Many liberal pundits and thinkers are out there, many based on the internet, with solid ideas and suggestions for how the Dems might position themselves for victory in November and in 2008; for just one, see the important new book "Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics," by Markos Moulitsas Zuniga ("Kos") and Jerome Armstrong. But it's not clear if the party establishment is open to what its base is telling them on the Iraq War, on corrupted elections, on domestic spying and so on. If such Dem leadership blindness and deafness continues, this ignorance and timidity will guarantee a continuing series of losses at the polls, despite recent public-opinion surveys indicating how poorly the Republicans are viewed in the country, including, most importantly, by those calling themselves conservatives.
Perhaps the worst crime of the Democrats these days is their failure to recognize that ordinary citizens, including many of those moderate Republicans and independents, are way ahead of them in wanting a quick exit from Iraq and in approving impeachment hearings. That Dem timidity does not give evidence of a robust opposition party, willing to fight for what is best for the country; many moderate Republicans and independents may choose to vote for the devil they know than one about which they're uncertain and apprehensive.
So what can you and I do to alter this picture of Democratic lassitude and possible defeat in November?
As with BuzzFlash.com's handy list, "What You Can Do," ( www.buzzflash.com/perspectives/whatyoucando.html ) the first and most important task is for all of us to educate ourselves on what's going on, and then spread the word, light fires of activism in our friends and neighbors, organize ourselves politically (whether running ourselves or becoming active in the campaigns of Dem or third-party candidates), relentlessly demand that our elected representatives stand up for the Constitution and not roll over when the Administration continues its illegal rampaging at home and abroad, constantly call the mass media on their biases and deficiences and lack of investigatory coverage of the Bush Administration, and support the nation's largest and most effective alternative press: the progressive websites and bloggers on the internet.
GOP IS COLLAPSING FROM WITHIN
Finally, liberals should truly comprehend the import of a good share of the conservative Republican movement abandoning the extremism of the Bush Administration. All those conservative generals and Bill Buckley are just the tips of the iceberg of resentment and appalled anger at what Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rove are doing to the once-respected Republican Party and to this country in terms of our stalled economy, the humongous deficits being racked up, the unending wars of choice our young troops are dying in (with Iran fast approaching as the next reckless-insanity theater of war), the ever-expanding levels of corruption in the Republican Party, the outsourcing and privatization of so much of traditional, established government functions -- outsourcing even to potential enemies abroad!
These moderate and conservative Republicans are ripe for making alliances with progressives, populists and libertarians in opposing the dangerous, reckless policies of the Bush Administration. If the Democrats are smart, they would devise ways to lure those folks into the impeachment camp. Aye, there's the rub.
If the kinds of changes discussed above are not made, and the Dems lose both houses of Congress in November and still no radical changes are made in how to approach the 2008 presidential election, it may well be time for serious consideration of a third-party alliance. In short, 2006 may be the Dems' last reasonable shot and they'd better not blow it. Let's put our activism into hyperdrive in the next six months and make sure they don't.#
First published by The Crisis Papers and Democratic Underground 5/9/06.
Copyright 2006 by Bernard Weiner
Perhaps the worst crime of the Democrats these days is their failure to recognize that ordinary citizens, including many of those moderate Republicans and independents, are way ahead of them in wanting a quick exit from Iraq and in approving impeachment hearings. That Dem timidity does not give evidence of a robust opposition party, willing to fight for what is best for the country; many moderate Republicans and independents may choose to vote for the devil they know than one about which they're uncertain and apprehensive.
So what can you and I do to alter this picture of Democratic lassitude and possible defeat in November?
As with BuzzFlash.com's handy list, "What You Can Do," ( www.buzzflash.com/perspectives/whatyoucando.html ) the first and most important task is for all of us to educate ourselves on what's going on, and then spread the word, light fires of activism in our friends and neighbors, organize ourselves politically (whether running ourselves or becoming active in the campaigns of Dem or third-party candidates), relentlessly demand that our elected representatives stand up for the Constitution and not roll over when the Administration continues its illegal rampaging at home and abroad, constantly call the mass media on their biases and deficiences and lack of investigatory coverage of the Bush Administration, and support the nation's largest and most effective alternative press: the progressive websites and bloggers on the internet.
Finally, liberals should truly comprehend the import of a good share of the conservative Republican movement abandoning the extremism of the Bush Administration. All those conservative generals and Bill Buckley are just the tips of the iceberg of resentment and appalled anger at what Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rove are doing to the once-respected Republican Party and to this country in terms of our stalled economy, the humongous deficits being racked up, the unending wars of choice our young troops are dying in (with Iran fast approaching as the next reckless-insanity theater of war), the ever-expanding levels of corruption in the Republican Party, the outsourcing and privatization of so much of traditional, established government functions -- outsourcing even to potential enemies abroad!
These moderate and conservative Republicans are ripe for making alliances with progressives, populists and libertarians in opposing the dangerous, reckless policies of the Bush Administration. If the Democrats are smart, they would devise ways to lure those folks into the impeachment camp. Aye, there's the rub.
If the kinds of changes discussed above are not made, and the Dems lose both houses of Congress in November and still no radical changes are made in how to approach the 2008 presidential election, it may well be time for serious consideration of a third-party alliance. In short, 2006 may be the Dems' last reasonable shot and they'd better not blow it. Let's put our activism into hyperdrive in the next six months and make sure they don't.#
First published by The Crisis Papers and Democratic Underground 5/9/06.
Copyright 2006 by Bernard Weiner
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