Nation: "Progressives: Get Ready to Fight" by Borosage and vanden Huevel.

Good uplifting article by these two folks at The Nation. Borosage is the director of Campaign for America's Future, she is the editor of The Nation.
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041129&c=1&s=borosagekvh

SNIP.."Progressives Rising

Even in the ashes of this defeat, progressives can take pride in the remarkable role we played, both in arousing opposition to Bush and in building the independent progressive machinery necessary to communicate, educate, register and get out the vote.

Howard Dean gave Democrats their voice. The Dean campaign and MoveOn.org broke the grip of big donors in the Democratic primaries and helped Democrats utilize the Internet. Kerry ended with a 7-to-1 Internet fundraising advantage over Bush. Democrats became competitive with Republicans in raising hard money...."

(Long article, but a snip from the end)

SNIP..." What Is to Be Done?

In the wake of defeat, there will and should be reassessment inside the Democratic Party. But progressives drive this party now--we provide the energy, the organizers, the ground forces, the ideas and much of the money. We should organize the opposition. Here's a start: (I will list only two)

SNIP.."§ Take the Offensive. Progressives should mount a powerful assault on Republican boss Tom DeLay and the most corrupt Congress in memory, exposing the blatant giveaway of taxpayers' money to corporate contributors and spreading the word to Republican districts so voters learn about the crony corruption that is emblematic of this crowd."

SNIP..."that does not mean abandoning the party's principles on social issues like choice or equal rights. Democrats champion the values of the civilizing movements of recent decades--the civil rights movement, the women's movement, the environmental movement, the human rights movement. We should lead the forces of tolerance against the forces of intolerance.We win by being the party of progress, not by blurring differences with the new reactionaries...."

The Regressives are out to destroy all progress and hinder prosperity!!!!!

More from the article:

SNIP..."§ Build Independent Capacity. Progressives should build on this year's extraordinary efforts to register, educate and mobilize voters. New focus should be on building volunteer networks from community organizations (as the right has done with evangelical churches). The competition over the growing Hispanic vote is a case in point. With Republicans in control of the leading Hispanic TV and radio networks, this project can't be left to the party, or to chance.

At the same time, progressives have to expand their capacity to generate ideas, develop a message, communicate issues and carry out campaigns that can compete with the right. This is a long-term project that requires significant investment. Major donors and national and grassroots groups are already discussing it. MoveOn.org and Dean's Democracy for America have demonstrated the potential for building powerful movements based upon citizen involvement and small-donor support. That will be key if the debate is to break out of the narrow constraints of the Clinton years.

eom

proposal. Since, after all, that's exactly what they ARE. Onward and backward to the 13th century, 'eh? When do I get my own personal witch-burning?

This is a great resource and if you're griping about CNNFOXMSNBCETC this is the perfect antidote to the corporatist, rightwing views prevailing in mainstream media.

www.thenation.com

I thought that was interesting.

The Nation is the one magazine I now give as Christmas gifts...all my friends get a copy. It's opened more eyes than I can count. And It tastes great!

:)

We are the Democratic Party. Has it ever been more obvious? The "moderate" leader of the Democrats in the Senate was defeated. There was nothing but silence and inaction from the DLC and moderates in this last election. All the energy and ideas came from the progressive side. We are the Party. And we are Progressives. We must fight the regressive Republicans.

and, in effect, move more toward the religious right and the moral values people, so we can win the next time. Mark nmy words right here. We will see lots of our money handed out to faith based charities and religious schools.

A losing strategy in the last two elections, but nevertheless, still positing the same strategy. :shrug:

when you get those bogus opinion letters from democrats and they ask you for money, they always throw in liberal red meat and then go vote with the republicans on just the issues most important to you?

Then we haul our asses out to the election offices and kill ourselves for candidates they shoved down our throats.

of my favorite authors. She's also the best progressive TV pundit.

But the authors are in denial with this statement:

"Morals didn't trump economics; the economic cards simply weren't dealt."

Kerry played the economic card as much as politically possible. "Jobs" was one of his top two campaign themes. Kerry and Edwards beat the lost American jobs issue to death in states like Ohio, and they still lost. The Media Fund, MoveOn and the Kerry Campaign flooded the battleground states with ads about lost jobs and the good-paying jobs that have been replaced by low-paying jobs with no benefits. Kerry also emphasized the jobs issue in the debates. There was no stone left unturned regarding this issue.

Lack of playing the "economic cards" didn't lose this election.