Hot on the heels of my first two diaries comes a much more apropos and less personal diary - consisting of one simple question. Once this is all over, Why should I support Democrats?
As I've stated before, I am a moderate. I have never been involved in politics in any meaningful way for many reasons. My first vote ever was in 2004, for Kerry. Or against Bush, depending on how you want to look at it, because I considered Kerry better than Bush - but not
much better. I wish there could have been a better Democrat candidate - I was
not happy with the two choices I had. But I digress.
I consider myself an outsider in almost every way. So I read diaries here with interest, trying to understand where people are coming from and what the goals of Democrats are. In my last diaries, you all were very helpful in articulating what your ideals of being a liberal and a Democrat were, and I can even agree with some of them. But I'm still confused, and maybe you can help me with some of that confusion by answering one simple question for me:
Why is the Democratic party something I should follow?
My personal opinions are thought out case by case, issue by issue, out of a fairly strong sense of personal responsibility and morality. I align with the Democrats where I agree with them, and I align with the Republicans when I agree with them, and I tell both to go to hell when neither gets it right. The Democrats, in my opinion, tend to be on the right side of issue in any situation that involves the word "Bush". But they seem to flounder when asked to come up with any coherent policy plans of their own. What do you stand for? After all this is over, why should I continue to listen?
I'm not being maliciously confrontational, It's an honest question and I would like an answer. What do you stand for other than "get rid of Bush"? Once Bush is gone and the country is mending, what will you bring to the table?
Will you try to bring the country as far left as Bush is trying to bring the country to the right? Once this is all over, why should I vote for a Democrat?
I want to hear more than "defeat Alito" and "defeat Bush" - though I want to hear those things too, and loudly. I want to know what you're going to do to my personal liberties once Bush is gone. I want to know whether Democrats will get brought up on charges in the same way that Abramoff did under this administration after a few years in power. You've got my vote until we've won the battle for the country, and then you're going to have to fight for it.
Start fighting. Tell me what you bring to the table. You have a chance to get much more than just an ally of convenience. Are you going to take advantage of it?