The Democrat Party is the opposition party and their job is to prevent the Republicans from doing anything stupid. When rogue Democrats switch lines and support harmful Republican causes, they earn the right to be slammed by their bases of support. When Harry Reid and Joe Biden vote for the bankruptcy bill, they should expect to be harassed. When Russ Feingold decides to trust Bush's judgment on judicial appointees who refuse to answer questions, he should expect his support for 2008 to drop. When Barack Obama decides to send out an article on Dailykos asking people to cut not hold votes against their elected leaders, he should expect a contingent of insults. Just because there is a D next to their names does not mean that we should excuse their voting record.
The more time passes, the more I feel like we need a huge "throw the bums out" movement. I think all public office holders who do not represent us in the way we wish to be represented should be challenged in the primaries. I think the Democrat Party needs a makeover in the form of a grassroots revolution, erasing the image of the Democrat Party as a collection of nincompoops with no spine. The House and Senate leadership of the Democrat Party is a joke and has been for some time. For Christ sake, Tom Daschle in 2004 ran for re-election on a platform of "Bush is my friend", he deserved to lose. His replacement Harry Reid is the closest thing to a Republican the Democrats have other than Joe Leiberman.
Tom Harkin should be in charge. Nancy Pelosi may be an intelligent woman, but she doesn't have the eye for the kill that is needed to combat Tom Delay. If you ask me,
Brad Miller of North Carolina should be leader.
Without leadership that believes in being Democrats, we can never hope to win. Without the grassroots jumping up to challenge Republicrats, the party will not represent what it should. Remember, Zell Miller, was a Democrat and how many of us would vote for him? Nor should we support people just because they put a D next to their name.
Update [2005-10-2 13:7:57 by tonydimarzio]: Several people have commented that I edit my diary to refer to the Democrat Party as the proper Democratic Party. I apologize that I refered to the party as the Democrat Party. But this is another problem we have, who cares? Only a Democrat would be ashamed to be refered to as a Democrat or a Liberal. This is the same mentality that drives common America nuts. If we can't stand up, embrace our labels, and make them acceptable, how can we stand up to Tom Delay? But again, I apologize for using the wrong term, i should have known better.
