The Rise of the Ludlow Democrats

David Sirota — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:15:43 -0400

Last week, I published the first of a two-part column series commemorating the anniversary of the Ludlow Massacre, which happened in southern Colorado in 1914. I showed how the legacy of that horrific event is being embraced and exported by our government in the form of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. This week, my newspaper column is part two of the two-part series: How the massacre's legacy is being embraced in our domestic policy, and by a faction of Democrats we can call Ludlow Democrats.

Many of us know how the Bush administration has abandoned workers, whether it's by underfunding the Labor Department, cutting shady deals with employers like Wal-Mart or making sure the NLRB always sides with Big Business. But under the radar, Ludlow Democrats in states like Colorado are also helping undermine the labor movement.

In the last year and a half, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) has been repeatedly asked that age-old labor question: Which side are you on? And he has repeatedly answered that question by taking business's side. His first major act as governor was vetoing the most minimal legislation that would have reformed Colorado's draconian labor laws. He then endorsed legislation banning strikes and just recently went on right-wing radio to berate labor's ballot initiatives that would modestly raise workers' wages.

To be sure, Ritter signed an executive order recognizing public employee unions. But to those who say that was some sort of courageous or difficult move, I say "puh-leeze." Are we really supposed to believe it is some sort of gutsy move for a governor to merely recognize employees right to form a union? Remember, this recognition is something employees have in most states. So while I'm glad Ritter issued his executive order, I don't give him much credit for it in the same way I don't pat myself on the back for waking up each morning and getting out of bed.

No, where Ritter has really defined himself is in his aforementioned aggressive moves to undermine the labor movement. Ritter apologists have their rationales about the governor supposedly needing to do all this to appease Republican corporate interests - but last I checked, Democrats control the whole legislature and the governor's office. They don't need to answer to anyone other than the people. So Ritter is choosing his anti-union path.

I don't believe Ritter is making this choice based on corruption. He may be a lot of things, but he isn't bought-off. He's just afraid - afraid of his own shadow, and afraid of Big Money. And the problem is, there have been almost no voices here in Colorado demanding accountability and making him feel electorally insecure for selling out workers. In this state - as in many others - much of the progressive infrastructure is hyper-partisan and not used to putting heat on Democrats. The serious heat seems only to come from the Right.

That's the case in many states - and on many issues in Congress. Much of the new progressive infrastructure is really partisan first - especially when it comes to kitchen table economic and labor issues. And tragically, that has allowed the faction of Ludlow Democrats like Ritter feel free to use their power to wage a war on the labor movement. Yes, the Ludlow legacy is alive and well here in Colorado - and all over the country.

You can read the whole column at the San Francisco Chronicle, Ft. Collins Coloradoan, TruthDig, Credo Action, In These Times or Creators. The column relies on grassroots support, so if you'd like to see my column regularly in your local paper, use this directory to find the contact info for your local editorial page editors. Get get in touch with them and point them to my Creators Syndicate site. Thanks, as always, for your ongoing readership and help contacting local editors. This column couldn't be what it is without your help.

Rocky Mountain Realities On Feb. 5

David Sirota — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:58:47 -0500

When I took a leave of absence from my job in Washington in 2000 to work in the Montana Senate race, I didn't have much clue what I was in for. Growing up on the East Coast, I thought of the Intermountain West as a huge, far-off, mysterious place of square states and cattle herds — and like many people on the coasts, I didn't know much else.

In the years since that first campaign, I have been working in and reporting on the West, telling people what I say in my new nationally syndicated newspaper column today: That this region is the most politically misunderstood place in America.

Many people scoffed at my writing, saying the West was a backwater — one that would remain a Republican stronghold forever. That is, until the last few years when many Democratic strategists in Washington realized that the West has become a political swing region — one that could decide the direction of national politics for the next generation.

Sadly, when you read the typical national reporter's occasional article about the West or watch national politicians drop in for a visit, you sense either condescension, stereotyping — or both. The West is still portrayed as a weird hinterland whose politics supposedly adhere to Washington, D.C.'s inaccurate notions of lockstep "red state" behavior.

But as I say in the column, the West defies the professional pundits' portrayals. On issues from national security to energy to the role of government, the Rocky Mountain region's nuances are far more complex than "red state" stereotypes — just like most places in America. And as this region prepares to vote on February 5 and then take center stage in the general election, the candidates who ignore the fictions and appreciates these nuances are the candidates who will likely win here.

As the only nationally syndicated newspaper columnist living in and reporting regularly on this region, I felt it was particularly important to write this piece before Tuesday's voting because the West is only going to become more prominent in American politics as this election year progresses. That prominence, I believe, will either allow inaccurate stereotypes to flourish, or let the more complex realities shine through. I hope it is the latter.

Go read the whole column here. If you'd like to see my column regularly in your local paper, use this directory to find the contact info for your local editorial page editors. Get get in touch with them and point them to my Creators Syndicate site.

One additional note: You may have noticed that I am trying to use my column to promote solid progressive voices whenever I can. Today's, as you can see, includes the use of material from a diarist at OpenLeft.com - a terrific progressive site. I want to continue doing that kind of thing — the Right promotes its voices very effectively like this. And I want to do the same with my column.