Fighting Ed is fighting mad

Fighting Ed Garvey, who apparently was named heir to Fighting Bob LaFollette when the rest of us weren't paying attention, is really steamed about the Democratic Party convention last weekend.

You can read the rant yourself, but as near as I can determine I stand accused of telling the Dems to ignore the progressives, because they have nowhere else to go. I guess I was out of the room when I said that, because it's news to me. (My memory isn't perfect, but I think I would recall saying that. Did I suffer a small stroke, perhaps? Brain fart?)

What I did say -- although maybe I was too subtle in my post on Friday -- is that it would be a mistake for disgruntled lefties to sit on their hands or back an independent or third party candidate, which would probably elect a Republican.

Here's the Garvey "analysis":

"The problem with the Christofferson theory is that the very people he takes for granted are the door-knockers and enthusiasm-builders. For a Democrat to win, he or she must have the enthusiasm of the progressives. Tell them they are irrelevant and they will sit on their hands. "
The problem with that "analysis" is that I didn't say progressives are irrelevant. To the contrary, in the convention post-mortem below I called for the new state chair, Joe Wineke, to reach out and involve progressives and activists who supported his opponent, Jeff Rammelt.

It is Garvey, who seems to want progressives to sit on their hands, who is telling them someone said they were irrelevant. Self-fulfilling prophecy? I hope not.

Garvey's main gripe is that the convention and the party are in the hands of those he calls "the centrists."

Here's the thing: There were only 795 delegates at the convention. Probably three times that many people have participated in the Garvey-organized People's Legislature.

If I do my math correctly, it seems to me those disgrunted, dissatisfied, disenchanted, disappointed and disgusted dissidents (take that, Spiro Agnew!) could easily take over the party, if they put half the energy into that enterprise that they do into complaining about it.

Don't moan, organize.