There was a post on the main site that stirred something in me, it was mainly how vehemently people disagreed with the following opinion column:
Terry Savage's Column
While I understand this is a left-of-center leaning site, the total rejection of the ideas in that article are why I feel that the Democrats lose elections in general, and why, despite their recent bout of greed and incompetence (2000-?) the Republicans are still seen by the majority of Americans as the "grown up" party.
[Update]
Since many people have argued the "grown up" party part. What I am getting at is neatly summarized in this Dave Barry quote:
"The Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have demonstrated time and again that they have the management skills of celery. They're the kind of people who'd stop to help you change a flat, but would somehow manage to set your car on fire. I would be reluctant to entrust them with a Cuisinart, let alone the economy. The Republicans, on the other hand, would know how to fix your tire, but they wouldn't bother to stop because they'd want to be on time for Ugly Pants Night at the country club."
When I was growing up, my cousin and I decided to raid our grandparent's freezer in order to start a lemonade and popsicle stand on the side of the road. My grandparents thought it was adorable and let us continue despite the fact that we were selling the popsicles for less than it cost our grandparents to buy them. Aside from the entertainment that it provided us, our Grandparents would have been better off just letting us eat the popsicles and run around the neighborhood. Commerce without a clear understanding of value is a surefire recipe for economic disaster.
I think people would take Democrats more seriously if they focused only on economic initiatives that grow the overall economy. I've seen a chart on this site illustrating how extending unemployment benefits produce more money in the economy than tax breaks for the wealthy, sell that story. If you don't it sounds like you're just paying people not to work. If you believe that a single payer, government healthcare system will reduce aggregate healthcare costs in the long run, then sell that story. If I am employed with health care benefits, taxing me to provide free healthcare benefits to my unemployed neighbor is not a strong selling point.
And please, read either 'The Fountainhead' or 'Atlas Shrugged' by Ayn Rand. I doubt that you would agree with it, but it's good to understand the priciple behind Capitalist prosperity. I had to read Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" when I was in High School, and although I did not agree with any of it, I found it interesting and informative just the same. If you are a fan of fantasy novels, "Faith of the Fallen" tells a similar story in a fantasy setting, and "The Sword of Truth" is a pretty decent series all around for the first five books or so.
The Republican Party has been dead to me for awhile now, due to the takeover by incompetants and the religious 'right', if you move just a little to the right you could have the entire electorate. If one party embraced education, technology, prosperity and secularism you'd have everything that moves society forward. You could be the Eisenhowers of your generation.