(Originally Posted at
Deny My Freedom:
One of the points that I have been trying to bring up whenever possible is that in order for the Democrats to succeed this year, or any year in the future, there must be an effort to properly display a coherent party platform for the American people. I am not talking about everyone in the Democratic party having total agreement on abortion or gun control, but what I am talking about is having our core values become the focus, rather than portraying us as 'alternatives' to the failed Republican leadership.
The Los Angeles Times agrees:
With President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress facing bleak approval ratings, many Democrats are increasingly confident that the public is ready to hear the party's alternative policy ideas as the 2006 campaign heats up.
The question is whether the Democrats have an alternative ready to present.
More below the fold...
Party leaders have provided some specifics about how they would deal with national security, energy issues and ethics reform if they recapture one or both chambers of Congress in November. But on many topics, they have provided only broad hints about their direction.
This is our worst nightmeare in the making. If the Democrats do not get out of the shadows and start making noise about who we are, and what our agenda is, we are going to be hearing more and more media covergage about the Democratic party having nothing to say about the future. We tried ABB, and it didn't work folks.
On one side are those who believe the Democrats must present a sharp alternative to Bush's direction -- as Republicans did with their "Contract with America" before sweeping into control of Congress in 1994.
"It is a time to move toward offense and toward talking about the big things that we stand for," said Eli Pariser, executive director of the political action committee associated with liberal MoveOn.org.
On the other side are strategists who fear that offering too many specifics could allow Republicans to shift focus away from public discontent with how they have governed. Those sentiments appear especially strong among Senate Democrats.
"If you start to [discuss] big government programs ... you open yourself up to criticism in all directions, and there's no reason for Democrats to do that now," said one senior Democratic Senate aide, who asked not to be identified when discussing internal party deliberations.
So let me get this straight...a strategy representing the very ideals in which our party was founded upon is dangerous? This is bullshit and exactly why we have to take it upon ourselves to make sure we are supporting the progressive cause whenever possible during this election cycle. We can't trust the party establishment to represent us on the issues anymore, and we need to be framing these issues ourselves, on a personal level, through people-powered politics.
If DailyKos has had a message from the beginning, it is that this is our party. Not anyone elses, this is ours. The time for sitting back and entrusting our hopes and dreams is over.
I am not talking about abandoning the party.
I am talking about reclaiming it.
Sen. Reid nails this one right on the head, and I hope that he starts backing up some of this with action very, very soon:
"There is a huge vacuum in the party and the country -- a pent-up demand for answers that we haven't seen since the early 1990s," Reed said. "The closer we get to the 2008 campaign ... the more relevant Democratic ideas are."
Sorry I can't add more, because I am just on break at work. But this is too important to ignore, and I am pissed.
The time is long since past for action, and we need to start NOW. I will not claim to have all the answers, but there are many of you on this website who do. So let's hear it... what can we do today to start taking back our party and making the word 'Democrat' mean 'Patriot' once again to the American people.