One stop Dem wishlist: Let's make it easy: What do you want from the party

in the next year?

Please be as specific as possible; instead of saying you want a "progressive" Dem chair (I don't think they know what "progressive" means, sadly enough), what do you want that is Progressive from the chair?

Instead of a genereic "move to the Left," let's let them know HOW we want them to move left.

Apparently party leadership ignores DU, pretty much, but lots of local precinct committee members and such are here, and they will help determine the next DNC chair.

For those who aren't Dems: you are welcome to post in this thread as well, I'm asking everyone here to think POSITIVELY for once.

When the republicans start pulling their ususal garbage, I want them to stand up and say "wait a minute, bub." Until then, why should we continue to vote for someone that doesn't represent us?

typo correction.

How should they do this?

I honestly think Dem leadership thinks that talking is enough, but clearly it isn't.

What can they do in this regard to make YOU happy?

address the job loss problem by developing a solid plan to encourage companies who hire within the borders and penalize the outsourcers, insourcers, and those who move their headquarters offshore to avoid taxes.

As leaders, I think they should be exert some of their power to get onto the tv, radio, etc and broadcast their plan far and wide.

They need to redevelop their ties with the feminists. They need to address women's issues. They need to give women reasons to vote for them. Actually, they need to give a lot of people a reason to vote for them. Other than Clinton himself, I don't think they have done that since Clinton's first election.

Basically, they just need to grow a spine/backbone/courage and step out publicly on issues...

Aim for their wants and desires. Pick a few issues that affect their lives positively or negatively, and propose some modest-scale programs to ameliorate them. Clinton was a master generating votes with fairly inexpensive programs, but against his advice we have forgot about them.

We're losing the younger blue collar vote, what use to be the union households. They're not concerned that much with Social Security or healthcare yet at this stage of their lives, so our messages are not resonating with them. We have something for every other constituency, but not for them.

Our party stands for helping the underdog and the struggling. We still do, but have forgotten this segment. Its cost us dearly.

Reinvent recruitment approach here to accord better with "values"themes.

the other half care more about freedom and not having other people's nose in their business. Not all the repubs are theocrats.

The values issue could be largely blunted, though, by putting the blame for 'the coarsening of society' where it belongs: giant corporate conglomerations, not any 'liberal elite'. Right now, some of these people think they're voting against Britney Spears and Janet Jackson's right breast. The 'culture war' they call it, and they don't realize republicans are running both sides.

screwed. Raise minimum wage. Raise troop pay. Limit overtime. Halt importation of cheap goods from countries without worker protections. Introduce strong privacy legislation including workplace privacy. Stay away from gun control. Address consolidation of the media.

Thanks.

And don't forget to turn some of that back on the Republicans.

"We shouldn't be eliminating minimum wage as many Rightwing officials have proposed. We should be INCREASING it."

"I propose an increase to standard military pay that exactly equals the pay CUTS proposed by the current president when the people's attention was diverted during the first few days of the invasion into Iraq."

I want them to act as if they have some cajones. It appears we have a group of yes men and women. Where in the devil are the patriots? Why are we all feeling orphaned?

I expect our party to stand up and Fight for Social Security, against the inciped embrace of the "Patriot" Act. Fight for mother earth, get up and tell us all about the alternative energy sources already available, push for our constitutional rights. Most of all I want a party with some backbone. They need to do it now, get off their extended vacations and do the work, otherwise I see a third party making it's way into "the hearts and minds" of the American People.

Without concrete issues to address, griping gets us nowhere.

We all want them to be stronger and more assertive. What they seriously need our help with is HOW they do it.

The courage and will to act in the interests of Americans who are not members of the wealthy elite.

Not to criticize, but I want us on DU, just this once, to think POSITIVELY and to work out the leadership's problems.

It's hard to be specific, I know, but let's give it a try. We're certainly smart enough.

to oppose destructive Rethug legislation or spending,
to issue rapid response press releases and hold press conferences,
to write op-eds, to appear on talk shows, to voice a united message that the Rethugs do not act in the interests of working Americans, and to hire better PR people to get that message out.

In other words, to get off their collective butts and begin to fight back, using pre-planned strategies and collective effort.

PR people? HELL YES!

Either we don't have any, or what we have is seriously overpaid.

We need ourr BEST on the talking heads shows, but the shows don't want our best. Our PR people should refuse to book the ones the shows want, and only book our best guys.

This has been one of my major-league beefs for YEARS.

In fact the dems lack of courage is the basic root cause of the problem. They are consistently ready to throw the dem agenda overboard every time a poll comes out that suggests that 51% of people don't agree with something or other.

They caved on civil rights with the patriot act, they caved on ruinious tax cuts (many times), they caved on DOMA, they caved on choice, they caved on Ashcroft, they caved on union busting with homeland security, they caved, they caved, they caved.

STOP CAVING and stand up for the agenda we elected you to represent!

We need courage and we need it now.

Let's outline what we believe in NOW, that way it's easier for our 2006 candidates to run and frame the issues to make the opposition address them.

It should seek to strengthen current social programs that work and be engineered as a "slippery slope (this program builds upon this one, and eliminates the need for the failed one, etc.).

As soon as the DNC chair, regardless of who is chosen, takes his/her seat, let's hammer it out and get our sights on 2006, setting the stage for 2008. If we can't do it locally, we are doomed to failure on 2008.

The midterms are one time when the focus is on state and district issues, I personally wouldn't want to suggest that congressional races be run on a national democratic platform. With regard to issues I'd rather not burden them with fending off Republican attacks on planks that won't work in their districts.

If 2006 democratic candidates are going to represent national party issues, let them represent Democratic principles/values that are dominant in the United States, things like Liberty, Justice, and Equality, and the belief that America including their district can be improved.

that we really haven't got a coherent message. We need to outline why it's better to send a Dem than a Republican to Congress.

Also keep in mind that some of the state run orgs are woefully inadequate. This is certainly the case in my state. It's all about raising money for the prez traces, not about getting locals elected.

Ourr senatorial candidate last year received virtually NO money from the oarty, yet manged to make a respectable showing (and still wanted the "D" by his name!).

It seems that Democrats want this country to be a One Party/Dictatorship and dominate the world, just as much as the Nazi republicans. Just come out and say so and to hell with the country. I already pledged to NEVER vote again in this country. Unless you're a rich corporate republican Hitler follower, individual votes count shit. Stop the fakeness.

1. ELECTION REFORM
2. ELECTION REFORM
3. ELECTION REFORM

Without it you wouldn't be able to get Jesus crist elected

It's obviously a worthy cause, and I think it's a real winner for Dems, but what do they need to do to bring it about?

We want them to listen, let's give them ideas to listen to.

Pick a color for the 2006 elections.

My pick is BLUE because we can all relate to a blue /red world.

Use the power of the 527's like move on and the "internets" to develope a simple platform.
1. Election reform
2. Tax reform
3. Health care
4. ect. ect

Have Dems running in ALL races. (yes even against popular repugs)

Make sure EVERY person in every precint knows who the DEM is that is running, why they are running, and what they plan to do FOR THE PEOPLE
when they are elected.

Start registering voters, especially in repug areas

Make sure ALL DEM voters are wearing blue on election day.

And if we have to, hire our own exit poll company.

This will be a huge grassroots effort, but it can be done with 2 or 3 people per precint

Are you ready??

Your last point is an EXCELLENT suggestion, too; easily implemented and probably the one that would scare those that help engineer lousy voting opportunities more than anything!

Fight the GOP like our lives (and children's lives) depend on it. Take no prisoners. Put together a list of the nastiest things the GOP has done in the past decade, and a list of GOP hypocrisies (advocated one thing when the Dems were in power and are doing the exact opposite now that they are in power), and publicize it. Run ads in the newspaper and on TV highlighting these excesses. I want to see attack ads all year long. Put special emphasis on Bush's bogus reasons for going into Iraq and how inept this administration has been running the war (too few troops, lack of armored humvees, no exit strategy, document the death and destruction in Iraq and ask if Iraqis are really better of now than they were before the invasion).

This administration has done so many stupid, hypocritical, mean-spirited things that the Democratic party should have no trouble putting together some hard hitting ad campaigns.

:mad:

Not just at election time. This is a great idea! Raise money and spend it on that! The press is lost to us -- so this is the only way to get it done. Excellent!

I'd rather go down fighting than cowering to the repukes like our Dem leaders are doing.

... regardless of what some poll tells them. I firmly believe that their wishy washy "which way is the wind blowing" cowardliness is what is killing the party.

I also want them to INSIST on a reform of our election system that includes a paper trail for every vote cast and makes sure there are enough machines for people to vote on. Better yet, all absentee voting with a public database that lets you look up and see if your vote was counted. And to take partisanship out of election rulemaking (ie. no more Blackwells; no more Harris').

Lastly, stop pandering. If you aren't going to do a damn thing for special interest groups like gays and lesbians or the unions or communities of color than don't pretend that you are. Better yet, do something for them -- stand by the people who stand by the party! Nothing irks me more than the dem party being known as "pro gay rights" when they haven't done jack for me. I am sure people of color probably feel the same way, as should union members.

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Yeah, we're all angry, but what can they do to make us feel they care about our anger?

That's the stuff, gang.

Keep it coming.

I want them to make an issue about pensions being decimated by upper management piss poor business decisions, make an issue about CEO pay while the rank and file are being asked to give up their wages and pensions, especially the airlines, point out that while energy companies are enjoying record profits, oil prices are killing the airlines, some here blame the airlines, $1.00 increase in the price of oil is an additional 440 million in cost for the airlines, especially when their target high price was $30 a barrel, turning them into part time wal-mart jobs. Point out the fact that many of the reserves that are fighting the war in Irag, their war on "Terror", <sarcasm> are pilots while their wages and pensions are going into the pockets of the energy and insurance companies pockets. Why does a CEO get a bonus when any worker is laid off? I don't know how to frame it but a good question could be to ask if these are "Family Values"

Also why can't we acknowledge that there are Christian Democrats, we should be able to "frame" the issue in such a a way that more people feel like it is a "private matter" not a political matter, there are passages in the Bible that reflect the Democratic issues and our definition of "Family Values" we can't be afraid to be vocal about it, as well as being vocal about being inclusive of all our party.

I say hammer away at corporate profit and the reduction of wages and benefits, remind people that "a church" can be a hilltop where 2or3 people meet to discuss their God, doesn't have to be a giant money hoarding crystal cathederal, family values are being there for the family with a good education, a good job,one that pays a decent wage and helps provide for a healthcare program that is appropriate for a country with our wealth, an opportunity for all to reach the "American Dream" and no it is not Wal-Mart. The Democratic Party should stand out as the party that wants a system that allows the majority of workers to be able to earn a wage that can help support them in a comfortable manner and keeps our seniors out of poverty, back to the fact that there is no reason that CEO's should be making 600x's the wage of their workers, spread that around more fairly in form of wages and benefits and productivity will follow, we need to hammer the top. We can start with bumper stickers showing how much * and Cheney have saved in taxes with their tax cuts.

The one thing I want to see is for us to start forcing the repugs to respond to us for once instead of us constantly being the *opposition* responding to them.

Here's my idea.

The dem leadership in the house needs to map the major issues they want to push,be it welfare reform,tax reform...whatever.

Once a week put a bill on fasttrack and force the repugs to vote down our agenda.Get them on record voting against the things the public understands.Force them to vote against a raise for the military.Make them vote against public housing reform.Make them vote against a FAIR tax reform that helps the working families.
Then get in front of every mic we can and explain our position and how they voted against it.

In short...make them address OUR aggenda for once.

about the separation of church and state and how important it is to individual liberty and human rights. They should call a spade a spade and show the similarities between the religous right and fascism. Point out in no uncertain terms that voters might want to think about how it will be if they have to live by OTHER people's religous values. Make them THINK for once about the danger of all this faith-based politics!

They should refuse to be drawn into fights over homosexuality and abortion except to encourage equal rights and tolerance and point out how the RW'ers use these issues to scare narrow minded people into voting for them. Point out how the government has much more pressing issues that they should be involved in, and they should stay out of people's private lives, period.

1. Stop reacting to the Republicans. Make your own initiatives, agree on a few simple ones, and have every elected representative publicize them in appearances before their constituents. It may not be possible to pass them, but let people know that you do have ideas.

2. These ideas should include: national health care (not "market based"), support for affordable housing, and a preference for companies with U.S.-based manufacturing when it comes to awarding government contracts.

3. Send your feistiest Dems to appear on TV. No more Alan Colmes-like wimps. They should be all over the Republicans whenever Bushboy or any of his evil crew open their mouths.

4. Listen to your grassroots, and cultivate them between elections. They know local conditions better than the Beltway pundits do, and by keeping local people organized in the "off" years, you'll have a better chance of winning over swing voters and non-voters.

That's the short form.

and refuse any and all donations from corporations and corporate political action committees . . .

if Democrats become the party of the people once again, the people will support them . . .

...I want them to guarantee that George W. Bush and anyone closely associated with him, but especially his brothers, to be unmasked, stripped bare, revealed for the thugs and thieves and liars they are. I want them to hold Bush and his lot accountable for every lie, all incompetence, all secrecy, all fiscal irresponsibility, every effort to create an impenetrable plutocracy.

The torture.

This business of sending troops out without adequate armor.

The failure to stop "post-war" looting in Iraq.

The "mission accomplished" vanity strut before exploited service members.

The vanity war in Iraq.

The inability to accept responsibility or consequences for any action, no matter how illegal, stupid or vicious.

The smearing of McCain. The smearing of Kerry. The use of surrogates (like that Nixon shill John O'Neill) to attack opponents. The blithering jackasses at the Republican convention with their "purple heart" Band-Aids.

The attempts to claim credit for things the Bush administration opposed, like generous relief to the tsunami victims, like the 9/11 commission, like the Department of Homeland Security.

George W. Bush richly deserves contempt and richly deserves to be despised by generations of Americans and indeed the whole world. He has treated Democrats, some fellow Republicans and the entire world with contempt. History should treat him brutally.

Let's start that process now.

I would also like to see some advocacy for withdrawing fro WTO and GATT. Repeal NAFTA. And do not allow or even think about allowing chief justice Scalia, or Thomas. These men shouldn't even be on the high court. Oh yeah, how about some verifiable record (like a paper trail) of how people actually voted. And roll back Bush's tax cuts.

For now, focus on two legislative goals for 2005-6:

Defend, but reform, Social Security: Launch massive, coordinated PR effort to shoot-down Bush SS reform proposal (e.g., run commercials showing hedge fund guys sitting around salivating about getting their hands on SS money).

Redo Bush's Tax Cuts: Theme should be "rewarding work, not speculation". Put "caps" on dividend and capital gain exclusion (e.g., first $50,000 of dividend income is not taxed, but tax it at old rate after that). Run commercials showing how "fat cats" have raked in windfalls from Bush's tax changes (we need to educate the public about financial issues so they can see how they are getting ripped off by Republicans -- we need to have that "class warfare" fight but we need to do it in a reasoned, careful, analytical manner that doesn't descend into wanton business and Wall Street bashing). Come up with targeted plan for "spending" this tax money. My preference is that we focus on education: e.g., add money to the Pell grant program, propose a program that funds scholarships for teachers getting their Master's degrees, increase college/training money for veterans, propose a scholarship program for technical fields (engineering, sciences), and a scholarship program for nursing. These would be true investments in America!

:toast:

Thanks for your "welcome to DU"
Thanks for your "practical-oriented" question. Too much Bush-bashing and not enough practical problem solving is what's sinking the Dem party, in my not so humble opinion.

I am so sick of the apologetic attitude so many Democratic leaders have. I want them to stand tall and proud and express outrage at every single attack to the left. Stop ACTING like a minority party, like they are only being allowed to exist. Start acting like what they are: Representatives for HALF THE COUNTRY. (IMO the intelligent half, to boot.) Our rights and views are just as valid (and American) as the other half's. (Part of this includes getting serious about obtaining competitive media.)

2. Stick up for the little guys. I almost said "stick up for the working people" but it's not only the working people they need to stick up for. They need to do their job to represent and watch out for the little guys in ALL circumstances including worker's rights but also including protection for SMALL business owners, protection for consumers and steadfast support for minority-rights. Protect the public lands for we "little people" who aren't interested in extracting the resources for our own gain but in protecting God's creation for future generations (of people and animals.)

3. If I have one last wish, I wish they would run a campaign focused on a Manhattan project for alternative energy. If they were to actually ask Americans to sacrifice and work toward a common (and exciting) goal, I don't think they could be beat. Everyone I know, including Republicans, want us to cut the oil link from the middle east. A project like this would provide jobs, boost our economy and answer so many of our problems but one of the most important things it would provide is a common goal for Americans. Americans are longing for a national goal and a way to sacrifice for our country. "Just go shopping" is the most pathetic thing the GOP has told us. We can do so much better.

the rise of internet fundraising has the potential to undercut traditional fundraising practices where large and corporate donors are courted and their needs placed above the common interest.

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER...

OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD...

Propose OPEN SOURCE, electronic Voting systems that leave a paper trail, development paid for by the gov't - not leased, but *property* of the gov't, not some corporation, and open source for everyone to see how it works.

Start Public Service programs as alternative to military for employment and educational opportunities.

Offer (very low cost) wireless internet service in major cities esp inner cities. (example: Philadelphia)

Propose sweeping changes to FCC re: ownership, equal time, amount of allowed advertising per hour.

Expose "no child left behind" and propose REAL means to improve our math and science scores.

Move to make our food (fish?tuna?) and drugs the safest in the world.

Dump 80% of Nasa (esp *all* manned flight) for two new science programs:
1) Center for energy alternatives.
2) Center for robotic development. Advanced initiative to design, manufacture and implimentation of robotics IN THIS COUNTRY. Protect the IP paid for by this country.

Crack down on stock / investor fraud.

Crack down on corporate fraud.

Limits on CEO compensation.

Label and close loopholes used by the rich to pay a lower percentage of income taxes than the poor do now

Stop illegal immigration.

End Farm Subsidies and let the market place sort them out (90% of rural red states vote Republican. Why kiss their butts any more?)

Roll back DMCA and other IP corporate give-aways and vow to protect the public domain.

I would add ensuring that we are world leaders in nanotech, materials science, and extracting hydrocarbons from waste/biomass. I'm not sure what to do with the IP. When information gets too restricted, development gets strangled. But that development needs to be compensated, too. I am certain i don't like the current method, where taxpayer-funded IP is often handed off to corporations for nominal prices. At the very least, there should be an open auction. I don't think i understand the pros and cons of the government owning/leasing the patents themselves; can anybody fill us in there?

On farm subsidies, i would point out that you can support family farms with something like 10% of the money currently spent on farm subsidies; most of it goes to giant agribusiness corporations. Hollowdweller had a proposal regarding biodiesel below; how about shifting some of the money there? Make something good out of it, with very little downside except for giant, parasitic corporations propping up their business plans with taxpayer money and accomplishing not much that wasn't done without them.

On immigration, it seems to me two things are needed: first, since so much of the economy apparently depends on illegal immigrants, it is obvious that the immigration levels that were set were way out of proportion to both the supply and the demand in this situation. The quotas for legal immigration need to be greatly increased; probably dramatically so for one year, and less so in succeeding years. A few months after that starts, though, a serious crackdown of illegal labor needs to take place. Aim at the employers, the money centers of the problem and the easiest parts to track down. Carrot and stick; if you want to be legal, you can stay, otherwise you're deported. Perhaps give preference to english-speakers in the immigration quotas?

I will settle for nothing less.

Sounds harsh doesn't it.

it's us or them.

I know who I want to win the battle.

I want to see serious challenges to Republican seats up for re-election in '06. I want the DNC to turn these Senate and House races into national news. I don't feel like I've seen this in recent years. If there are Democratic incumbents who are pandering to the administration, put up challengers to them. This is our one chance in the next 4 years to at least temper the effects of BushCo. and I want to see the Democrats make an all-out effort to make some changes.

blank check in the last two years of the misadministration.

Oh, yes, I want this very much.

Welcome to DU, if I haven't welcomed you before. :toast:

Thanks for the welcome. I think the taking back of Congress should be the #1 priority. We can't just roll over and let them have all 3 branches. It's going to take a serious fight to get back some control there, but it can be done.

To increase number of jobs.

screening

If you mean unlimited access to firearms, you will lose my vote and millions of others.

issue that the VAST majority of Americns support sensible, strong, gun control.

I think this is an issue that the Dems can find common ground with, but they definitely should NOT abandon the issue. Nononononono; I'm with you, I'll leave the party over this one.

The Assault Weapons Ban, for example, was hated chiefly for its arbitrariness. It just didn't make much sense in the things it included versus the things it left out.

Most people agree that their neighbor shouldn't have nukes, but will let them have rifles and handguns; the question is on what principle do we draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable 'arms'. If such a principle could be clearly enunciated and carried out, it would alleviate the fears that the government is simply taking it on themselves to arbitrarily deny whatever arms they like, which certainly would seem to run afoul of even the most liberal possible reading of the second amendment.

The more sense it makes, the more people can accept it.

Tax to be determined by labor standards involved in production of goods in question; to be spent on remediation effort & aid to poor.

If you want to save the family farms, direct the money directly to them. There's no point to giving giant corporations millions to not produce. But if you're setting up for biofuel subsidy, the bastards won't fight it so hard.

In the interest of completeness, i don't know enough about labor issues to comment on #6.

I'm not necessarily opposed to your proposal, but in the event that it can't be enacted, a more moderate (but probably easier to pass) approach would be to reset the cap to include 90% of national wages, which is where Alan Greenspan set it when they started up the fund in '83. Today that would reset the cap from $87,900 to $110,000, which would, by itself, take care of 40% of the expected shortfall over the 75-year budgeting span, according to Bush's Social Security Commission. Since the republicans have proposed and praised it, it would be more difficult for them to fight as a component of a democratic plan. I guess i'm saying: consider this proposal the ground floor on this issue.

Actually, what we should do at minimum is to keep the cap, not at a dollar level, but reassessed each year to be continually 90% of national wages. That would obviously bring in considerably more money over the 75-year budget span than any static number likely to be passed. I don't, unfortunately, know how much money that would be. Nor do i have any figures on how much money a total lifting of caps would bring in. If anyone does, i'd love to hear them.

The core Democratic principles being:
*women's equality
*reproductive rights
*corporate accountability/ethical practices
*stewardship of the environment
*progressive energy policies
*racial equality
*health care for ALL Americans
*fiscal responsibility w/ the government (deficit, Social Security, etc.)
*freedom of speech
*gay rights
*cooperative and responsible foreign policy
*fair elections
*education

I'm leaving a few off, I'm sure. Point is, Dems need to convince Americans that espousing these principles is in their best interest.
The ONLY way we should become like republicans is to fight like them.
Sadly, they have groomed the playing field to be what it is. If it means we have to fight back w/ dirty politics, so be it.

2) Break up the media so that they have to compete against each other again and can't be so easily controlled.

3) An alternative-energy plan that will release us from the clutches of terrorists and the Bush administration.

4) Protect Social Security.

5) Protect gay rights and abortion.

6) Get the goddamned deficit down.

7) Raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

8) Make sure our schools have the money they need. Get rid of NCLB.

9) Raise the national minimum wage to something people can actually live on.

10) Stop corporations from outsourcing jobs.

11) Stop the fundies from taking over the judiciary branch. PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION.

12) END THE FUCKING IRAQ WAR. Stop the foreign policy idiocy of the Bush administration. SLAM Bush on the fact that he hasn't protected us from terrorists on our turf, and hasn't gotten Osama bin Laden.

13) Stop the corporate raid on our treasury. Take away the trough from Republican special interests.
-----------------------------

That would be a great start.

Alright, Democratic leaders, there's your mission. Get to work.

This is the cornerstone for the party in representing the vital interests of working class Americans. The party must draw the line here and show the repugs and the country that we will not roll over again. This is the issue that will capture the interest of the entire country. Most people don't really care who is the AG and many are not even interested in Supreme Court appointments but this is a vital issue for an overwhelming majority of Americans. America will be watching and it is the ideal question to remind people that there are still two parties with very different agendas..

2. to stop having a fire sale on Democratic programs and values out of fear and/or inertia and/or ill intent in the face of the GOP onslaught and instead articulate a strong agenda based on the common good.

3. to protect already-achieved civil and human rights legislation. At all costs.

4. to work to advance civil and human rights protections beyond their current point.

That'll do for now.

Were you able to come uo with some general themes from the responses you received? If so, can you post them?? I thought your post was the best of the day -- getting practical is a good strategy.

WITH A NEW OVERARCHING VOICE.

When they lie say "Man, those Republicans are lying again."

When they do somthing illegal, say "Man, why are all these republicans such criminals?"

Name names. Give quotes & dates. Dont back down or apologize. Challenge Wolf Fucking Blitzer to his face "Why are you 'forgetting' to report that Bush told yet another lie today, are you covering for him? Who did your bosses that sign your check vote for?"

Thats all I want. Blunt truth telling.

I know, I know, telling the truth about Republicans/media is "too radical" and it "confuses swing voters"- best just to give them a free pass. Siggghhhh.

It's obvious that it's a big subject, and a lot of people have a lot to say about it. (I wanted to respond to almost all of it... it's encouraging to see that i agree strongly with most of the proposals so far, and almost-agree-with-a-quibble with most of the rest.)

Is there an ongoing effort to develop a platform here? If not, i propose one, perhaps its own forum?

In the meantime, here's a partial list:

Push hard and constantly for voting reform, and beat the republicans mercilessly with it if they dare resist. Utterly transparent and verifiable voting and vote-counting with non-partisan, or at least all-partisan, oversight is a fundamental requirement to be insisted on everywhere in America, at the least.

Get much, much better about riding and badgering the media. (a forum like this could help immensely with such an effort, btw.) Get much, much better at rapid-response - and use it! Don't believe this blue-state crap about not responding to scurrilous accusations - in the red states, that's an admission of guilt. It is exactly this, imo, that is the single most determining factor in the losses or near-losses of Dukakis, Gore, and Kerry. Do more of putting together in sharp juxtaposition contradictory things Bush and others in the administration have said. Too many people think of Bush as truthful.

America should reward hard work, not wealth. Labor should never be taxed more than capital. Moggie12's proposal about exempting the first-so-much of capital tax i can accept, but only on the condition that at least so much of labor tax should be similiarly exempt. Of course, if that capital is in a retirement account, i'm willing to cut it slack for that purpose. (Other than that, agreed on all points, Moggie12.)

In general, economic populism but be realistic about it; don't choke the source trying to get it all done at once. Require reasonable labor standards on imports (including outsourcing.) Double overtime sounds good, and some of these temp companies really need a good looking at - monopolies have been arranged in some areas (can't get a factory job without going through the temp agency.) Stop giving welfare to multibillion dollar corporations. If they can't make a profit, they need to be fixed or retired, not kept on drip-support.

Serious tax reform. Simplify. Get rid of special privileges that don't have widespread benefit. Consider trying to have the form of taxes be congruent with their functions in such a way that their secondary economic effects aren't being counter-productive. Identify costs that are being passed on to others and return them to their sources.

Put together a comprehensible message clearly based on identifiable principles. Stop being wishy-washy and stop letting yourself be painted as wishy-washy because people don't understand the principles you are basing your decisions on.

Make government as transparent as possible, and establish very strong privacy rights. Decentralize the media to a far greater degree.

Make health care affordable even if you do have to rein in some of the corporations' most egregious excesses to do it.

If they can't put up a good fight on SS, with the facts and the people so firmly on their side, fooie on the whole lot of them. I bet we can start a viable third party right here.

Using the phrase 'liberty and justice for all' a lot would be good. Definitely run local candidates everywhere in the next few years - both to find talent and to spread message. Split the repub libertarians from the repub theocrats, as ranted on in my reply in this thread - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1465534

Minimum wage increase, education support, support for small business - whatever it takes to make sure that America is the land of opportunity for all.

That'll do for now. I'll elaborate, on request, on any of it...

Check out this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1468328

I'd love to see this happen. Instead of the constant backbiting and rancor, let's channel it to the success of the party. Maybe if the party bigwigs don't have to slog through the mud so much, they might pay some real attention to us.

I want them to actually listen to us, I don't care if it is a citizens advisory board, they need to bring regular folk like you and I into the fold, listen to them, and actually work FOR us instead of in spite of us.

It'd be a great way for democrats to re-present themselves - have a very public launching of a forum, similiar to this one, for the purposes of 1) finding out what people are concerned about 2) developing solutions and a platform 3) developing presentation and getting out message and, heck, as a bonus 4) increasing voter identification and participation. With participation by the representatives, or at the least by their staff; so that people can believe that politics can be more than just a theater of lies on which they can have no influence. Good ideas should be adopted and the flaws in bad ideas revealed.

The party of the people, of representative democracy, of grassroots internet populism, would pull in a lot of people who don't vote now.

The internet creates whole new possibilities for representation and an informed populace. I'd like to see just about every aspect of government, including budgets, viewable online at all times. Anybody who wants to look for waste can - in fact, we should pay bounties to people who find it.

The one thing I want from the Democrats is to stop being confused about where they stand on economics and I want them to start communicating better. They need, for example, to understand that telling people that their plan involves "saving the average American $1,000" on healthcare isn't solving any problems and will go in one ear and out the other. They need to understand that telling us we can buy into something without telling us what it'll cost is not telling us anything at all.

end the death penalty
make corporations liable for their actions
protect the environment/strengthen national park service
Agrarian reform

(dang, I'm socialist....)

Oh...and win elections.

I would like to see more HONEST discussion about environmental degradation/pollution and the current impact on human health.

This is an issue has huge implications for all living things.

Let people decide for themselves what is appropriate for them to own, say, or do with the least possible interference from government.

I'd like to see an explicit policy to keep taxes to the minimum needed to provide for defense, public education, maintain infrastructure, and develop a comprehensive national health care system.

They need to shout from the rooftops about the dangers of black box voting machines.

become a more centrist party. I know most around here do not want to hear or consider this action. Nevertheless, the only way to win is to go to where the voters are.

Here are a few specifics:

1. Take a stand for civil unions and come out against gay marriage. This issue was a loser everywhere it was on the ballot. My apologies to the gays out there in DU land, but we will not prevail on this issue. (You can only beat your head against the wall so long before it starts to hurt)

2. Forget about guns. If you don’t like them, don’t own one.


3. Moderate on the abortion issue. We’re off to a good start with the election of Harry Reid as minority leader. I could be wrong, but I think most Americans are pro-choice during the 1st trimester; however, most think aborting a fetus at 8 months and 29 days is wrong. I do.

4. Propose more tax cuts. That’s right. But propose real middle class tax cuts.
a. Cut the amount that you must exceed your adjusted gross income for health care costs to allow for all medical costs to be deducted.
b. Allow for the deduction of health care insurance premiums. Again, no percentages to exceed. Do not limit it in any way.
c. Completely eliminate the marriage penalty. People should not have to pay higher tax just because they get married.

I could go on, but I’m sure most of you are seething by now.

:hi:

1. That's gutless. We need to stand for our gay brothers and sisters. History will reward us, and in the meantime, nobody likes a flip-flopper. Stand tall, say it loud, we're queer-friendly and we're proud.

2. Ok with you on guns.

3. Let's not allow the pro-Criminalization people to frame the debate on abortion. For fuck's sake, man, nobody but nobody electively "abort(s) a fetus at 8 months and 29 days."

4. any tax code changes that are progressive, I'll consider.

1. While I respect your stand on gay marriage, I think the issue requires a dose of pragmatism. And I am hopeful that most others see it my way.

2. Excellent. Take this issue of the table.

3. I used the 8/29 thing as a metaphor to define the extreme stand many take on this issue. Actually, I used to be 100% pro-choice, no questions asked type of guy. However, science has forced me to re-examine my stance. And I am not coming at it from a religious standpoint. I’m not quite sure where I draw the line, but at some point during the 2nd trimester, I think a fetus becomes a human being that has rights.

4. Progressivism is not the only thing that I look at with respect to taxes. The tax code must be fair. For example: I think gas/diesel taxes should be solely for transportation infrastructure. That way those use more fuel pay more in taxes (and the guy with the Hummer really gets nailed). Is that not fair?

By compromising on gay marriage, you're trying to appease the social conservatives and authoritarian theocrats, who aren't going to be with you anyway, and pushing away all those 'live and let live' and 'government off our backs' people, the more libertarian side of the republicans, the side that is being pushed aside by the theocrats and that we ought to be pulling in. That side of the party, by the way, largely believes that there is a serious threat of the government forcing churches to marry gay people - they don't like 'forcing'. The democrats need to do a better job of communicating on that point, because it is costing them a lot of potential support.

Personally, my preferred answer is that gov't simply get out of the marriage business altogether. What business does the state have in handing out religious blessings of people's arrangements? What business does the state have in anybody's consensual sex? Let anybody who wants to file as a household, or as mutually adopted, or as next-of-kin, or whatever you want to call it - it means that they share their property and can be considered next-of-kin and all the benefits that currently apply to spouses apply. It may not even involve any sex of any sort, who cares? Then, if those people also want to get married, they go find some church that'll marry them, or do whatever they consider getting married.

Given that's not going to happen any time soon, and given that the country is handing out religious blessings, then yes, it is discrimination, and a violation of our freedom of religion to deny it to people who have the wrong kind of sex, or for that matter, are condemned for any other reason by any religion.

It seems to me both principles and pragmatism point to supporting gay marriage. In addition, recall that what so many people are saying is a major problem for the democrats is that they are wishy-washy wimps who stand for nothing. Take a stand, even if it does alienate those who wouldn't consider you anyway.

It does seem reasonable to me for people to say, similiarly to what i said above, "given that's not going to happen any time soon..." we should go ahead and try to fix the specific problems of legal discrimination by providing civil unions as soon as possible, and then continuing the fight for freedom of marriage for the religiously condemned in general. Others think that such a compromise would hurt the chances of a full redress or delay it. It's also possible that it would be seen as a flabby excuse on the part of the party. It would, on the other hand, theoretically have majority support already without any further persuasion. Then again, there would be a considerable advantage to just having a simple, clear, strong position: Everyone has a right to marry regardless of what any religion may think of them.

Re your comment about fuel tax, here's my current favorite model: the tax on fuel is a pollution tax representing the amount it costs to clean up after the manufacture, use, and disposal of the fuel. A tax on tires pays for the maintenance of the roads (directly correlating to wear and tear, you see.) A vehicle tax (by size) pays for new construction of infrastructure, correlating as it does to the demand for it.

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1.) A party that manages its message. That means an infrastructure in which each talking head gets talking points, all coordinated, and all of the party's talking heads say the same thing. To do that, we need to set our communications goals and then test to see if they have been met, then fine-tune until they are. Marketing and PR 101.

2.) A party that runs and nominates candidates who:

a.) Speak from the heart, not the head
b.) Believe in their core beings the values of the party.
c.) Know how to turn ideas into imagery.
d.) Can draw a contrast against the other candidate.
e.) Have the fighting spirit and desire to strive to win.
f.) ARE NOT WIMPS running from the core values of their party.

3.) A party leadership that is attentive to the rank and file, not the big money operatives. (If I want a big-money corporate-oriented party, I'll go be a Republican.) We learned in November that having more money doesn't mean we win, if we have none of these other points here I am making.

4.) A party that expresses solidarity with American workers and ALWAYS works to improve their lot. A party that is vocal in its support for workers rights, more well-paying AMERICAN jobs, and the middle class. No quibbling, PLEASE! A party that is solidly committed to fostering and nourishing a strong American middle class. And not afraid to say it loud and proud.

5.) A party that embraces "liberal" as a term defining common-sense, community-based, "we are all in this together" solutions to U.S. problems, as opposed to the GOP's social Darwinism where the rich win and the poor...well, they just didn't work at it hard enough. WE NEED TO TAKE BACK LIBERAL AND MAKE IT SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF AGAIN.

6.) A party that stands up for its principles rather than running from them to pander for votes. A party that knows what it is about. And that is easy to do. Go back to our greatest Democratic leaders and listen to the common thread in all their quotes. It is there...NOW STAND UP FOR IT!

Six things...now let's see...as a party, we are currently running away from #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6. I think some party insiders understand #1 as a concept, they just haven't done it.

It ain't a pretty picture right now, folks.

1) it need not be so simple as everyone always saying the same thing. An understood set of common principles and some common vocabulary allows for considerable individual variation that nevertheless includes the necessities. But then again i guess that would have been a lot to squeeze into your sentence :P )

2) I prefer heart and head. Remember, while lots of people respond primarily to feeling, there are lots who respond to reason. (indeed, consider: theocrats tend to be the former and libertarians tend to be the latter. The libertarians are a considerably easier audience for democrats than the theocrats are.) It's best to try to present appeals to each of the basic cognitive styles.

6) I'd like to see that list of quotes. You ought to give it a thread, if you care to compile it. It'd be a good way to start a discussion of what democratic principles are.

Other than that solidly Agreed.

for it to stand for something.

Right now we are a loose confederation of people who don't like the Republicans (more or less).

However, we don't have a set of distinct policies which separate us from Republicans. We had a candidate who talked about Vietnam and spoke in platitudes, and who, unfortunately, went along with many of Bush's policies, ie the patriot act and IWR.

Kerry could not project himself as a credible alternative to Bush, and people ultimately decided to stick with the devil they knew.


We need:

1. To take risks. We should take positions that alienate some people. In this we realize that we can't please everyone at once. The alternative is to take no position at all and hope everyone hates the other guy enough to vote for you. that does not work. The people who like the other guy's position will vote for him, and the people who don't like the other guys position will just stay home, since you dont seem to take an alternative. It is better to make the opponent's base hate you, but in turn shore up your base so they are pumped to go out an vote.

2. To challenge RW assumptions about the world. Kerry was awful about this. Instead of saying that bush's tax cuts ultimately hurt the middle class by hurting social programs which help the middle class, he advocated keeping the tax cuts for the middle class. that was a tacit endorsement of Bush's tax cuts. Why would anyone vote for Kerry because they like tax cuts when they can vote for Bush, who originated the tax cuts (esp. knowing that Kerry voted AGAINST the tax cuts)?

3. To come up with an alternative to Fox News that propagates our point of view to the world. Fox News is extremely popular. It's a great way of spreading RW propaganda. We need our own network, that is just as gimmicky as Fox, to spread our ideas. Having an actual "liberal media" will also restore the credibility of the networks as not liberal. Having such a network will make it easier for our politicians to get their message out and subsequently get elected.

Well said, and I agree with you wholeheartedly on # 1 and #3. What did you mean by "social programs" for the middle class in #2, though?

Me personally, I've got no problem with tax cuts for the middle class since most spend the money as soon as they get their hands on it and that keeps the economy humming. It was the tax cuts for the rich that drove me nuts: Sold partly under the guise of "spurring investment" all they did was give rich people more money to play around with in the stock market. I'd like Dems to stand up and say rich people should take the long-view and gladly pay their fair share of taxes that will be used to invest in the people of this country (for excellent K-12 education, job-training, college, etc.) That's why I was interested in what you meant by "social programs".

Given that we have to alienate someone, as you point out, we'd be well advised to consider who. TO some extent, spreading a little alienation around is inevitable, because different groups want different things. But if one group demands lots of things, then the cost of not alienating them considerably is to alienate everyone else considerably. I would suggest that today, the most demanding, hard-to-get-along-with, undemocratic groups are the authoritarian theocrats. Since they are inevitably offended, we should stop offending the libertarian side of the republicans by catering to the theocrats. Guess what? The rest of us agree on quite a bit - freedom for starters.

>"Having an actual "liberal media" will also restore the credibility of the networks as not liberal."

I've been skeptical about the need for a liberal media channel, but that is a pretty convincing point. I still want some utterly objective straight-hard-news 'informed populace' kind of channel too, though. /EDIT throw in a thorough trash-tabloid channel while you're at it. /EDIT

I want the party to stand up and take the reins back from those who wish it harm.

Until we tilt LEFT, we won't be an alternate to the WrongWingers.

What's so hard about that concept?