In the current climate, he who raises the most money in a campaign usually wins. Though delegates expressed disgust with the overwhelming presence of corporate money, the consensus is that the Democrats can't win without it. Environmental campaigns, such as those to save wild rivers, certainly indicate that it's capable of doing so. Or maybe the lack of impact is not a function of size, but of our lack of organization. We on the left seem to revel in our pluralism.
Pluralism is a strength but also a weakness.
It confuses those outside the left, who fail to understand what we stand for. And as a result, the media tend to marginalize us. What's clear is that we need to challenge the prevailing wisdom that the Democratic Party cannot win by relying solely on the left. We do have the numbers. If we focus our energy and get our act together, we can raise the amount of money needed to wage winning campaigns on both the national and local levels.