Too often
we fight with one hand tied behind our back. This isn't working. We play with one set of rules, they play with another (we lose, they win). I'm tired of losing some I'm going to dump some of the baggage that I've built up as a liberal.
Instead of going out and buying things today, I'm taking out the trash.
Good Campaign
As far as I'm concerned, there is no such thing as a good campaign. There are winning campaigns and there are losing campaigns. I don't care if people think Kerry ran a good campaign -- he lost. People used to call him a closer, now he's a loser. End of conversation.
No such thing as a dumb question
Whoever came up with this crap obviously hadn't seen the press corp. at a Bush presser. Yes, there are dumb questions. There are also plenty of dumb ideas and dumb choices. I believe in your right to say stupid stuff but I don't have to respect your opinion if you're spouting craziness. I don't respect equal time for people to talk about evolution. I don't think abstinence should be debated on equal footing with sex education. If you say something stupid, I'm going to call you on it. If you make poor choices, I'm going to call you on it (even if your name is Pat Tilden). It is time for Democrats to turn our BS Detectors back on and call people out.
We can't be too liberal
No, we can't be too chickenshit. Before people decide what they think of our politics, they need to first decide if they respect us. If we are opposed to torture but let Gonzalez be the next AG then we are not worthy of respect. First we earn respect, then we tell people why they should support us. But being moderate doesn't matter if you aren't respected. A lot of people don't even bother to look at the issues, they look at the person.
Issues are complex
No, issues are not complex. There is our side and there is their side. When we help their side, we help them. We need to help our people and our side. And we need to fight for our issues. No more of this I voted for it before I voted against it. The problem wasn't that Kerry said it, the problem is that he did it. Stop reading the polls, stop making things complex and stand up for what we believe in. Politics is lost by the wonks, not won by them. If you can't boil and issue down to a paragraph then you don't understand what is going on.