A DFL choice

“Which side are you on?”
That question, posed by songwriter Florence Reece in her famous 1931 song, became the unofficial anthem of the protest and union movements for decades— and it’s a question that DFL primary voters might want to consider as they weigh in on the U.S. Senate nomination contest between Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and U.S. Rep. Angie Craig in the Aug. 11 primary.
Our nation’s democracy is in trouble, and it isn’t just because of the current occupant of the White House. In 2010, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United that Congress can’t put limits on political contributions, including those from corporations, they made it very clear which side they are on. They opened the flood gates to the wholesale takeover of America’s political system by big money, and the impact has been profound.
The influence of corporations and the ultra-wealthy has exploded over the past 15 years, to the point that the views of average Americans have virtually no influence on the policies that advance in Washington today. That reality has understandably left most voters feeling angry and frustrated.
On the right, it has fueled an angry form of populism, fueled by the endless scapegoating of minorities and immigrants, as if these groups, rather than the uber-wealthy, are the ones who have robbed us all of our political agency.
On the left, it has fueled its own brand of populism, most often referred to in the media as “democratic socialism,” which has, to date, placed its focus on the corporate dominance of our political system, offering policies designed to lift-up or empower average Americans.
It’s the 21st Century version of FDR’s New Deal, the Democrat’s governing revolution of the 1930s that helped lift tens of millions of Americans out of abject poverty, guaranteed a dignified retirement for old folks, and gave workers unprecedented gains across the board.
The New Deal also cemented Democratic dominance of our nation’s politics for most of the next half century, as Americans clearly understood which side the Democrats were on, and rewarded them at the ballot box.
Today, the Democratic Party is badly divided, as it has been for more than a decade now, between its progressive populist wing, represented most famously by Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, and its more corporate-aligned wing, associated most prominently with Bill and Hillary Clinton and the party’s current congressional leadership.
In the Aug. 11 primary, DFLers have a very clear choice between these two sides of the party. Flanagan, who started her political career as an advocate for children, has long espoused the ideas of her party’s progressive populist wing, and she continues to do so in the current campaign. She has signaled her independence from big money influence by refusing to take campaign funds from corporate political action committees, or PACs.
Craig, by contrast, has been inundated with corporate cash, millions of dollars from dozens of corporate and industry PACs and other well-heeled contributors, from agribusiness to health care, to crypto, and it has given her an enormous financial advantage in the current race. She’s also received more than $370,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.
There’s no mystery behind this flood of corporate and special interest cash. Corporate PACs invest their money in candidates they see as amenable to their interests, and attack those they view as a possible threat.
Party officials backing Craig argue that she is the stronger candidate in the general election, and that Flanagan is too far “left” for the state that repeatedly elected populists like Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Paul Wellstone, and Jesse Ventura.
In either case, left-right labels are increasingly meaningless in a political environment that is reawakening to the downsides of excessive corporate power, an issue that resonates across the political spectrum. There are many aspects to this growing consensus, including a realization that our entire economic system is rigged to the benefit of those at the very top, at the expense of workers and their communities. The increasingly bipartisan opposition to data centers, which provide the infrastructure for artificial intelligence and crypto currencies, is just the latest sign that Americans are awakening to the ways that big money is destroying our political system.
Which brings us back to our original question. Which side are you on?
Despite the attacks and the political spin, it’s hard to ignore a fundamental difference between the two DFL candidates in this primary contest. One is raking in millions in corporate and industry-aligned money. The other is rejecting it. Those two facts tell us much about their priorities and approaches should either end up in the Senate this fall.