DownWithTyranny!: Third Way Strikes Back-- And Strikes Out

You know the famous old audio clip of FDR welcoming the hatred of Wall Street plutocrats? It was a long speech but, by far, that line, about welcoming the hatred of America's villains, got the loudest and most sustained applause. I don't mean to equate Adam Green of the PCCC with FDR, but if I were giving him any advise I would tell him to welcome the hatred the consultant-driven world of hacks that Buzzfeed services. "The group is seen as an irritant and a drain, a parasite on liberal successes and a direct-marketing machine better at raising money than at changing policy or winning party-purifying primaries. Democratic political operatives regularly forward PCCC emails to reporters with asides like 'LOL' and 'ugh'.” No one ever forwarded one of those to me. And, my guess is that the jealousy-fueled "LOLs" of parasitic Beltway operatives-- which party being utterly irrelevant-- is certainly a badge of honor.

At one point, Buzzfeed asks, "Why go after [Allyson] Schwartz-- a fairly progressive candidate, whose establishment support makes her Democrats’ best shot at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion?" But Schwartz, first vice-chair of the conservative Wall Street-owned New Dems, is only "progressive" or even "fairly progressive" in the oxygen-free world of Beltway operatives. According to her lifetime crucial votes, ProgressivePunch rates her as the 128th most progressive member of the 200 Democrats in the House. And they give her a miserable ranking when they compare her conservative voting record against her deep blue district, a minus 6.58. If you define a "progressive" as someone who is pro-Choice, then yes, Allyson Schwartz is a progressive. If you are slightly more nuanced, or even just a bit broader, about what a progressive is, she's not even close, on issues involving economic justice-- the true test of a progressive anywhere other than Inside the Beltway-- she's a right-of-center Democrat. Or, look at her voting record on issue of war and peace. She's playing for the other team. Fair taxation? Her record could generously be described as anti-progressive. Human and Civil Rights? She's even worse than self-admitted many conservative Democrats. Her lifetime score on LGBT equality is a dismal 33.3, the same score as right-wing Republicans Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and significantly less progressive than Justin Amash (R-MI) and Richard Hanna (R-NY). And not even the most clueless Beltway reporters would classify any of them as "fairly progressive."

Schwartz is running for governor of Pennsylvania so Buzzfeed expects good little Democrats to rally round the flag. She's the lesser of two evils if you stand her next to Tom Corbett, the crackpot Republican who is widely despised and who almost every Democratic candidate is stronger against than Schwartz is. And Schwartz is far from the progressive candidate in the primary. John Hanger and Tom Wolf may be moderates, but compared to Schwartz and her Wall Street ways, both could be looked at as socialists. To Buzzfeed, calling Schwartz out for the heavy-handed, nihilistic attack on Elizabeth Warren and on a progressive vision for America-- just because she's a co-chair of Third Way, the organization that initiated the smear-- is an example of PCCC's "sharp-elbowed, unconventional tactics."

Green sees it differently than Third way, the DCCC, the New Dems, the Blue Dogs and the rest of the Republican wing of the Democratic Party and the organizations in DC that service them and exist on their crumbs. “Our goal is to build progressive power,” he said, “and we think about things much more in terms of a 20-year plan than a two-year election cycle or a one-year legislative calendar.”

The thought of Green commanding the attention of 45 members of Congress likely causes some Democratic strategists to break out in hives. Conversations with more than a dozen strategists over the past few weeks raised three core complaints about the group, each of which Green was happy-- almost proud-- to respond to. He takes negativity in stride, leaning into the critics and admitting a shameless, unapologetic campaign to shake up the Democratic Party.

First off, observers say PCCC is unpredictable, jumping quickly at high-octane fights and launching unorthodox fundraising campaigns.

“I’m not really clear on what they’re trying to do,” said one Democratic strategist who has faced them several times.

More than one reporter’s inbox lit up with snide quips when PCCC launched its “Edward Snowden Defense Fund.” The campaign raised about $38,000, according to Green. He said the money went to a Washington-based law firm, Trout Cacheris, which represented the high-profile case of whistleblower John Kiriakou.

Green has rebuffed critiques of the group’s fundraising before. In an interview, he said he had successfully called off reporters from the Washington Post and Politico sniffing around PCCC’s contributions to the Wisconsin recall fights of 2011. Skeptics alleged the organization raised a lot but spent a relatively small amount.

Green said his critics are misreading the financial records and pointed to the two spiked stories as evidence he’s on the right side of things. He bristled at questions about his group’s legitimacy when it comes to fundraising.

“We take integrity very seriously,” said Green.

Then there’s the issue of self-promotion.

Critics say PCCC’s media strategy has made Green a sort of self-appointed spokesman for what the group calls the “Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic Party”-- a slogan it recently printed on T-shirts and bumper stickers, now for sale online.

When speculation over a possible Warren presidential bid dominated headlines, it was Green who appeared quoted in the much-discussed New Republic cover story, headlined “Hillary’s Worst Nightmare,” discussing how progressives view Hillary Clinton. And earlier this year, when PCCC led its Schweitzer draft campaign, it was Green who repeatedly pitched himself to MSNBC, saying that Schweitzer would soon announce his campaign, according to a producer at the network.

Promotion? Of course, says Green. He is unabashed about courting press.

“For us, the media is a key part of our model,” he said. He is quick to stress, though, that he and his co-founder Taylor are equal partners in the organization at every level. “I tend to be more of the public face,” he added. (The late tech visionary Aaron Swartz was also involved with the group.)

Green said he was gratified when PCCC was recently described to him in conversation as “the most progressive group out there that’s taken seriously in the media,” which depends a bit on which reporter you talk to.

Operatives who have worked with PCCC say Green excels more at “proxy wars” than electoral politics-- in recognizing opportunities and seizing them-- with several Democrats pointing to the Third Way dust-up as a prime example.

“This is where PCCC excels: seizing moments that can get them placed highly in stories in TPM, Roll Call, Politico, and others to demonstrate their reach, the voice of their members, and show up in Beltway publications,” said Whitney.

And that leads to the core criticism of the group: that PCCC cares less about winning races than advancing the progressive mantle and its own identity, in whatever way possible.

Whitney praised PCCC’s ability to “hold the left flank” but hasn’t been impressed with its record on the ground. “Their success with political campaigns has been elusive. If they really want to put themselves alongside the DCCC and DSCC in terms of candidate impact, they have a long way to go.”

Its primary record isn’t great-- a fact Green readily acknowledges. He said that a “key part” of his group’s model is getting “involved very early.” But last year, PCCC endorsed just five candidates in congressional primaries. Four lost. Only one, Ann McLane Kuster of New Hampshire’s 2nd District, became the Democratic nominee. (Warren was the only candidate PCCC backed in a Senate primary. In the general election, the group endorsed many more candidates: 30 federal, state, and local-level Democrats it backed ended up winning last November.)

“Look, we’ve won some primaries and we’ve lost some primaries,” Green said of his group’s electoral record. He argued that PCCC has pushed the conversation to the left in every race it’s played in: winning by not winning. “When we enter a primary, every candidate competes to be the most progressive in the race,” Green said. “Our opponents are putting the word ‘progressive’ on all their literature.”

“For us, we care about the issues first,” said Green. “Elections are just a means to that end-- but they’re a really important means.”

Progressives on Capitol Hill generally praise PCCC, even as they keep their distance from some of the group’s methods.

“Substantively we tend to agree, and even on tactics we tend to agree a lot, but there are times when I wouldn’t have done something one way,” said Rep. Keith Ellison, a Democrat from Minnesota and co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus. “I still support them, because we are better off with them than not.”