At the age of 11, my daughter said to me: “You wouldn’t love me if I were a Republican!” I laughed (never do that to an earnest 11 year old) and said, “Oh, honey, it isn’t genetically possible for you to be a Republican.”

I am a prenatal Democrat. I suspect it is the same for my children.

It is in my marrow to care about what I thought core Democratic beliefs were. Workers create wealth, not CEO’s and not trickle down economics; taxes, based on one’s ability to pay, are the backbone of taking care of the social fabric. That social fabric gives us great schools and children who learn how to think (not just trained as worker bees); women have equal rights and control over their bodies; all colors of all peoples have equal rights; the environment must be protected because it is a living being on which we all depend, and indeed, we are an integral part of that organism. And so on.

Compassion. Above all, compassion.

We have reached an unparalleled period in this country, one which, if not overcome, will stay with us and unravel even further for a very long time regardless of who is in the White House or in Congress. It is a frightening time, a fascist time, an era I never believed I’d see in my lifetime.

But in all honesty, what I have feared the most, what has buried my hope, belief, desire to fight back and need to move forward is not this heinous administration now residing in the West Wing. It is the Democratic Party—the party that sustained me and was an integral part of all I have done in my life. I say that with deep sorrow and a sense of bone-crushing betrayal. There is no one at a level of power in that Party willing to fight. Those we have elected to represent us are not speaking with our voice.

The biggest hurdle to a change is not Karl Rove, George Bush or Dick Cheney. It is Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel, the Democratic Leadership Council and the rest of the gang at the federal level, and Gov. John Baldacci, Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) John Richardson, and Party chairman Ben Dudley (now leaving), etc., and once progressive organizations and lobbyists at the state level.

Our biggest hurdle to progress and progressiveness is the Democratic Power Elite.

There is no longer a loyal opposition. The Democrats, who are nearly indistinguishable from the Republicans, have taken on the same mantra as our either deluded or ignorant president: “you are either with us, or against us.”

There are great people with strong ideals and commitment who continue to be in the Democratic Party. I am, for now, a registered Democrat for specific reasons; but it is a place that is not “home.” It no longer reflects my heart and soul, nor does it reflect the ideals of the majority of those still registered in that once great and caring Party.

Now that I have seen what the Democratic Power Elite has wrought over the last few years, I understand better how terrorists are created.

Marginalize, manipulate, seize power, bow at that altar, exclude any voice but that which condones and coddles those in power. Any other voice is dismissed: “you just don’t understand,” “you’re just a purist,” “you’re impractical,” “you’re just a disgruntled fill in the blank,” and then there is the “unity” mantra, code for acquiesce or be shunned.

The Democratic Power Elite is creating the very ground in which the seeds of radicalism can (and indeed must) grow, and the more they try to Roundup us out of existence, the more radical we become, because the urge for the survival of what we believe is far stronger than their addiction to power.

Or so I hope with what little hope I have left.

Rank and file Democrats and Independents, indeed, the majority of voters, are starving for a leader with the courage of his/her convictions and a willingness to passionately set forth an aggressive course that genuinely reflects a more populist and compassionate community, a more engaged electorate.

I believe that a majority of people are deeply disconnected and so starved for community that the idea of being shunted aside, disenfranchised, and marginalized, silences many voices, so much so that they are afraid to be contrary.

Support John Baldacci as the Democrat in the gubernatorial race? Tom Allen for Congress? Even though they actively ignore their constituents? Even though they actively support funding the Iraq (and other) unnecessary, unwinnable war(s) and enable greedy corporate interests? Dissent and you are disenfranchised. If you don’t dissent you are still disenfranchised, but you are also not branded, ridiculed and cast out of polite society.

So we need to create a community in which our voices are not silenced but nurtured.

And that’s not what the “community” of centrists do. You are in the clique or you go to the party alone. Time to crash the party.

The term “progressive” has been co-opted by centrists and even right of center Democrats. That Rahm Emanuel or Hillary Clinton would even utter the word “progressive” and suggest it applies to them makes clear just how far south that term has gone.

It is an indication of just how far that co-opting has gone when coalitions, both in Maine and nationally, call themselves progressive, yet do not support our values: progressive tax reform, single payer health care, impeachment, complete withdrawal from Iraq, a living wage (other than printing one more in a series of “reports”). They do not fight the deterioration of civil liberties or condemn an attack on Iran. Further, many of these coalitions allow more pine tree and enterprise zones (tax-free zones which are “sold” to citizens as a way to strengthen the tax base and touted as an engine for a stronger economy, but actually sop up the tax base while lining the pockets of corporations).

This Invasion of the Body Snatchers version of “progressive” plays on people’s emotions. Those who use these terms lie about their true intent, and their lack of action belies their true nature. Compassionless, the words are meant to appease the voter while committing allegiance to continued access to the power elite and corporate donors.

Citizens understand on a deep level that they are being misled, it’s not always clear how and to what extent. That just adds to the continued deterioration of trust in our political parties and electoral system.

One cannot be a progressive and embrace a flag-burning constitutional amendment or permanent bases in Iraq, or pass an expansion of the Patriot Act. One cannot be a progressive and support John Baldacci, or Pine Tree Zones or pretend that the Dirigo Health Plan is a step toward universal, single payer health care.

The demise of an organized, truly compassionate progressive community has been so complete and swift that many of us cannot quite fathom that it is really not there. We want to believe that those on whom we have counted for decades are still committed to the fight. Not only are they not, but they have become part of the ruling elite, the Democratic Power Elite, which holds conferences about reigning in sprawl while helping the developers take advantage of and support politicians who abuse tax law to assure it. The game is rigged and the elite, former “friends,” are benefiting mightily.

Without the solid support of an enlightened progressive base—those who try to hold accountable the powerful elite of politicians, lobbyists and organizations—are effectively marginalized.

And our “friends” and “allies” are not willing to take on the Democrats and Democratic leadership. In fact, the access to power has corrupted the mission so many organizations once served. Indeed, it has become more important to have access than to achieve the goals outlined in one grant after another.

Some have said to me: you should join the Democratic State Committee and change it from within.

To which I respond: been there, done that and have the T-shirt, literally. I worked my way up to the Executive Committee. I was a finalist for the Executive Director job many years ago.

The hope lies in the dialogues that occur in places like this and end in the concerted actions which arise through such a committed, truly progressive, truly compassionate community.

I’d still like to see the disenchanted, disheartened, and betrayed Democratic base rise up. Many of us are talking and acting and earnestly trying to define a community in which that is possible. It can’t look like it does now. That model has reached the end of its usefulness.

Kathleen McGee is a former legislative director of the Maine People’s Alliance, former director of the Maine Toxics Action Coalition and former Tax Reform Campaign Director for nationally-known Maine Citizen Leadership Fund.