[Peace-discuss] Liberal opinion

[Robert Naiman]

I think this analysis is misleading. It takes as a barometer of
whether a group of progressive activists care about the wars, whether
they say it is their top issue, at a time when, understandably, there
is a lot of focus among progressive activists on the health care
issue. Not only is it misleading, I think it could be unnecessarily
divisive. In order to reform U.S. foreign policy, we need the support
of people for whom reforming U.S. foreign policy is not likely to be
their top issue. Why piss on them unnecessarily?

It should be noted that Greenberg is not a neutral observer.

There was a lot of progressive activism around the McGovern bill. Now
people are trying to figure out what the next hook is...

...it would help significantly I think, if there were a hook in the
Senate. Could we generate some pressure on Mr. Durbin...?



On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 2:29 PM, C. G. Estabrook<galliher at illinois.edu> wrote:
>        The netroots agenda: War? What war?
>        By: Byron York
>        08/15/09 11:22 AM EDT
>
> It's not getting much attention, but the Netroots Nation conference
> (formerly known as YearlyKos, a spinoff from the left-wing website DailyKos)
> is going on in Pittsburgh this weekend.  Democratic pollster Stanley
> Greenberg has conducted a straw poll of the participants and found that a
> majority of those surveyed, 53 percent, say they "cannot support a health
> care reform bill that does not include a public option."  Other results
> include word that most of the attendees are willing to compromise a bit on
> environmental legislation, even though it gives a lot of benefits to big
> corporations, and the finding that, amazingly enough, attendees voice
> near-unanimous approval, 95 percent, of the job Barack Obama is doing as
> president.
>
> What's truly striking in Greenberg's poll is the degree to which the wars in
> Iraq and Afghanistan have fallen off the progressive radar.  I attended the
> first YearlyKos convention, in 2006, and have kept up with later ones, and
> it's safe to say that while people who attended those gatherings couldn't
> stand George W. Bush in general, their feelings were particularly intense
> when it came to opposing the war in Iraq.  It animated their activism; they
> hated the war, and they hated Bush for starting it.  They weren't that fond
> of the fighting in Afghanistan, either.
>
> Now, with Obama in the White House, all that has changed.  Greenberg
> presented respondents with a list of policy priorities and asked, "Please
> indicate which two you think progressive activists should be focusing their
> attention and efforts on the most."  The winner was passing comprehensive
> health care reform, with 60 percent, and number two was passing "green
> energy policies that address environmental concerns," with 22 percent.  Tied
> for eighth place, named by just eight percent of respondents, was "working
> to end our military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan."
>
> Then Greenberg asked which one of those issues "do you, personally, spend
> the most time advancing currently?"  The winner was health care reform, with
> 23 percent, and second place was "working to elect progressive candidates in
> the 2010 elections," with 16 percent.  In 11th place -- at the very bottom
> of the list -- was "working to end our military involvement in Iraq and
> Afghanistan." Just one percent of Netroots Nations attendees listed that as
> their most important personal priority.
>
> Many observers have remarked that Obama's decision to escalate the war in
> Afghanistan, and also to escalate the campaign of targeted assassinations
> using drone aircraft, both in Afghanistan and Pakistan, will cause him
> trouble on the political left.  Indeed, some members of Congress have
> suggested that the president has just a year to show significant results in
> Afghanistan before lawmakers begin to pressure him to pull back.  But if the
> Netroots Nation results are any indication, Obama may have more room than
> previously thought on the war.  Not too long ago, with a different president
> in the White House, the left was obsessed with America's wars.  Now, they're
> not even watching.
>
> http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/The-netroots-agenda-War-What-war-53296592.html
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-- 
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org