Here's our "vision thing": patriotic defenders of the traditional American

values of the Founding Fathers--democracy, equality, separation of church and state, the Bill of Rights, and government accountability to the people. By emphasizing the triumph of the fundamentalist right in the election, the media has made it possible for the Democratic party to portray itself as the true American patriots coming to rescue our nation.

There has been a major change in how the left sees itself. Decades ago the left was seen as flag-burning America haters. But I think most people here at DU thinks of the left today as the real defenders of America. Yet, this is rarely enunciated by our political leaders.

The rightwing fundies are, at their core, un-American. They are opposed to everything Jefferson and the Founding Fathers stood for. The fight we are fighting in 2004 is the same fight, against the same people, that the Founding Fathers fought against--and defeated--in forming this nation. The battle continued with the Civil War, and again our side won. The battle continues today.

I want a Democratic presidential candidate in 2008 who will clearly frame the argument in this way. Expose the wingnuts for the anti-America people that they are. We do not need a candidate that will only be a collection of policy positions. We are at war for our nation, and we need a leader, not a policy wonk.

I don't mean this to sound like an anti-Kerry rant. I respect and admire him. He won the election. Unfortunately, the anti-America opposition was able to stifle and subvert democracy.

We did have one candidate who effectively presented his campaign in the way I described--Howard Dean. But concern about his "electability" caused the party to turn on him. In hindsight, this Dean supporter thinks that if Dean was the nominee, he may very well have been soundly beaten. But remember, this rightwing movement that dominates our government today had its beginnings with Barry Goldwater standing up in 1964 and getting his ass kicked.

:thumbsup: