The core of the Democratic Party from the time of FDR has been labor. The unions. The wise elders responsible for the New Deal put the Democrats where they are today.But like every younger generation, the current Democratic leadership has forgotten everything their forbearers tried to teach them.A couple of days ago, a union man commented on the divorce of democrats and labor. “It’s not that we’ve leftthe Democrats,” he said. “The Democrats have left us.”Once seen as the Party representing the little man against big business, the Democrats are now slaves of Silicon Valley interests, realtors who have planned out the forceful gentrification of New Orleans, private corporationsand the globalizationfor-the-sake-of-globalization forces like the World Trade Organization, that have led to millions of folks losing their livelihoods.No longer do you hear pundits squawk about the outsourcing of jobs, the increasing gap between the rich and the poor, the annihilation of welfare benefits or even the war in Iraq.Now the squawkings are meaningless-Democrats are obsessed with infantile ‘cultural’ issues, the so called ‘left-wing’ party’s primary strategy has become playing topical catch-up to the unsilent majority’s crusades, instead of crafting issues on their own. They have become reactionaries to the reactionaries.As the Democrats bend over backwards to appease right-leaning fence sitters and independents, they become ever more centrist.They’re lukewarm. And feeling unrepresented, the true left is fleeing in droves. Are the Democrats going to win the presidential elections? Sure. But only because they’re not Republicans.The Republicans may be viewed as corrupt and elitist, but the Democrats are viewed as incompetent and elitist. Sure, people continue to flee the Grand Old Party, but they’re not flocking to the Democratic bench.When the Democrat president comes to power it will not take long before people realize it’s just more business as usual, more corruption, more imperialism, fewer jobs, and they’re going to be very, very pissed off.Respectfully,Benjamin SilvermanClass of 2010