Liberals perhaps should not be trying to makeover the Democratic party because the Republicans have already succeeded. Maybe liberals should be invading the Republican party instead.

I attended his foreign policy speech in Chicago and I don’t agree with everything he said. I was unhappy that at one of the debates, he said that we would have troops in Iraq into 2113. I think in an effort to show he is as qualified as Hillary and to primary voters that he can be a strong president, that Barack has been more hawkish than I prefer. However, I don’t see him locked into those positions because he has also said that he will talk to any leader of any country. Here’s a quote from the link that LWM provided.

“In an interview with Tim Russert on October 22, 2006 Obama said, "I think that military options have to be on the table when you're dealing with rogue states that have shown constant hostility towards the United States. The point that I would make, though, is that we have not explored all of our options...We have not explored any kind of dialogue with either Iran or North Korea, and I think that has been a mistake. As a consequence, we have almost no leverage over them."

Bystander, I read over the comments and the mistake he made in Hawaii in 2004 and don’t see anything that is overly concerning. No candidate is free from mistakes. No candidate will be right in every respect for any of us. No candidate who has to get elected in the money system we have, will be free from any tainting.

Barack is hard for the Repugs to attack because he has laid bare his faults in his first book. The majority of Americans know that something is really wrong even if they can’t always pinpoint what is wrong. If he represents change for enough of them, and I believe he will, he will be our next president. I think he might work very hard to make real changes because he has pledged to do so in every speech he makes. And if he doesn’t Michelle will get mad because she made the same promises. I have met Michelle and I understand why Barack listens to her and admires her.

One thing that Barack has going for me is the fact that after he got a Harvard education and a successful law firm job, he decided to do community organizing. He saw the suffering and the cruelty that a misguided or deliberately oppressive system can cause. His background gives him insights that I don’t think any other candidate possesses.

... and it's probably an age thing, realizing that sudden changes, even if possible, may not always be desirable in the long run. That "be careful what you wish for" notion.

Still...

If we had hundreds of thousands of what used to be solid Democratic supporters threatening to go on a general strike, the leadership would have to listen, if for no other reason than to keep their fancy jobs and titles. - Anonymous

And if such a movement were in fact headed up by the likes of a Howard Dean or an Al Gore, I'd be willing to go on strike, too.

As for who really is a "change agent," I'm not so willing to accept that Obama is, or that Hillary is not. But, I would still prefer someone more like Chris Dodd. Figures that I'd be in such a minority...

He also understands the suffering of those around the world, especially in Africa. His background and image that the rest of the world has about him, will make it easier for him than any other candidate who has a real shot at getting elected, to rebuild our image.

In light of the number of suggestions posted in this thread, I am trying to decide whether this:

“A) Why bother? We're screwed.

B) Burn the mother down!”

is simply a false dichotomy, or if you simply equate seeking solutions outside of the structure of the democratic party as equivalent to “burn the mother down!”

I suggested that very idea quite awhile ago, overlander, when I was still actively keeping my blog going. Actually, early on when I started it...

I thought that if we were going to "have to have" a Republican president, then maybe we should all register as Republicans so we could have some say in who it would be. Nearly everyone who read/commented on that posted idea was horrified, with only one exception. Same with those I just told about it in my daily life. No way were they going to defect.

Garrison Keillor did much better with his song, "We're all Republicans now."

This year, the Republican field being what it is, I'm not sure there's much in it for us to invade their ranks. Yet. Unless we want to have some say in who will be their candidate for the First Lady, which is the only sphere in which there are some significant differences among the Republicans.

I understand suffering. I just get nervous whenever people start looking to one man, any one man (or woman), for salvation. Especially now with the power that has been consolidated in the executive, which I concede Col. Lang may even underestimate slightly.

Speaking of death and suffering, just once I'd like to see some conservative dickweed like Shooter get as worked up about stuff like this as he does about 9/11:

On May 31, 1889, a neglected dam and a phenomenal storm led to a catastrophe in which 2,209 people died. It's a story of great tragedy, but also of triumphant recovery. Visit the Johnstown Flood Museum, which is operated by the Johnstown Area Heritage Association, to find out more about this shocking episode in American history.

The Western Reservoir (later renamed Lake Conemaugh) had been constructed not for recreation, but instead to provide water for the section of the Pennsylvania Canal between Johnstown and Pittsburgh. However, the canal system became obsolete almost immediately after the reservoir was completed in 1852. Very little maintenance was performed on the dam during its existence, even though it broke once already in 1862 (this break caused very little damage, as the reservoir was only half full). In fact, one owner removed the drainage pipes beneath the dam to sell them for scrap, which meant there was no way to drain the reservoir for repairs. The reservoir and dam passed through several hands before the South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club bought it in 1879.

The South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club counted many of Pittsburgh's leading industrialists and financiers among its 61 members, including Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Mellon, and Philander Knox. (click here for a complete list of club members). Organized in 1879, the purpose of the club was to provide the members and their families an opportunity to get away from the noise, heat and dirt of Pittsburgh. The club owned the Western Reservoir, the dam that created it, and about 160 acres of land in the area. The club renamed the reservoir, calling it Lake Conemaugh. A 47-room clubhouse, featuring a huge dining room that could seat 150, was the main building on the club's land. There were also 16 privately-owned "cottages," actually houses of a generous size, along the lake's shores. The club's boat fleet included a pair of steam yachts, many sailboats and canoes, and boathouses to store them in. Entertainments included an annual regatta, theatricals and musical performances.

The club did engage in periodic maintenance of the dam, but made some harmful modifications to it. They installed fish screens across the spillway to keep the expensive game fish from escaping, which had the unfortunate effect of capturing debris and keeping the spillway from draining the lake's overflow. They also lowered the dam by a few feet in order to make it possible for two carriages to pass at the same time, so the dam was only about four feet higher than the spillway. The club never reinstalled the drainage pipes so that the reservoir could be drained.

When the dam broke on May 31, 1889, only about a half-dozen members were on the premises, as it was early in the summer season. They left immediately following the disaster, and the club members were largely silent about the tragedy. A small crowd of angry flood survivors went up to the club and broke into some of the buildings, breaking windows and destroying furniture, but no major damage was done...

http://www.jaha.org/FloodMuseum/clubanddam.html

Maybe he can watch it on the Hitler Channel.