Daily Kos is getting lots of attention these days, and rightly so. I don't have to tell the people reading this how this site works, but I am here to issue a challenge.
In the coming days/months/years this site will continue to grow and flourish as more attention is focused on us (whether it be negative or positive). What I am proposing may be considered blasphemous by some, and sheer genius by others...ok myself. I think we need to open this forum to all political bents. I know, I know, start your own damn blog, will probably be the response, but I don't think it will have the impact that opening up Daily Kos would have. Now I know that everyone if free to post their opinions here... and that's what I love about this place, but at the same time why not make a conserted effort to invite others here? I would love to see a section of the rec list dedicated to politicians, and not just the usual suspects, but even the pols we disagree with... the Rick Santorums and Bill Frists of the world. I feel that this community can be greater than it is. This is the largest political blog, period. It can be bigger. I have no problem defending my positions on issues, even with the most rabid of Republicans, and neither should you.
Here is why I make this proposal... I like listening to talk radio, most of the time it's some forum of liberal talk, but I don't just want to listen to people that agree with me all day. The moments I truly love on talk radio are the moments when a caller calls with an opposing viewpoint, and gets into a heated debate with the host. It's like a train wreck, I can't stop listening. Will the host defend his/her position, with intelligent points and facts to back his/her argument, or will the caller beat him/her to a verbal pulp before he is cut off by the embarrassed talker who can't defend him/herself? (Nothing pisses me off more than a host cutting off an intelligent argument because he/she is loosing.)
I think we have evolved enough as a community that we can handle being called out, and back our arguments. This has to be more than the theater that talk radio offers, and in many cases it is. It can be better. I feel that the American public is ready for the town square again, and you are standing in it. To continue my radio analogy, I think the quick rise of satellite radio makes my point. People want to be free of restrictions, censorship, and same old same old, and they're willing to pay to get it! Daily Kos is free, both financially and intellectually. Lets open the floodgates, and invite the Red Staters, and Free Republicans to our hallowed town square.
Give us your best, and we will do the same.