Letters to the Editor
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Right on, Todd!
I agree 100% with this analysis and the national polls support it as well. Declining Republican popularity doesn't automatically translate into a Democratic resurgence. But I've yet to see evidence of the Dems' Contract with America that Gitlin suggests is in the works. Is it really coming?
These days, I'm getting lots of calls from DNC and DSCC fund raisers and I always tell them that they won't get another dime from me until I see a clear set of policies outlining the Democratic alternative. Hopefully, they're getting the message.
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Is the Leadeership Listening?
While I agree with the thesis of this article, i.e., Democrats need to take the fight to the Republicans instead of just saying "we don't suck as badly as they do!" I wonder whether the Democrats have the stomach for the type of protracted battle that will be required.
I have long hoped for the Democrats to start maneuvering like they did yesterday and I applaud Senators Reid and Durbin for finally getting in the game. There is no doubt in my mind that yesterday was a big "W" for my side. The fact that Bill Frist sounded like a caricature of an especially shrill harridan tells me that he got hit where it hurts.
So, the Democrats win the day. There are, I believe, about 1174 more days of the Bush presidency. We need to string a few weeks of this together before I can really start believing. I have been saying for years that we need to actually fight the Republicans and I have been tantalized by the prospect of a fight and ended up disappointed.
The Democrats need to come up with a message and they need to hammer it. They need to get into floor fights. They need to get combative. The more pissed of Bill Frist gets the better. I am sick of people labeling me and my party as a bunch of weak-willed, recalcitrant liberals. I am furious over the fact that my party has been so willing to allow this characterization continue. We may go down, but can we at least go down swinging?
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Agreed!
I agree with the article and with the comments posted before me. The Democrats most certainly need to start looking and acting like a party on a mission. And I wonder too, if any of them are listening...are any of us speaking? I encourage everyone to write/email/call their representatives and tell them to keep up the good work.
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Not so fast, indeed!
Todd,
I agree with you about the changes we on "The Left" need to make to recover from the ravages of "The Rabid Right" but there is much more to be done beside developing a left version of the "Contract with America." For one, we need to get completely rid of the closed (read Black Box) voting machines we now have. I am afraid the phrase I heard recently at a discussion about those voting machines is all too true; "It's not how people vote that matters, what matters is who counts the votes!" As long as Republican shills can keep their voting machine designs and tabulating machine designs (hardware and software) secret, I see no chance for any significant change in the political landscape short of a revolution. I hope that revolution would be non-violent, but knowing just some of the lengths to which the current group of neocons running the White House went to invade Iraq, I would not put anything past them.
You might want to read Bev Harris's book titled "Black Box Voting" to see a few of the many ways an election can be stolen, with no evidence of that theft left to be found. You can either purchase a hard copy of her book, or you can down load the book free (as in beer) in PDF form and read it on your computer. You might also want to explore the Black Box Voting web site at http://www.blackboxvoting.org
If we could depend on fair and open elections, I would agree with you 100%, but given the record of electronic hanky-panky in Ohio, Florida, and elsewhere in 2000, 2002, and 2004, I fully expect this crop of neocons to ALWAYS win at the polls. Remember, their supporters made the voting machines and the vote tabulating machines, and those folks have not willingly told anyone what is inside those machines. On top of that, they own the proprietary software inside those voting and vote tabulating machines. If that doesn't make your hair stand on end, I don't know what would.
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Disagree
The foundational reasoning for this article fails when analyzed in the light of John Conyers report "Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio." The 2000, 2002, and 2004 elections were stolen, the Dems didn't loose because of poor image, or the lack of a platform; the election was stolen.
We need to find ways to stop the next election theft now, not try to find a winning fight song.
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A Democratic "Contract with America"
For those who are hoping the Dems will come up with their own version of the Repubs winning 1994 'Contract with America', there is an article in this month's American Prospect magazine that you may be interested in:
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=10470
That article goes into some detail about what the Democrats are planning.
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Democratic Cannabilism
The supposition that in the last few years the Democratic Party has miraculously lost all ability to fight the Republican Party is one of the most damaging fish stories ever peddled. And sadly, it is one we've come to believe. All one has to do is scratch the surface of what many Democrats stand for and one will find remarkable substance on issues from health care to education to the environment to even Iraq. The trouble is, Democrats ain't the party in power. And the further trouble is that we're so damn angry at the outrageous behavior of the Republican Party, that we start to believe not only Republican canards about Democrats, but our own.
The truth is that the Democratic Party has stood up to Bush and the Republicans on numerous issues. Unfortunately, Democrats happen to be operating in not only one of the greatest climates of fear this country has ever witnessed, but, more importantly, an era where Republican political and intellectual dishonesty has reached mammoth proportions. It is, and always has been, extremely tough to fight an opponent who does not play by your rules of engagement. The Republican Party has gone so far across the line of decency, stitched such a tapestry of lies and defamation, that it may take a bit longer than we hope to overcome it. Hopefully, the avalanche of bad news for Bush and the Republicans will help awaken people to the stink from the GOP's fish cart.
I will certainly not make the argument that the Democratic Party has fought the good fight on every issue. But I will also never make the blanket statement that the Democratic Party has stood by helplessly while being flattened by the Republican steamroller. It is not only self-defeating, it is also patently false. And it is doing greater damage to our cause than we wish to admit.