Everyone I'm reading, from
Digby to
Matt Stoller, from
AMERICABlog to
BOP, seems very disappointed at the lack of leadership, message, and coordination expressed by our Democratically elected leaders. Matt's post, in particular, stood out when he said that these people whom
we elected to lead us are in turn looking for someone to lead them.
The chances of the Democrats regaining control of at least one house of Congress is better now than it has been for years, but even that now is starting to lose some strength in hope for some of us. And, even if the change happens, it won't be as massive or significant as we need it to be. That's why I think we all should resolve ourselves to the fact that it won't be this generation of Democrats or Progressives that will get the job done but rather the next generation, and our focus should be on that.
The Blogosphere is a new phenomenon, one that a lot of today's Democratic leaders, much to our chagrin, don't understand much less know about. We all may think that it's been around forever, but in terms of political history, it is relatively new. Which is probably why a lot of these so-called leaders are being quoted as saying "we seem to be losing our voice when it comes to the basic things people worry about." Because, I'm willing to bet you, a majority of the emails and letters and calls they get are from us left-leaning bloggers, who are decrying them for lack of leadership, lack of principle, lack of backbone. They don't know how to react to that, and in turn, they feel like they are losing their voice.
I honestly don't know if these leaders can be saved. Some are being able to harness this medium to their advantage, like Representative Conyers and Slaughter, and Senator Feingold. But a lot of them are so locked into Washington politics that they cannot see beyond that, beyond what they have in DC.
America, whether or not believe it, is slowly getting smarter - keyword is slowly. The diehard Bush elk are still there and will always be there. But, stuck in their misinformity (yes I just made that word up, call the Colbert Report), they will remain there while the rest of us move forward and, sadly, leave them behind. As we slowly grow smarter, it will take a while before those of us who are will be in the positions of power that hold folks like Chris Dodd, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden for example.
To get there will take a lot more than just the 2006 Midterms or the 2008 Presidential Elections. While those two elections will be pivotal for the future of this nation, it won't be enough to revolutionize the system with the real Democratic leaders that we want to represent us. It will take a concerted effort from all of us to ensure that legacy we can leave for the future Democratic and Progressive leaders to take up after us. History will undoubtedly mark this current generation of Democratic Leaders as failures to their cause, their party, and ultimately their country. But the new generation that is rising now in our midst will help this nation and its people reclaim that mantle as the shining city on the hill. It will take that generation to make it possible.