organizing on the left is to give mutual high-fives after a victory then to go home and return to paddling or rock concerts or whatever. There is a boom-and-bust cycle to much organizing on the left that is self-defeating. Zealots on the right never go home.
Journalist Meaghan Winter, author of “All Politics Is Local: Why Progressives Must Fight for the States” (2019), told an interviewer, “The Democratic party also will build up these giant presidential, or sometimes Senate, races. And then, the moment the election’s over, win or lose, they pack up and fold up and go home.”
“So the idea being the left — Democrats, progressives all of those people — need to build long-term institutions, long-term organizations. And that can only happen, one, if we all show up long-term, and two, if … the donors are willing to fund organizing groups on the ground all of the time. And if we transition from these short-term bursts of interest in electoral work right before the election.”
In another 2019 interview, Winter said:
“The best thing people can do is commit to year-round organizing around issues — showing up going to council meetings going to the legislature working on campaigns for state candidates and city council candidates where you can make a huge difference just by showing up. Because these campaigns are run on a shoestring and you can really help. And if by changing, by showing up constantly, you may not win that year, but you change the cultural narrative, and you change what’s acceptable and you show people that things are possible. And that it’s not just these crazy Democrats who live in New York or California. You kind of destigmatize some of the messaging because you’re neighbors, and you can talk in a way that is more resonant to people who live near you than someone coming through the TV screen.”
Time after time, we hang up our spurs after the cattle drive instead of immediately setting to work on the next. Turning short-term activism into long-term, consistent effort without burnout is a trick the broader left seems unable to master.
It is why, although it’s mostly organizing around election administration, not issues, for all its frustrations, working inside the Democratic Party at the local/state level holds occasional rewards. Yes, many progressive friends do not want to get their nice, white vinyl souls contaminated with party contact. But once you prove yourself an ally, someone known for helping candidates get elected, access and influence increases.
Working here every morning, I get the best of both worlds. I can throw rocks from the outside while working on the inside. Working inside, politicos higher up the food chain start caring if you’re heaving rocks online. Even so, these days it’s hard not to burn out.
Goldberg concludes:
Abortion opponents have shoved us into a nightmare world of surveillance, coercion and medical desperation. They’ve also shown us the arduous path out of it.
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Request a copy of For The Win, 4th Edition, my free, countywide get-out-the-vote planning guide for county committees at ForTheWin.us.
If in a position to Play to win in 2022 (see post first), contact tpostsully at gmail dot com