What Should The Democratic Party Do?

Indulge me if my punctuation or spelling is not up to par... I haven't had a full night's sleep in three or so weeks... I promised myself never to make an emotional investment in a presidential race after the heartbreak of 2000 and broke that promise to my detriment this year... I am a devout partisan and political junkie but today I can't even turn on the television... Maybe I'll watch ESPN for awhile... I love Shaq and now I get to see him with the Heat in my homestate...

I digress...


When I see posts that suggest the Democratic party should move to the left after an election that saw the Democratic party garner just about every left of center vote to be had and lose by 3,000,000 votes drives me up the proverbial wall.... To those folks I suggest taking POS 101-Introduction To Political Science.... America is a center right nation and the most conservative industrialized nation in the world...

I define marriage as a union between two people who love each other but how will moving to the left win in a nation where ten state's anti-gay marriage referendums passed by wide majorities help us win elections...

The problem with folks on the left and the right is they only speak to folks who think like themselves and get their own views shouted back at them.... For every person who thinks Bush is the anti-Christ there is another person who thinks he's the Messiah...


We need to offer up centrist candidates who can appeal to the base and those folks to the right of it or we are doomed...

If our base couldn't do it last night... It never will...

Our great party needs a program that appeals to the broad electorate without sacrificing the things that make us Democrats-concern for the little guy and respect for everybody's civil rights..

What should the Democratic party do?

on edit- by centrist candidates I am referring to the temperament of the candidate as much as his positions... Look at Clinton... He was able to finesse the wedge issues, abortion, affirmative action, and to a lesser extent gay rights... Clinton had magic and unfortunately magic is not transferrable...

That's where it's at. Get religious, hate women, hate gays, lower taxes, start needless wars, lots of killing and allow genocide. End affirmative action, overturn Roe vs. Wade...wait...just let the repugs rule the entire planet and replace all forest with oil drills. I say...fuck it...I'm tired of giving a shit about my brothers and sisters....their on their own as I am.

never will the majority in America. I think that's what has happened to the Dem. Party in the last couple of decades to contribute to its losing percentages in Congress and presidential winners.

Clinton won because he was closer to the center. As was John F. Kennedy.

The far left faction of the party will never go along with this, and will never see this, but that doesn't change the fact that it is so.

But even more importantly, the Repubs just have a better campaign machine. That's how they pull off these wins time and again. The Dems don't have that smooth of a ruthless, organized, and corrupt political organization. So that's what REALLY has to change most of all.

enjoy.

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centrist.

Or the rockies, or the lower midwest....

But I'll offer up my thoughts anyway, since you posted a question that veers toward what I'm thinking.

We're going right. I think DLC Dems and moderate Republicans are going to have to form a center-right coalition to vote in Congress and the Senate. It won't give us anything we want, but it might stop the flow of the civil and personal rights of the most vulnerable among us.

See, there are still plenty of old-time Republicans out there. Remember them? Socially moderate, fiscally conservative ... sort of like DLC Dems. I'm really hoping the rightist Dems and the moderate Republicans will start talking, caucus together on some things, and hold out some hope that we're not about to become a banana republic and a theocracy.

Theocratic banana republics ain't too great for business, after all, and the GOP has overplayed its hand on that one already.

1) Values. "Freedom is on the march" ... gay marriage as civil rights issue. Womens right to choose as civil rights issue. Economic policy as expression of patriotism ... there are costs to maintaining a healthy nation that an unfettered market is not willing to pay. "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch."

2) New ideas. We had some. We didn't sell 'em. And we need more. Time to really dig into the issues and start priming the pump with info.

3)Continue to organize the grass roots. In reference to 1) above, we have to figure out if gays and lesbians are ready to lay it on the line for their rights. We now know we will not drive back the forces of repression without a protest movement, but if they aren't willing to do that we can't help them. "No one can give you your freedom an dignity. If you are a man you will take it." -- Malcom X

4) Vigilance. Watch these motherfuckers with the eyes of a hawk.

Small consolation, but there is an opportunity here. We can expect a great deal of republican excess ... and that can lead to the eventual discrediting of the neo-con movement in the eyes of the public. But we have to play it smartly.

In a real sense, we have to update/upgrade/re-invent the ideological basis of liberalism.

We have the unions, but still not the rank and file. It shouldn't be that difficult.

What's yours?


I'm tired of losing fucking elections ....

Build a strong, consistent voting bloc. Pump up our think tanks and other institutions. Fight for a clearer, louder voice in the media. Find better leadership that can more capably bring both the moderates and more liberal people in our party together.

Start making ourselves heard in social institutions that are normally considered as the ownership of the right wing: big business, the military, and most importantly, the churches.

We need business and military leaders to understand the pragmatic values of liberal policies (ex. better funded education leads to more effective work forces, state-funded health care takes the burden off of businesses, progressive taxation keeps the consumer class healthy, etc.; for the military: focussing on gaining the political approval of the citizens in other nations is critical to the success of any military action, Dems will make our soldiers safer by not putting their lives in the hands of unaccountable private contractors, Dems will make sure that our soldiers and veterans and their families are taken care of both overseas and at home, etc.).

Most of all, our liberal Christians may have to start proseltyzing: telling other Christians why liberal Christianity is more in line with the value of Christians than conservative Christianity.

There are so many other things that we can do than just wring our hands about whether we should move more right or more left politically.

Non-conservative Christians _really_ need to start organizing better. Americans (and the world) need to know you can be a Christian without being a conservative. Personally I believe you can't be a conservative (as framed currently in this country) and be a true Christian. I've seen tremblings of this starting, and it really need to be encouraged and nurtured. Even the American Catholic layity is facing needing to force a shift or broadening due to problems in it's own hierarchy exposed over recent years (one of the GOTV phone bankers last night is Catholic).

Talking about faith needs to be OK in the Democratic party.

We need to strengthen and broaden our base. I agree that two great places to start are the membership of the labor unions and our armed service people. I really think we have an opportunity to drastically shift the culture in the rank-and-file of our armed services if we focus on that.

Another great point is the media. I think we all agree that a lot of the people the Dems had out talking for us were not very good. They just didn't seem to have enough fire, or weren't able to make their points very well. Even if Kerry does end up with enough votes to take Ohio or Florida (and I'm praying he does) and is the next president, I doubt we'll have the clout to bring back the fairness doctrine any time soon. Buffing up our think tanks is a great idea. So is finding a handful of spectacular front people for news programs, talk shows, debate prep etc.

I've been saying for a decade that our biggest problem is that we are being out organized. I first started thinking this as a political activist in the late 80's, primarily with anti-Apartheid. The number of meetings that I had to try to browbeat people into stop dragging irrelivant things into our actions or keep people focused was one of the main reasons I gave up on liberal political organizing. The internet and AAR have finally started improving our national voice and organization.

But we have a long way to go still!!! How many reports did you hear about people trying to volunteer with local Dem. offices but getting no response? We had a lot of people on the ground, but with how many different organizations? How much duplicated effort? We need to target the cultural changes above, but I think we also need to enact a brutal reorganization of the party. A bottom up shaking of the tree, and get dusty bottoms who aren't interested in the internet or aren't fired upo out of our local Dem offices. We seem to have a lot of competent, involved, inteligent people out here. Let's get THEM into key places in the organization, so the party has the kind of structure, involvemnet and drive we will need. Because the next stage, regardless of the presidential results, is to take back the Senate and make inroads back into the house in two years!!! This is VITAL! We had more than one close election this time around.

It's funny that I, as an ex-Christian, am really pushing the idea of liberal Christians getting out there and proselytizing, but I respect liberal Christians and consider them vital to the fight against the right wing. I bet lots of other non-Christian liberals will come to understand this, as well.

The Christian Right has so much power because they're not only a political force, but a social force. They're actively recruiting people into a highly politically active group that touches all parts of their everyday lives and almost every person they come in contact with. They are then able to use the already organized institutions of their churches to spread their religio-political views outside of their group.
People that become attracted to their religious ideals and strong communities are eventually drawn into their political views, because they are considered inseparable from religious views.

The American Left simply doesn't have this kind of pervasive, converting, communal force. That's a huge reason why the right wing is growing in strength compared to us, IMO. A renewal of proselytization among Christian liberals would be just a start. I can't think of any other kind of existing social institution that could accomplish this, but, of course we should look for ways to involve non-Christian liberals in some kind pervasive socio-political force that draws in other people. I know it may sound creepy and cult-like (perhaps liberals could find a way to make it persuasive without killing independent thought), but I see no other way of politically transforming our society.

We really need to start rethinking our situation from the ground up. That means doing things like considering our influence in all of the major institutions in our society.

I'm trying to make sense while under the influence of zero sleep, so forgive me if some of this sounds like incoherent rambling.

We lost two fuicking elections to a moron....


Obviously what does that make us and what should we do about it?

OY VEY!!!

Actually, I don't think it was a policy, left-right issue.

The thing Northern liberals just don't get is the amount of personality involved in Southern and Western politics. Sure, all their guys aren't Huey Long -- but they understand them. They don't understand Kerry or Dukakis. They are alienated by them, and feel they're looking at an empty shell. There is a serious charisma gap. When the polls say, "It was a values-based election," Northerners want to analyze which value, and transform it into an issue they can address. It is not the same. You cannot turn intuition into logic.

Replace Iowa and New Hampshire with South Carolina and Georgia. You'll get candidates who can pass the Southern smell test. You'll get candidates who can bring the message home without changing it.

I don't see how we can cede entire regions of the conutry and have a good chance of winning elections...


It can be done but it's a daunting obstacle...

Think back. If Clinton hadn't had his "New Democrat" wonky schtick, he'd never have made it through New Hampshire. And then the Dems would have lost that race, too. But without the New Democrat wonky schtick, if he had been miracled into the general election, he still would have won it and the North along with it.

Clinton was a phony in a lot of ways, but they were all ways the South could understand. The candidates the Northern -- or, god forbid, West Coast -- Dems relate to could just as well be from Mars from the Southern point of view.

I say switch the primaries and you don't have to cede the region.

On edit, it *wasn't* the economy, stupid.

I know what you meant but here's my take...

Clinton was a garden variety liberal and embraced the personnae most liklely to allow him to win enough votes to be in a position that advances his agenda....

And the good old boy stuff is part of Clinton too...

I was trying to look for a word that would express how Clinton passed a test for Southerners, and "authentic" just didn't fit. I mean to say I don't think he misled the south by "embracing his personae", but that his act was something they understood and could relate to. Was there ever any hope they could understand the Kerry senatorial persona?

On the main point, do you think switching the primaries could help?

I digress...


I was reading the liner notes for the Beach Boys seminal album Pet Sounds...

Without getting into the merits rock critics say it's one of the best rock albums ever made...

On the liner notes Brian Wilson writes his goal was to make the most creative music he could within the boundariries of commercial reality....

Our goal is to put together the most progressive program possible within the boundaries of electoral reality....


Switching the primaries...

Don't know...

One thing to keep in mind we lost the pop vote and the EC vote narrowly.... This wasn't a landslide election but the closeness doesn't make the hurt go away...

I think our message needs to be tweaked... Maybe in a few days I'll feel differently...

it was considered a flop when it was released originally.
The buying public didn't buy it, sort of like our predicament now.

Advocate for all Dems to immediately
purchase firearms for home defense.
We've got to prepare for the future!

The presidential aspect is simple, candidate driven. But we have no one close to that model now.

Otherwise, I don't pretend to know. The country is brainwashed and probably short term irretrievable. The exit polls had 54-43 agreeing Iraq was a central aspect of the war on terrorism.

We need to banish guns, marriages, church and white men. More cities with populations of 1,000,000 or more. One million additional black women in every state.

After 12 hours of fruitless GOTV, losing wagers on Kerry and in my election pool, and not more than 5 hours sleep in more than a week, those are my brainstorm solutions.

We need to recruit a candidate such as the one you described and work to get the party behind him/her. So that when our primary season begins we can have a strong candidate to support who isn't being ripped to shreads by nine other candidates vying for the nomination.

blame .put the damn blame on the media.....thats where it truly lies...they jumped on every little tidbit about Kerry...but pushed away items and news about this country when it came to bush.

bush had endless free hours of air time and took statements of kerrys out of context........kerry got a nip of free time.

the media was all a giggle for bush from the start......and condemned kerry from the start.

they would rather back a awol....liar.thief......idiot.....than a man who clearly won the debates and who had a real vision for the country.

religious delusionals is what cost us this

the more people realize that god is fake, the better for the progressive party

We have to start making sure that no one can frame the Democratic Party except the Democratic Party.

Folks disregard their economic interests and vote for Pugs because of social values....


Yep....


We need candidates who can finesse those issues like Clinton..

It seemed more like he was calling for an effort to get the red states to accept that they should vote on economic rather than cultural issues.

Wrong! This is the failed patrician approach the Dems keep going back to. The more that approach is tried, the greater the resistance will be.

The Dems need to piggyback their economic basket on a platform of regional empowerment. Or keep losing.

The live and let live folks are a majority in this closet....

65% of Americans support gay marriages and civil unions... Bush was just able to peal a signaficant portion of them...

For example, the evil of media consolidation plays well with Southern populism. I think Trent Lott, Jesse Helms and the NRA all banded together to oppose the latest media ownership bill.

I think a clever person could come up with a whole range of things that Southerners would see as protecting them from Yankee cultural imperialism and Northerners would see as progressivism. If you took the traditional cop out of punting to the states and sold it as a principle, I think you'd do okay on the cultural front: Mississippi doesn't want New York culture any more than New York wants Mississippi culture.

Look at the Electoral map. Look at the states that have gone Republican, from Virginia through to Texas, across the plains, including my home state of Nebraska, into the Rocky Mountains.

Why are these states voting Republican?
Why is my home state voting Republican?

It sure isn't for Republican programs in those states. If you want to know what Republicans do to Nebraska, check out Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha during the mating season.

But Democratic parties within those states are getting very little backup from the DNC. They are left a day late and dollar short and when the National Party does pitch in, they send some one from Copely Square, Central Park West or Castro Street to talk down to the "socially inferior Middle Americans and Southerners" (This was actually told to me at the DNC by a delegate from San Francisco, "Midwesterners are socially inferior in my view, that is why they vote Republican.")

The Democratic Party has become bicoastal and arrogant. It forgets that progressivism isn't some California trend or some Madison Ave fad. IT WAS BORN AND BRED ON THE PLAINS!

It is time for the Democratic Party to reclaim the frontier. Mary Ellen Lease and Bob LaFollette are looking down on us and shaking their heads right now in disbelief at how we've given the heartland of our country to the robber barons of this new age.

"Our great party needs a program that appeals to the broad electorate without sacrificing the things that make us Democrats-concern for the little guy and respect for everybody's civil rights.

For starters, we can actually start standing up for them. We can't roll over on every action. Plus, we have start calling a spade a spade here. We are the party of the New Deal. We are party of Rural Electrification. We are the party of the TVA. We are the party that built a set of systems that brought about the greatest economic engine in the history of mankind. We need to fuse that with being the party that also did these things and balanced the books in this country after a decade of GOP deficits. We know it, because we've done it. The problem is, WE DON'T SELL IT!

Instead of pointing these facts out. We get bogged down in Gay Marriage, Gun Rights and Abortion. The Republicans are mounting their class warfare and we go along fighting skirmishes that keep our eyes off the prize.

Retro vs. Metro is the game they play. We need to fuse Metro issues and Retro issues, for they are fused, especially in the heartland.

When the farm economy is depressed it hits all of us, even in the cities. When Big Agribusiness wants to push out the family farmer, push out the organic farmer and fast-track genetically altered foods, that effect us in every city and every trendy bistro from Boston to L.A.

When we Leave Every Child Behind, the rural child gets hit just as hard as the child in the urban housing project. If you don't believe me, come with me to Western Nebraska, or the small towns in Connecticut, where I live now. The school face the same problems, same limited resources same unfunding.

When we engage in the military agenda of the Project for the New American Century, it involves our young people. Look at who are soldiers, sailors and airmen. They come from places like Itta Bena, Pulaski, and Beaver Crossing in numbers just a great as they do from Chicago, Brooklyn or Watts.

A century or more ago, the robber barons where beaten because we fused the factory worker, with the farmer, with the anti-lynch leaguers, with the women's sufferagettes. The process began when we found common ground, and the only way we will beat the neoconservatives robber barons today is with the same approach.

Howard Dean wasn't wrong when he said, "I need that white southerner with a confederate flag on his pickup truck." (And I'm a black man saying this.)

I need that man!
Because that man or woman is the person who finding his or her job outsourced. That man or woman is finding the school that the kid go to is underfunded but mandated to do thing under NCLB that they cannot afford to do because the dollars are not there.

The problem is, people engage in the wrong order. Forget about the flag, talk about the green. Talk about the jobs, and the economic development. Engage about where the tax cut really went, and the risk that their children or their neighbor will face in preemptive military adventures. Engage them on the real of the Grover Norquist Playbook for America, and reengage on what our party has done and will continue to do.
We do that, and get it to stick (and it will stick because the conservative agenda can't beat us in a fair fight, they never have!), then we can work on the "flag thing", and this method works. I've seen it. We play the game this way, we can start the Second American Revolution and that can drive a stake through the heart of the neoconservative alliance.

What is means is. We have roll up the sleeve and invade the South and Midwest. We have to come not as missionaries, but emissaries. We have to come to learn as well as teach.
It going to mean we have to hit the Sunday Service. We have to be there. Yeah, it may mean we have to go to gun show, and that NASCAR race, and the chili feed, and whatever.

Some of the posts I've read here have disturbed me as far as the matter of "Christians" and that "Religion sucks."

I am a foot-washin', bible totin', saved by the blood of Jesus Christ BELIEVER! I am also a Democratic voter and the two are NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. In fact, one supports the other.

Whether you believe or not, we're not going to get anywhere by such statements. We have to engage, especially those of us who are believers. The "fundamentalist" Christians have forgotten the fundamentals of Christianity.

Those fundamentals involve faith, and action. They involve a concern for the least of these, as the scriptures tells us:

"Matthew 25:42
"For I hungry and you gave Me no food. I was thirsty and you gave Me no
drink; I was a stranger and you did Not take me in."

Matthew 25:44
"Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or
sick in prison, and did not minister to You."
Matthew 25:45
"Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the
lease of these, you did not do it to Me."

Democrats, we have lost an election. It is painful. Myself, I've been crying a little this morning. It hurts to lose, and this one really hurts because when you look at our product compared to theirs ours is better.

But we cannot do that by just hoping win just enough to get 270 Electoral Votes. We need to become a national party again. We need to repudiate the agenda of the neoconservatives from Maine to Maui. It is unamerican to the core of its beliefs, and the numbers prove it, the history proves it. We need to put blue on the map in every regions.
If the democratic party continues to believe that we can put blue in corners and the cities and let the rest of America go red, we can get used to feeling like this every two to four years.

Flyover country WON this election for George W. Bush because they held a referendum of the bicoastal arrogance of the Democratic Party, period.

It's time for our Party to go from the mentality of "Flyover Country" and into the mentality of "Drop Zone Country".

It's time to return to America's Heartland.

I am also a born again Christian and a liberal and see no tension between the two....

I lived in Central Illinois for 12 years, in a very conservative, Republican area. I was the county coordinator for Clinton and Moseley-Braun in 1992, and very open about my politics. But even though most of the Republicans agreed with me on most issues, they still voted Republican!

One reason is that if you get only basic cable there you get only the major, corporate owned media stations, and without cable you get nothing at all but--- radio. That's right, Rush Limbaugh is more real to those people than some of their own family members. They are saturated in right-wing radio, and they believe Rush and Sean and Dr. Laura when they say they are fighting for the rights of the poor and un/underemployed. No matter what you say to them, they quote back Rush. They don't take the time to find out for themselves what is really going on.

Our only real hope is that more and more people are checking out the internet. It's true, of course, that right now they already have it, but many of those towns are full of elderly people who only listen to the radio and wouldn't feel comfortable with a computer. And those that have computers tend to use them more for visiting porn sites than for discussing politics or learning anything. We have to get more and more of our friends and family across the country to check out all the Left bloggers and the fact-checker sites. They need to be exposed to the truth about what the party they are supporting is doing to them!

Do you think the repukes said "aw guys, we need to offer up some more centrist candidates" during the Clinton years????

Not hardly.

Bullshit. I voted for your first option. They want a fight, they got it.

Kerry is NOT a big liberal, that very notion makes me laugh. *I* am a huge liberal, Kucinich is truly liberal, Kerry is NOT. He was simply painted that way by the repukes and their lapdog, the media.

even in Oregon and you want to move left...

The votes aren't there

What part of that don't you understand?

Maybe we move left and create votes. Maybe we fight for what we believe. Playing for the center has lost us the Presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court.

but our issues need to be packaged better...


move left to create votes... every left wing organization and their friends were helping up and we lost... we reduced nader to an asterik....

And 36 only passed with 57% of the vote and most of that 57% do believe in civil unions. Yes we will have a fight on our hands, because of the out side right wing nuts, but we will fight.

We need to fire a few congressmen and senators (if that is possible) when they play pattycake with Bush's horrible schemes and bills. They don't fear the power of the people.It's time they did.

If Kerry wins, his life is hell and his hands tied with Repug house and senate. We need control of both houses or any Pres we get can't perform the healing.


Kerry is fearless against jackels. He has proven that three times (Contra scancal, Nam and this election). If he were Minority leader, wouldn't they hate it every single day. He has nothing to lose holding the Cabal accountable for every law broken.

Any real investigative journalists out there willing to go underground to find the vulnerable belly spot of the Carlyle Group- that's what is in charge of this country. PNAC and Carlyle.

If the goal is to fight like hell for a chance at becoming a majority party again, then the Democrats need to veer left to field credible and ideologically consistent issue positions comprehensible to the midwest farmers as well as the coastal urbanites.

If the goal is to work within the current system to influence policy, then disband the Democratic party and caucus with the republicans. Seriously. The Democratic lawmakers will probably get more done by ceding their pretentions to partisan politics and joining the de-facto ruling party.

But just leave the Party alone. When the shit starts to hit the fan, we will be the ones laughing at them for voting the jerk in. Like I told a person I know in the south earlier. That called to gloat about Bush. "Don't and I mean Don't come crying to me when Bush takes your son/21 and daughters/18 to war and they come back in body bags. When this happens it will be your fault not mine. And made God forgive you for not having any kind of value on life that is walking and talking and trying to make some thing out of them selfs. You my ex-friend are now your own worst enemy. And what ever happens to our Nation just be remind that it your fault not mine" This is and will be the last time I talk to this friend that i have know since we were kids. 33 yrs of friendship is over and died.

The problem with the Democratic Party isn't that it's too far left, or too centrist. Rather, it is that it is simply in disarray.

Richard Vignieue said something on this past week's NOW with Bill Moyers that hit the nail on the head. He said, "I wake up every morning thinking, 'What 5 or 6 things can I do today to help the conservative movement?' Democrats look at elections as a sprint that happens every couple of years."

THAT is the problem with our party. It's become addicted to corporate cash, and has fallen out of touch with the people it wants to represent.

Howard Dean had it right, IMHO. We need to focus, first and foremost, on getting people just in touch with one another, talking about the issues. We need to remove this cancer of polarized debate and instead work on a community level to get people involved and energized about being involved. Dean was hardly a left-wing Democrat, he was a centrist. But he realized that the whole issue of politics has to be about the PEOPLE.

There are areas in this country that are more progressive than others. For instance, where I live (Westchester Co., NY), we just re-elected a town board that is 5 for 5 Democrats. We re-elected a very progressive state assemblyman. We've got the capacity for a real blooming progressive movement.

I don't pretend that such things will instantly happen in GA. But the first step is simply getting people to come together and talk to each other about the issues that concern them, to start a dialogue.

Progressivism in various forms is not dead, it's just a bit dormant. Texas has as rich of a history of progressive legislators (Sen. Ralph Yarborough, anyone?) as many of the New England states do. It's up to us to re-awaken it.

You can call that moving left or whatever you want. I'd call it moving in the right direction.

Regain the House

Which House seats are possible?

due to the way the districts are drawn. Drawing the districts is everything. The key is to control state legislatures following the decennial census.

Clinton governed from the middle successfully and had solid centrist credentials when he came to office. Conservatives outnumber liberals 2 to 1 in the country and picking far left candidates may feel great, but it won't get us the White House or Congress.

Doesn't matter who the candidate will be.

We need to start running commercials now exposing everything the media isn't saying.

We need ads exposing the environmental policies. Just factual. No spin. We need an ad that just runs through the backgrounds of the judges Bush has already appointed. We need an ad that runs through the FDA appointees that oppose birth control, and the AIDS commission people that oppose condoms.

Just facts, not overly emotional. A negative campaign cycle condemning the policies, that's not tied to any particular candidate. Just a truth series that covers what everyone except us has been blind to.

go fuck itself, it seems to enjoy being fucked so much. After being a card-carrying member for ALL of my voting life, I can no longer stomach what I've seen it turn into. From now on I will be referring to myself as a small "d" democrat and will vote as an independent. As a matter of fact, I might as well join the Greens - they truly represent all of my values and aren't beholden to the Corporatist pork barrel perks that have turned Democrats into quasi-Republicans. My old party and I are through; it cannot be "reformed" in my eyes as long as their ideas of "centrism" means capitulating to brain-dead "Middle America" (a euphemism for snivelling consumerist poltroons).

leftist parties and indies.

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FIGHT for election reform at the municpal and state level!
Clean up the American government from the ground up!
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I feel this will be my last post for a little while, I am going to do some research and put in some long hours contemplating what just happend. I am going to get involved in more and more local politics and work my way up. I already have made some important contacts that want me to work for them again here in Ohio. I plan on doing that. Right now, I am going to back off, take a look at the big picture....... and do some creative thinking, and maybe, just maybe, come up with a plan that will work time and time again for the Democratic Party.



Peace out....War in I guess :shrug:

That guy has been a disaster...

What the Democratic party needs to do can not be summed up in a simplistic false dichotomy. The real world is more complex than that.

... who is unwilling to stand up to the criminals on the extremist right.

and build the kind of progressive infrastructure (think tanks, media networks, fundraising, perpetual campaign) and coalitions (environmentalists, feminists, civil libertarians, civil rights advocates, workers advocates, etc.--I mean real coalitions built around two or three very focused issues) that Reagan and the neocons started building with the Moral Majority and the NRA. That is what is kicking our ass.

... organizing over a period of years?