The Leftist Long-Term Looking
Righties are having a good couple of weeks and after a year of debacle after debacle from the Bush team, I guess a little relief was in order. The Dems seem to have stumbled a bit because of it. If this were a boxing match, it would be the equivalent of having gotten caught by a solid right cross, but the Dems are acting as though it were a standing eight count. We are still several months away from the November elections and anything can happen.
The Democrats do not have a national strategy to win the fall elections – and I’ve been comfortable with that fact. The Democrat Party is not one that totes talking-points and follow scripted messages. There is nothing wrong with a little independent thinking. Besides, unlike the GOP that is beholden to the religious right sect of the Party, no sect of the left is powerful enough to control the Democratic Party.
That being said, the left has squandered a golden opportunity to show some leadership and present some fresh ideas to the American public. It is clear the only talent the GOP has is attacking gay people and cutting taxes. They are an incompetent lot when it comes to governing. But the incompetence of the left to take advantage of the GOP’s missteps is disheartening.
The lack of independent thinking from Americans is also disheartening. Polls indicate that Americans are not happy with the job that Congress is doing. Yet, the polls indicate that there are only a few Congressional seats that are up for grabs. This tells me that Americans are very content to live under a system that only provides a choice between the lesser of two evils.
The left can change the political discourse in this country by taking a few steps:
1. Present the Ideas: Although we are not in power, it is time to tell the American people why we should be in power and what changes we would make. George Bush is a nice whipping post, but he also a lame duck. It is time to present ideas and stand on them.
2. Be willing to fight even when a loss is inevitable: Why do we concede the south to the GOP? Forget that. We have to take our ideas to the southwest, southeast and the Midwest. We have to give every American an opportunity to accept or reject our idea on its merits. By not fighting for the south, the only strategy the GOP has had to come up with is getting folks excited about gay people.
3. Leave no man behind: The Democrat Party has to stop taking the black vote and the environmentalist for granted. The next generation is far less beholden to the Party and they will lose them if they think that the only thing black people care about is Civil Rights and Affirmative Action.
4. Fight the extremist: The machine on the right has made an art out of depicting ever Democrat as an anti-American, atheist, terrorist-loving, tree hugging, porn addicted deviant. As far as they are concerned, we’re either pedophiles or gay. It is time we draw some stark lines of our own. It’s not hard to find contradictions on the right. We should exploit them and be willing to destroy them, as they are willing to destroy us.
5. Be willing to lose: What does it profit a man, to gain the world and lose his soul. We don’t have all of the answers and some of our ideas simply won’t fly. We should be a Party that stands for good ideas no matter where they come from. The Right believes that they have all of the answers. We know that the Right has contempt for independent thinking and believes that anyone who does not follow them is a traitor. This is not something that should take hold on the left. It may mean we will lose some elections but eventually the American people will wake up the western version of the Taliban and seek new ideas. And we should be ready to present them with ours.
American culture is one of instant gratification. Businesses don’t plan any further than the next quarter. Americans judge politicians on 30-second sound bites. Political debates happen in five-minute segments. Political Parties care only about the next election cycle.
The Democrats can do this country a favor and reject this mode of operation and chart a new course. We have seen that the GOP way of running the country does not work. Why? Because they are a Party of shallow, contemptuous individuals who figured out how to win elections but never learned to govern. They don’t believe in checks and balances, they don’t believe in due process and they don’t believe in freedom.
Eventually, the American people will reject the Right and when they do, the Democrat Party should be a Party that is ready to lead with good ideas and strong leadership. Currently, we are a long way away from that. The Democrats, like the Republicans, is a party of short-term planning.
11:29 AM It is the loons on the Left that is ruining everything for the Dems, after all once you're branded a "liberal" any presidential hopes are pretty much over, and rightly so.
11:44 AM James Manning for (Democratic) President
11:44 AM But Grey, that's the problem. I'm a liberal and I don't think my politics are too extreme to be president - my personality might be - but not my politics. It is the extreme right that has branded every liberal as a lunatic and it is the extreme right that keeps moderate Republicans from being effictive.
1:21 PM James I think liberalism has had a bad reputation since Dukakis. The Right see the left as weak on defense (Clinton, Carter) soft on Crime (Clinton, Carter) in those two issues alone the left could gain valuable votes if they came back to center a little.
Your points are well made, but I told you when we first met, The Bush bashing was going to set wrong with the majority of Americans. We always pull for the underdog, and Bush has been in that role for a long time.
The way you opened your post was something the left should have echo'd
Bush has had a good run lately and instead of saying great job in eliminating the terrorist, they say well it's not going to change anything, Bush lied, yada yada, They would have gained some respect if they would have acknowleged the positive. People are beginning to see how negative the left is and it is sickening a lot of folks, Maybe to the point of losing more seats in November to Republicans. We need balance in the house/senate but we need positve leadership more than anything.
1:40 PM Bush,
I don't disagree. I love to see Bush fall on his face - but there are some things where I can't afford to have him fall simply because of his position.
I don't think there was anything wrong with celebrating Zaqarwi's death - though I do think his influence has already taken root - but it was an opportunity for the Dems to present something to the American people.
They should have started like this: "This is a positive step in Iraq, and here are some things we can do to take advantage of this momentum..." That would give the American people an opportunity to really compare some plans. Bush, stay the course (we still don't know what that means) or some really fresh ideas.
3:00 PM James, The thing with them dem's is poor timing.
Y'all seem to have the timming of a hail mary pass with 5 minutes left in the third quarter.
Not wise to say the least.
Now Howard Deans is saying to the American People "This election we are battling for several seats, You will see us supporting the troops and being as tough as the republicans in Iraq, tough but smarter we will be there for our veterans when they got home."
Ok Now let me get this straight, Now to win seats they are going to support the troops? they will be smarter but as tough? And NOW they will be there for our vets? This is the thing that tells the American people that the Dem's are clueless as to what is going on. James think about running for them somewhere in November, They could really use someone like you.
3:42 PM Actually, Howard Dean has some good ideas he's just not very good at the PR end of it.
If it were me, I wouldn't make announcements, I'd present some policy ideas and the philosophy behind those ideas. Then I would win or lose with that. The propaganda machine on the right is much too strong to play their game.
I think the Dems have always been better at supporting our troops. The Right puts them in harms way, get the shot up, then forget about them. The Dems have a better policy for returning vets - we need to articulate it outside of the "next election cycle" agenda.
It may not win us anything in November, but I bet over the long haul we'd come out on top.
6:08 PM Possible, but I don't know.
As far as the right forgetting about them, I hope that is not true. and if it was, it isn't anymore.
but I'm about tired of arguing with you today. We are going to have to agree to disagree on our differences and agree that Football season is getting close.
Go Panthers
Notice how I've gave up on my Baseball team already? Man I'm a terrible fan.
6:18 PM That sounded bad, I'm not tired of arguing with you, Just today...LOL
11:51 AM It drives me batty that the Democratic Party cannot get it together enough to come up with an actual opposition platform. It feels like the Dems are always crouching in fear lest they be labeled, "queer loving, lily livered, bleeding heart, tax you back to the stone-age, liberals." I think the time has come to take the word "Liberal" back and embrace it, redefine it, and be proud of it.
You wrote, " It is clear the only talent the GOP has is attacking gay people and cutting taxes." Personally I would have said, "It is clear that the only talent the GOP has is attacking gay people and building deficites." Oh, and they're really, really, good at making money for their cronies.
11:52 AM @ Bushwhack,
Crime went steadily downward through the entire Clinton administration. It's going back up now.
Who's soft on crime?
4:07 PM From what I heard from reputable sources, the Dems do have a plan, but are instructed not to talk about it. The person didn't go into details as to why that is the case.
Anyway, I would say the only things the Republicans are good at is lying, stealing elections and then lying again, going to war, stealing and lying some more - tax cuts for the rich, and of yea, in a perpetual state of denial.