As a party, the Republicans have done some things right. They have a strong national identity, and due to their natural inclination to congregate at religious institutions, they tend to meet frequently. Because they have a more rigid set of beliefs than the open and progressive Democratic party, it is easier to discuss and understand those beliefs. Letter campaigns, post cards, and mass mailers have been favorite Republican tactics. Simply put, as a party, they seem to have achieved a national cohesion that we lack.
The question is now, how do we gain that?
It is my belief that the Democratic party must form a strong national identity. We must have a powerful message, and a way to deliver that message quickly to those who support it, and might support it. We need an infrastructure that will allow us to coordinate national efforts on behalf of local candidates, that will enable us to easily understand local issues and channel funds on all levels to get our candidates in office. You may not have a senator up for re-election in 2006, but our money could be useful in places that do.
The 'grassroots' and technology methods have shown that we can raise substantial amounts of money, so how do we prop this up and make it a permanent thing. Web sites, email lists, mass mailers, and the like all spring to mind.
Now, dKOS is a great place to get the ball rolling, but there should be more. There are democrats who are not attracted to this site, for a number of reasons, just as sites like Slashdot do not attract the MAJORITY of technical users, for mostly the same reasons.
How do we go about building a neutral, accessible, and emcompassing coalition to spread our goals throughout the country, from the lowest level to the highest office?
DISCUSS!