So, after a year of hanging around this place, I finally get a coherent picture of what it means to be a Democrat. No no no. Not in a platform, or Membership Card kind of way, but in a Cookie Jar kind of way. Oh, new to Cookie Jar politics? It means that everything in the jar looks good to you, even if you don't swallow them all. After painstaking research, I came up with this list:
Socialist
Pragmatist
Futurist
Scientist
Environmentalist
Economist
Relativist
Individualist
Capitalist
Pro-Choice
Intelligent
Constitution-thumper
Positive liberty (You LIKE to think so, anyway)
Which, while sounding not-so-friendly, looks better than what makes a good Republican:
Fascist
Dogmatic
Reactionary
Luddite
Destructive
Pirate
Relativist
Collectivist
Rentier
Pro-life/Anti-quality-life
Atavist
Constitution-thumper
Negative liberty (Well, they LIKE to think so)
But, these past few days have shown me something around here. I have been corrected in diary after diary. The list is really this:
Socialist
Pragmatist
Futurist
Scientist
Environmentalist
Economist
Relativist
Individualist
Capitalist
Pro-WOMEN'S-Choice
Intelligent
Constitution-thumper
Positive liberty
That's good to know. You see, I didn't know I only had to "support a woman's right to choose" in order to join. It's not that I don't, I'm pro-woman. In fact, I'm SOOO pro-woman, I married one. But it's good to know nevertheless, because it makes my job of joining the party SOOO much easier. Now, I don't have to change any of my old Republican views on things. I even hear that if you put all the Democrats in one room, and the biggest group are "single-issue pro-choice voters," I'll fit right on in. I'll even bring my pal Chafee along. I hear he's pro-choice. How can he NOT join?
And enough of this talk about Democrats being the party of abortionists. That's nonsense. The ONLY value we have is pro-choice. How can we POSSIBLY believe in abortions when we ONLY believe in pro-choice? Frankly, the tent isn't big enough for abortionists.
And, this is a great issue to rally around. You have a whole, what, 40% of Americans on our side with this? That's just awesome. That's way more than the religious right, corporatists, and brainless pundit classes put together! Hell, this issue polls REAL well with women, with OVER HALF of them on our side on this. Granted, it's not like we have 60% of them or anything, but it IS over half. And women do account for half of all voters! Heck, the future is wide open, and I can see us getting more than a simple majority of women voters. With pro-woman language such a large part of our platform (2/3, the other 2/3 being pro-choice, yea my math is as bad as my attitude), I can't see why women could make any other choice.
It's also great that I don't have to dump my old party line toward women and learn a new one. What's that you say? It's that they only need one opinion- mine.
Boy, it's good to know we have a simple, coherent strategy that does well in the polls.
And a note before anyone throws their angst around. I'm NOT saying you dump ANYONE overboard. In fact, I'm saying the opposite. By making pro-choice a deal-breaker issue with the Democratic party, you are putting yourself in the position to take in NO MORE THAN 45% of the vote. You are also denying a greater appeal to liberty. Take these examples:
"Do you support a woman's right to choose?"
"Hell no, go away."
Compare that to:
"Do you support the government forcing you to have an abortion?"
"Aw, HELL no!"
"Do you support the government forcing you to mandatory childbirth, bi-monthly government-administered Ob/gyn exams, public medical records, and incarcerated mothers?"
"That's still a no."
"Well, it looks like you don't want the government involved in your reproductive choices."
But yes, today I'm glad I'm not a Democrat. I'm glad that I don't feel a sting when I see this place turn into Freeperville. Except that it isn't true. It's infuriating. It's frustrating. And most of all, it is STUPID. When the likes of Fox news push the idea that Democrats have no agenda, plan, ideology, or future, they may as well be right. Choice IS NOT AN AXIOM. Choice is a construct that flows from an axiom. And until you can sell the axiom of personal privacy (again, since it's rather implicit in the constitution of all places), choice is just another tired old movement with its neck on the political chopping block.