I want Democrats to suceed in 2006, I really do. But if there's one thing I can say, as general advice, it's that the rhetoric needs to be toned down a bit.
I have not scientifically looked at every House candidate's website to see what percentage of them share the same characteristics as the example I will show you, but the one I stumbled upon one sent the eyes rolling.
More below the fold...
I think that Democrats should have a positive message overall. Any attack on GOP policies should be followed with a positive suggestion of what needs to be done differently. People respond favorably to a positive message. John Edward's surprise 2nd place showing in the 2004 Iowa Caucus is testament to that.
I payed a quick visit to Kos's sister site Our Congress, and I clicked on the first diary on the right-hand side. It was written by the user "bringohiohome" about Mark Losey's first rally for Congress in Ohio's 15th Congressional District. So I checked out his new website, and what was one of the first things I found?
Our campaign for U.S. Congress offers hope for real change and progress to central Ohioans.
I'm not a professional, partisan politician. Like you, I know we deserve better than scandal-plagued, one-party rule that works for far-right-wing and corporate special interests and ignores mainstream, middle-class central Ohioans.
Oh God, puh-lease. It's cacaphony to the ears of independents and moderates, the votes from the people Losey needs to win. You need to realize how stupid that rhetoric sounds. Maybe it's true, maybe it isn't, but it sounds stupid nevertheless.
Losey could be a really good guy, with great ideas, but coming off as a raving idiot certainly doesn't help his case. I admit I don't know anything else about Losey and his chances of winning against a 7-term incumbent who was reelected by a 20-point margin recently, but something tells me that this introductory sentence is a reflection of what will be coming out of his mouth next year.
So what should be done differently, and what Democratic candidate page models what I'm looking for?
Scott Chacon is running for Congress in the 11th District of California [map], which runs through the East Bay. He wrote a diary here on DailyKos about his efforts.
Please pay a quick visit to his website: jointheconversation.org (catchy isn't it?). This is his opening sentence:
My name is Scott Chacon.
I am running for Congress in the East Bay area of California, and my campaign is different. My campaign is about community, conversation, and openness.
Then if you read his
"About Me" page, he largely speaks positively about who he is and why he is running. This is the final paragraph:
Politics today has become largely unethical and does not represent or strive to include everybody. Our district is as twisted and contorted as the partisan districting process that contrived it. What we need is not a partisan ideologue who will always disagree with half of his or her constituency, but a concerned citizen who is interested in representing everybody, in listening to everybody. I think government should be a discussion, not a speech.
Help me build that discussion. Join the conversation.
YES! That's
exactly what I'm talking about! This is what Democrats need to be doing, all the time!
Compare Losey's rhetoric to Chacon's, and hopefully you'll understand why, as an independent, I favor the latter. You can't let the Republicans push you around and call you the party of no-ideas and obstructionsm. You have to stand up and fight for something. This is good, let's see more of that, and let's see more sites like Chacon's.