Today, Paul Wellstone is saying that he wants to run for president in 2000. And you can almost hear the mainstream pundits sharpening their knives. Then, if he makes headway in early primaries and caucuses, he shouldn't win. And if a lot of voters keep rejecting that assessment, then the hue and cry will be that his nomination would wreck the Democratic Party. In fact, such candidacies may have replaced third parties as the safety valve of American politics.
More voters feel represented, fewer feel alienated.
That sort of backhanded praise for a long-shot presidential campaign is meant as a fleeting pat on the head. But it may actually point to a drawback of progressive efforts to win the Democratic presidential nomination. In mediaspeak, the special interests usually include unionized workers, African Americans, low-income people and seniors. Yet Wall Street and large corporations are presumed to represent the national interest. In this media context, any politician who fights the power of the two-party system can expect to be depicted as an interloper.