Good email I got from PFAW basically saying 'we can't rest on our laurels'

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Did you read Paul Krugman's column in Monday's New York Times? On the day before the Blue Wave washed over national and state elections across the country, he asked the important question, "What will defeat do to the Republicans?" and provides several reasons why we can expect the Grand Old Party to take a hard turn to the extreme Right. We agree. With the Right in its new role as "the opposition," get ready to see an invigorated right-wing grassroots, media and organizational infrastructure.

The Heritage Foundation is already digging in its heels saying they will not let President-Elect Obama bring about the change he's promised.

Right-wing blogs, talk radio and television outlets like Fox News will experience a boom, and new personalities will emerge (remember that the Rush Limbaughs of the world became popular during the Clinton years and the power of the progressive netroots is in many ways attributable to backlash against the Bush administration and right-wing government).

With the failure of a Republican presidential candidate who tried to distance himself from the current administration, and the popularity of Sarah Palin, who appealed to the far-right base, many will make the case that the best political strategy is a hard-line and unabashed commitment to right-wing ideology.

One of the only victory trends enjoyed by the Right on Tuesday was in anti-gay ballot initiatives in Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and, sadly, even California, emboldening the Religious Right to repeat these tactics in state after state.

And finally, with President-Elect Obama and the Democratic Senate in a position to undo many of the Right's most cherished gains in its favorite area of focus: the federal courts -- this, perhaps more than anything else, will energize the Religious Right's grassroots.
The Right is already planning the revitalization of the conservative movement. They will have the energy. They will have the funding. And with the will to obstruct at every turn the change that we've worked so hard to achieve, the Right is making our case that People For the American Way is more necessary than ever.

And we can't see a repeat of the early 90's. What happened was that the organized Left went dormant, became complacent and didn't keep the pressure on the administration and Congress to deliver on their promises to America. The Clinton administration was subject to unrelenting attacks from the Right -- as Obama's surely will be -- but too many progressives thought they could stop fighting once the election was over.

Without a strong progressive movement keeping the wind at the Obama administration's back, our constitutional values will not be realized as policy and our electoral gains will be short-lived. And of course, the mandate that Barack Obama has received from voters to appoint judges who adhere to the Constitution's promise of equality and justice for all will need our strongest support.

YOU are the progressive grassroots. And you are needed. People For the American Way's ability to get the job done in Washington will depend on our ability to mobilize activists and volunteers across the country for critical fights, like when there is a Supreme Court vacancy, in pushing Congress to pass much-needed election reform legislation or to mobilize opposition to the Right's efforts to destroy the Obama administration and their attacks on equality.

We're developing ways for activists like you to stay engaged, spread the progressive message and put your energy behind a progressive agenda for the crucial first year of Obama's presidency. Stay tuned for more on these programs in the days and weeks to come.

Together, we will fulfill Tuesday's promise. Together, we will turn hope into a better America for all.

Sincerely,

Norman Lear & Kathryn Kolbert