I'm fighting for Brand Democrat and actual proposals with teeth.
A look at the Clinton/ Obama/Edwards divide.
I represent what is perceived as an anomaly, I think. I am an Edwards supporter with Hillary as my second choice. I have knocked Obama a lot both here and at MyDD-- usually over my perception of Obama hurting Brand Democrat and being light on specifics. I think he's a decent guy-- but the fervor around him makes me uneasy. There's too much "Person over Policy" for my tastes. I'm sure the same is thought about supporters of my guy, Edwards and those of Hillary. Your mileage of course will vary.
A standard argument from some people who lean toward Obama (many of whom I respect a lot) is that you don't win unless you expand the pool. I.e., one has to willing to criticize the left and be nebulous about one's plans in order to attract people who wouldn't normally vote Democratic. The further insinuation is that once one gets into office one can actually put forward concrete plans that would have been hard to sell.
I believe this is a fatally flawed strategy. Dubya is below 30% support. An incredibly strong majority don't like him or his awful policies. Why not give people an option? We should want people to think it's perfectly reasonable to demand universal health care and to end the economic imbalance in this country. It should be a reasonable stand to have-- the mainstream, as opposed to radical. Likewise, we should not have to whisper about being a Democrat as though that status was socially unacceptable or made us seem weak. Being a Democrat should make you part of a the natural ruling party. We should be able to take pride in the label.
Let's say the strategy works to get us elected. Great! Now comes time to put forth those bold proposals. "Wait a minute!" the opposition cries, "You never said anything about this! What kind of trickery is this?" Now we will be fighting the "Democrats say one thing and do another" argument. Now we have to sell the plan. Can we do it? Maybe. Wouldn't it have been nice to sell the plan before you assumed office? If the public expected us to do that all along there wouldn't be a fight to be had. The fight would have been the election.
Regardless, we will spend more time and political capital to get fewer things done. We will have to fight charges of duplicity. Our plans will end up being fewer and more watered down. Good luck with that second term.
This is what it's about.-- not just getting elected, but making the case to the people that your course is right and specific, and following through That is what will build the permanent majority.
We still have at least a three person race on our hands. No one gets a majority without help from someone else. That holds for all Hillary, Obama, and Edwards. It's time for the Democratic Party collectively define what we are.