MyDD :: Cultivating the Right

Cultivating the Right

by dayspring, Tue Jun 14, 2005 at 01:50:59 PM EST

This is an interesting article on the internships the Heritage foundation offers. While I would have liked more in-depth reporting, it was... disturbing in how attractive the internships were especially compared to what is offered on our side of the ideological spectrum.

We cannot keep playing "catchup". We need to invest in programs like these for our youth now and tap into the 'overwhelming liberal nature of our educational institutions'. We need to cultivate that, harness it and build an army. That's what the Right has been doing for the past thirty-some odd years. And today we are seeing the fruits of their labor and patience...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/14/politics/14heritage.html

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Money... (none / 0)

The bottom line is that it costs a lot of money to fund internships like that. It's a worthy cause for an 'angel' donor, but unless people are really rich anough to just do it because they are good, (I can always wish..) it may be hard to find donors who will donate money like that without expecting something in return..

Actually, the Dems already have a lot of support among the young..

More than the right, by any measure... at least where I live (a blue state)

by ultraworld on Tue Jun 14, 2005 at 04:32:31 PM EST

Re: Money... (none / 0)

I heard about these "think tanks" on Marketplace on my local NPR station.

The "think tanks" are funded by large corporate donors who get them to push their agenda. For example, the most famous "think tank" success is the push for repeal of the estate tax, a tax that burdens the economy very little, and is only paid by the wealthiest Americans. Not suprisingly, the major donors to the Heritage Foundation for this purpose was the Walton family of Wal-Mart fame, who have the largest inherited fortune in the United States.

I don't know how we can compete monitarily with corporate manufactured ideas.

by wayward on Tue Jun 14, 2005 at 09:43:33 PM EST
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End corporate personhood.. (none / 0)

Check out http://poclad.org and http://reclaimdemocracy.org/

by ultraworld on Wed Jun 15, 2005 at 01:09:07 AM EST
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Agree money's a problem (none / 0)

However, there is a significant need for these types of programs in the liberal/democratic sphere.

I saw a comment on Atrios' post about this saying how the lack of these programs causes a socioeconomic divide in the party's intellectual structure. i.e. only the children of wealthy or connected parents can afford to live on nothing in order to work for progressive causes. I don't have data to support that claim, but anecdotally that's what I noticed in college/gradschool/internships.

It would be interesting to see if the blogosphere could come up with solutions to this problem by connecting small donors to organizations for the purpose of funding interns/young professionals, or maybe some other mechanism.

by hoagieboy on Tue Jun 14, 2005 at 05:11:08 PM EST

As the parent of a kid (none / 0)

who just graduated from college, and who is looking for a job on the Hill, and who I told it was okay to take an interim intern position, say with the California Democratic Party for the special election, I can say there are opportunities out there for paid staff positions. But the pay has always been lousy, but that way you actually get people who aren't in it for the money.

The good news is there were more paying jobs out there for entry level Democrats than I have seen in the last 15 years...and the willingness to work for next to nothing, and serve an apprenticeship looks good as you work your way up.

There are good opportunities today for young people interested in serving progressive causes, and I would much prefer having a young Democrat on my staff who is willing to live like student for a few short year than a Young Conservative whose primary interest is positioning himself for major bucks tomorrow.

by nanorich on Tue Jun 14, 2005 at 06:19:13 PM EST
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How do they pay rent? (none / 0)

Or pay back their student loans?

by ultraworld on Wed Jun 15, 2005 at 01:10:04 AM EST
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Maybe the Party needs to think long term (none / 0)

We could buy housing and convert it to Democratic Dorms. By providing food/housing/etc. the party could afford to pay them what they pay now, with it having less of an impact.

Maybe it would be easier for donors to contribute to more permanent infrastructure than salaries. You could certainly have some like doing a drive for small donors for an idea like that.

WE NEED YOUR DONATION TO MAKE A DEM-ATORY FOR THE IOWA STATE DEMOCRATIC HEADQUARTERS... THESE INTERNS CANNOT POSSIBLY FEED THEMSELVES ON $6/HR, SO PLEASE... DO IT FOR THE KIDS!

McCain sucks!

by teknofyl on Tue Jun 14, 2005 at 10:44:18 PM EST

Thats a very good idea.. (none / 0)

The cost of housing and health insurance are the killers..

food is cheap..

by ultraworld on Wed Jun 15, 2005 at 01:11:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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