First poster/diarist here, so forgive any protocol violations, please. I just needed to run this past someone other than my eternally forgiving partner.
The night the budget passed, I sent the following to the DNC:
I am a New Yorker who has been a registered democrat since before I left the home of the DFL in Minnesota. What I see happening to my party is outrageous! Voting for legislation patently counter to the goals of the party and its' people is unforgivable. Bankrupcy, privacy, security, labor, war, the environment and more. To my mind, it is crystal clear that to a republican, bi-partisanship truly is another word for date-rape. Thing is, we're the victims.
Through amendment after amendment, through press conference after press conference and with very few exceptions, Democratic Senators and Congresspersons are the ones saying (note: not screaming) no. No. No. And yet, they cast their votes YES! Instead of another term for date-rape, Bi-partisanship should perhaps be doormat instead. Because casting a vote supporting legislation contrary to party position is tantamount to handing the Republicans the mandate they falsely claim they "won" in the last election. I financially support the party as best I can, have for years. I participate in the electoral process as fully as I can. I pay attention to the world I live in. And I demand that you oppose this corrupt administration as often and as loudly as you must. Not only is the peril of the party at stake, but the future of the country as well. And please, hear me now. If the Democratic party does not do this, does not unite in clear opposition, we will lose more elections. This will happen not because the Liberal ideology is the wrong course, but because people will not understand what that means. If we support environmental conservation, if we support workers' rights, if we support the right to privacy, etc... How can you justify that when we vote against these things? How can you be believed? You will begin to lose the core of the party. We will not run to the Republicans, that is against our nature. We will run to independents of all stripe, the party will fracture, the message will dissipate further and Republicanism will be the law of the land. It's time to find that paddle and row downstream. Else we're up it.