The continuing moral and political collapse of the GOP makes it necessary to consider how we Democrats should to treat GOP voters disgusted with the corruption and incompetence of their current leadership. I cannot see how it is the duty of the Democratic Party to provide them a choice.
They are already telling each other that they have lost their way and need reforming.
They even have the reformer they need in former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
We Democrats have a different mission.
Our purpose is not to oppose the GOP; our mission is to build a durable center-left governing majority during the next decade.
This means that our inspiration, our ideals, our governing methods and our values will come from the left, but our numbers, financial support, rank and file and political clout will come from liberals and moderates who are sympathetic to us and for whom we advocate.
Our core constituencies will be working women; people of color, salary men and wage earners.
These are the people who need the protections and stabilizing influence that community and worker oriented government can provide.
These are the people who will be willing to reject market-oriented values in favor of community-oriented values.
With all their faults and weaknesses, the current leadership of the GOP have done a good job articulating their values, enacting market oriented policies, implementing a political strategy that has united and energized the entire conservative spectrum and defining the people who like their policies.
The people who like the GOP will never help the Democrats. They may try to use us in their factional power games, but they will never have our interests at heart.
Nevertheless, they have exhausted their ideas, and are intellectually bankrupt.
Their current disarray and corruption stem from the fact that their quiver of ideas was never all that impressive, was quickly exhausted and they have been holding power just to hold power for the past ten years.
Still the degeneracy of the right does not guarantee the resurgence of the left.
We Democrats need to show that we can articulate a left-center political agenda, build a coalition and defeat them electorally.
I believe that the left are the ones who are able to build a sustainable economy, bring a decent standard of living to the masses and provide decent opportunities for the future. If we try to win the 08 election by taking on large numbers of conservatives, we will dilute our base, blunt our message and possibly never clarify the muddled message we Democrats are currently developing. Democrats should not be afraid to discuss issues and solutions for our problems from a leftist perspective. We should work on getting past the mere refutation of the right and be creative and forceful in articulating our worldview. I think the most powerful way to accomplish this is to elect progressives at all levels of government.
No offense, but I think you don't really understand what the Democratic Party is. First of all, it's not "the Left." It's a full partner of the Republican Party. It merely postures as a fake "left" party, in order to keep 100% of political power under the control of US corporatists.
One sentence you wrote which inadvertently is very true is "Our purpose is not to oppose the GOP." That's for darn sure!
You say, "Democrats should not be afraid to discuss issues...from a leftist perspective." Are you aware what the word "leftist" means? It means well outside of the tiny almost-invisible range that separates Democrats from Republicans. It means, among other things, people who recognize that the so-called "Defense Department" is an outrageous looting of taxpayer money, & that it should be seriously downsized, with the funds diverted to socially-useful purposes.
The Democratic Party would never even be willing to discuss such a thing, because it cuts across corporatist interests. The D Party opposes anything that cuts across corporatist interest. Almost all its elected officials, its poohbahs, its consultants & apparatchiks -- ALL of them are firmly attached to the corporatist gravy train. This has been the case for many decades, already, and it's why the Democrats do nothing but betray their own voters, time after time.
Two days ago, on the Sunday talk shows, 2 big Dem Senators announced that their party would "under no circumstances" de-fund the wars. This is nothing less than a direct betrayal of all those who voted for Democrats in November, in the vain hope that they'd act for once as an "opposition party." Add this to Pelosi's protection of Bush-Cheney from impeachment, & you get a clear idea of what the Dems really are: full partners of Republicans.
by
Richard Mynick (2 articles, 3 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 1168 comments)
on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 at 1:35:04 PM
On January 20,2007 I outlined a method for involving grassroot core Democrats in articulating and documenting their values which should then become the Party's Values. The article was published on 1/20/07 in OpEdNews.com. I believe it to be consistent with Robert Chapman's call for the articulation of Democratic Party Values. Needless to say it was totally ignored by Howard Dean and the DNC probably for the reasons outlined in the previous comment. What then should those of us who care about the future of the Democratic party and it's grassroot core values do? Perhaps the best answer is to do nothing , watch the Party implode and then set about establishing a new peoples' party with grassroot core values. But, I'll have to leave it up to you because I'm 73 and in poor health. Good luck.
by
Kenneth Briggs (125 articles, 88 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 108 comments)
on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 at 4:49:45 PM
Ken, I appreciate your comment and your committment.
Howard Dean is a great political technician, in my opinion his fifty state strategy is a political revolution and will revitalize the American political system.
Dean has facilitated the election of a large freshman class made up of centrists and moderate progressives.
Because the Dems have regained a majority in the House of Representatives, there are 24 African Americans serving in the 42 House leadership positions.
These Representatives are the veteran leadership of the Civil Rights movement the only mass leftist movement our generation has produced in this country.
Brother Ken, the times are a' changing, keep writing and keep the faith.
RC
by
Robert Chapman (28 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 556 comments)
on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 at 9:21:58 PM
RC- Dem Party apologists speak in empty generalities because
the party itself is completely bereft of ideas, & is simply a prop for the status quo. You speak of "coalition building, thoughtful pragmatism, being inclusive, & welcoming moderates" but you say nothing about what the Democrats should specifically do about the war, impeachment of the Bush criminals, global warming, or any real-world problems. It's no accident that you avoid real subjects, while devoting yourself to meaningless hot air.
The hostility that Democrats feel for the Left (and here, I'm speaking of the real Left, not the fake Dem Party imitation of it) is very natural. The Dem Party apologist will always accuse the real Left of "being negative" and "applying purity tests" (and take cheap shots like: "The days of doctrinaire little bands of revolutionaries plotting the Czar's overthrow are over.") This reflex hostility comes from the fact that the Democratic Party is a guardian of the status quo. As such, it feels instinctive hatred of perspectives oriented towards genuine change.
by
Richard Mynick (2 articles, 3 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 1168 comments)
on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 at 1:42:13 PM
6 comments
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