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Move On Ten Years Later

By Big Tent Democrat

MoveOn can be tremendously successful without being effective.

-Chris Hayes describing criticism of Move On

I am a vociferous critic of Move On's tactics of the past few years, believing that it has lost its way as an issue organization and instead largely became solely a Democratic cheerleader with little focus on issues. Chris Hayes, the editor of The Nation has a piece that sees good and bad in Move On:

What started as a simple one-sentence petition hastily posted to the web has evolved into the most readily identifiable group in the vanguard of a revived progressivism, with a membership that exceeds 3 million. Capable of dominating a news cycle with a single ad and raising millions of dollars with a lone e-mail, MoveOn pioneered an entire approach to conducting politics through the Internet that has been replicated and spun off across the country and around the globe, an approach that, as the Obama campaign has dramatically demonstrated, has permanently transformed the landscape of American politics.

More . .

Move On has changed no narratives on issues in my opinion and on many occasions has been harmful to Democrats politically. Thus, I think Hayes is wrong when he writes:

MoveOn's success (and, indeed, its limitations) is powered by its appeal to today's non-shouters. . . . For citizens angered, upset and disappointed with their government but unsure how to channel those sentiments, MoveOn provides simple, discrete actions: sign this petition, donate money to run this ad, show up at this vigil.

And this added up to what? On Iraq, Move On's craven support of the Democratic Capitulation on funding proved that Move On was not in it to end the war. Indeed, Hayes writes as if this did not happen already:

MoveOn may soon be forced to define its relationship to a government controlled by its supposed allies in the Democratic Party--at a time when the party's progressive base is increasingly frustrated about its failure to deliver the change it has promised

That ship has sailed. To Hayes credit, he cites John Stauber's criticism of Move On:

According to Stauber, MoveOn has become "primarily a money-raising and marketing arm of the Pelosi wing of the Democratic Party. They clearly haven't shown any interest in building an organization that would empower the millions of people whose e-mail addresses they have.... The so-called MoveOn membership is really just a group of people who are used for fundraising purposes."

I am with Stauber. And I speak for me only at this site.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on July 24, 2008 (boomark / email).