The Democratic party is a big tent.
It's been said a million times and we all believe it. Democrats are all-inclusive, that is, we allow for a wide range of opinions and ideas in our party. That's what gives us a broad appeal across the political spectrum. That's what wins elections.
Except when it doesn't.
The Big Tent myth serves the party leadership very well when they're looking for votes. It's a great catch phrase to real in those independent voters, especially when the Republicans have really fucked things up. That always helps in winning elections, and as you all know, that is the absolute end-all reason for Daily Kos to exist. Electing Democrats. Expanding the Big Tent.
The downside to having all these people under the tent is that you have to listen to everyone's ideas, and sometimes actually implement some of those ideas into policy. If you don't do that, then a lot of those people might just go find another tent, or just leave the whole damn mess all together.
We all worked to elect more Democrats over the last five years to some extent, even if it was just donations. (We did that, not the conservatives or independents.) We went to polls and voted. There was a Big Tent at polling stations all over the country. Democrats have had control of our representative democracy for over three years because of our efforts. They were handed even more control in 2008. Super-majority control. That was a Big Tent day. What have they done with it? Which tent dwellers have been listened to?
Here is a short list of bullet points from our party platform.
- Affordable, Quality Health Care Coverage for All Americans
- Good Jobs with Good Pay
- New American Energy
- A World Class Education for Every Child
- Invest in Manufacturing and Our Manufacturing Communities
- Creating New Jobs by Rebuilding American Infrastructure
- Restoring Fairness to our Tax Code
- Reforming Financial Regulation and Corporate Governance
- Consumer Protection
- Smart, Strong, and Fair Trade Policies
- Ending the War in Iraq
- Win in Afghanistan (whatever the hell that means)
- Pursue Intelligence Reform
- Do Right by Our Veterans
- Lift Burdens on Our Troops and Their Families
- Restore the Readiness of the Guard and Reserve
- Allow All Americans to Serve
- Reform Contracting Practices and Make Contractors Accountable
- Establish Energy Security
- Lead to Combat Climate Change
That's a great, progressive list, but where are we on any of these? Who's ideas are being implemented in furtherance of these ideals? Isn't this what everyone under the tent is supposed to be fighting for? Why haven't we got any of these done, or at least well on their way by now? It's been over three years and here we are.
- Still in Iraq
- Increasing Role in Afghanistan
- Hard Fought Health Care Bill that Everyone Hates, Except the Insurance Companies
- Gitmo Still Open and Running
- Continued Cover-up of War Crimes
- Bankster Billionaire Bonuses
- Double Digit Unemployment
- Mercenary Contractors Pursuing Illegal War
- No Action At All on DADT or DOMA
That's just a few of the problems we're still having that should have been dealt with by now. Three. Fucking. Years.
Democrats need a Big Tent. They should pursue that goal, but with one thing in mind:
Getting votes under a big tent is easy. Keeping votes under a big tent is hard.
A Big Tent has to mean more than votes. It has to reflect in policies as well. If you want to keep a coalition, than work for it, don't spout a line of BS that sounds good and then feed us a bunch of damn excuses why the exact opposite happened. Democrats here and around the country worked our collective asses off to get these people in power because we believed what they told us. They haven't delivered. We gave them a fucking super majority, and they are pissing it away.
The Tent will collapse if the major peg holders, that's us, walk away. This isn't about Obama, it's about the spineless buffoons in the Senate and, to a lesser degree, the House. Include us in policy or we will walk. Listen to your base, the one's who put you there, or you won't have a tent, big or otherwise.