I thought this piece was interesting on the response of labor to this year’s election. The five lessons are: 1. Abandon the Inside Game (working within current parties is failing – need a true national labor party); 2. Promote Clear and Bold Solutions (i.e. health care is a right; free higher education); 3. Shift Resources (spend money wisely); 4. Deepen and Broaden the Debates (debate over that future should not be confined to the Executive Council of the AFL-CIO – here, here); 5. Act Like a Real Movement (not an interest group, but large scale social change agent). I tend to agree with the author’s take that labor’s marriage to the democratic party is a problem. Whether there is anything approaching a national coalition of people willing to vote on labor’s agenda is another question entirely (I don’t think there is – it’s the same reason unions are failing to organize the great unwashed masses) but at least a labor party would give voters a contrast, something they don’t get today.
