This intention was made clear by union leaders who were paraded before the mass protest held in New York City's Foley Square on Wednesday. Their empty demagogy and tired chants were interspersed with announcements of Democratic Party officials who had turned up for the occasion. One of the union officials, TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen, affirmed that the Wall Street protesters should get behind the drive to re-elect Obama.
Meanwhile, a collection of Democratic notables have either paid visits to the encampment at Zuccotti Park or issued statements professing support for the protest.
Prominent among them was Representative Charles Rangel, who issued a statement this week, declaring: "The American people have had enough. They're mad as hell, and I agree."
The millionaire congressman from Harlem may be "mad as hell," but not too angry to continue to rake in Wall Street money. The financial sector accounted for the lion's share of his campaign cash this year, nearly $69,000. It was money well spent, as Rangel, then chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, emerged as one of the key supporters of the Wall Street bailout.
The Democrats' aims were further spelled out in a column by Paul Krugman in the New York Times Friday. Citing gestures of support from unions and Democratic officials, Krugman wrote, "Occupy Wall Street is starting to look like an important event that might even eventually be seen as a turning point."
A turning point to what? Essentially, a second term for Barack Obama.
"Democrats are being given what amounts to a second chance," wrote Krugman. "The Obama administration squandered a lot of potential good will early on by adopting banker-friendly policies that failed to deliver economic recovery even as bankers repaid the favor by turning on the president. Now, however, Mr. Obama's party has a chance for a do-over. All it has to do is take these protests as seriously as they deserve to be taken."
What, precisely, is Obama to "do over?" The agenda for a second term has already been set by a $4 trillion deficit-reduction program that will be translated into devastating cuts to core social programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, continuing record unemployment, and even deeper reductions in real wages for the working class.
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