Really? That's funny. At no point did I call Democrats "weenies" or "pvssies". At no point did I post something utterly stupid like: I don't want to attract those who've bought lock, stock and barrel into the Republican agenda, as you obviously have. Just like Bush isn't recruiting around the Kennedy compound. You have your party. Enjoy it. But hey, thanks for visiting and sharing. EDIT: I also haven't bothered to talk nonsense about separating "means and ends" or trying different "methods". But yes, if you only count the words "the", "and" and "Democrat", its totally a reworded version of your post.
fallout: - In the Senate, the Republicans now hold a 55-45 edge and the make-up of the Senate has moved sharply to the right as several conservative Republicans won seats previously held by retiring Democrats from the South. One of the new senators, Tom Coburn from Oklahoma, is a leading opponent of abortion and supports executing doctors who perform illegal abortions. - Vice President Dick Cheney said yesterday "President Bush ran forthrightly on a clear agenda for this nation's future and the nation responded by giving him a mandate." - Chief neoconservative writer Norman Podhoretz said Bush's victory vindicated the neoconservative movement and he urged Bush to fight what he calls World War IV against the country's enemies. - Conservative Christian leader Richard Viguerie said yesterday "Now comes the revolution. If you don't implement a conservative agenda now, when do you?" In a memo sent to other conservative Christian Viguerie wrote "Make no mistake -- conservative Christians and 'values voters' won this election for George w. Bush and Republicans in Congress." Viguerie went on to write, "It's crucial that the Republican leadership not forget this." - Hungary announced it would pull its 300 troops out of Iraq by April. The country's prime minister said "To stay there much longer is impossible." In other news from election day, in San Francisco, 64 percent of the city's voters supported a resolution calling for the U.S. government to withdraw it troops from Iraq.
Errrmm........I'm not so sure that's wise. Dean is a good mobilizer, but not a particularly deep thinker. In the sense that, he doesn't think long term. He's also more full of negative soundbites than a drunk Dan Quayle.
If you're talking about between now and 2008, sure. If you're talking about between now and, say, 2020, that's completely wrong. I guarantee you that the Democratic party of 2020 will have more in common with the Democratic party of today than for the GOPs, OR, the GOPs will be completely on the run. If the GOPs don't radically change, Barrack Obama will win election in 2020 with all of Kerry's states, plus Arizona, NM, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, Colorado, and Nevada. At least. How many homophobic voters are gonna die in the next 16 years? How many homophriendly voters are?
The last thing the Dems should be doing now is looking for their next leader. They should work on helping build an infrastructure comparable to the conservative movement and by extension developing a new strategy that will help keep the blue states blue while making the red states less red. Think about leadership in two years, when the political winds could be blowing in a different direction then they are now. If Bush governs like its already obvious he will, i.e. as a divider, the Dems can probably count on keeping almost all of the blue states in their column, barring another major terrorist attack or huge scandal. They need that strategy that offers a vision that brings states like Ohio, Florida, and New Mexico back into their column. They can do this without "pandering " to the religious right, which many seem to think needs to be the next strategy. Lets hope they get it right this time.
I think you're completely wrong. Completely and utterly wrong. People get more conservative with age, and having lived in a "pink" state for a good deal of my life, I don't see these trends changing. If anything, the South is getting redder and redder. There's a wonderful Russian idiom that reads something like "environment determines consciousness", although somewhat different. You live in a red state, with red state parents - you think like one. I don't think this is going to change the way you do. Not every generation is more liberal than the one which precedes it. P.S. Obama is not going to win in 50 years. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Why? Because what people tell pollsters is something completely different than what they'll do on election day in the voting booth, when no one's watching. People generally vote their fears, not the better angels of their nature. I thought this election would have made that patently clear.
Yes, but someone's going to need to lead that effort. I think we're talking about putting Dean into the McAuliffe role, not grooming him for a run at the Presidency.
I think in the long term you are right. But I think the Republican party will adapt. I'd like to see it go back to be the party of small government and fiscal responsibility, and to loosen up a bit on the cultural issues. If the democrats keep moving towards the 'old European' model, then there is room for Republicans to move to the middle and still be the conservative party. Look for more Arnold and Rudy types in the next generation of Republicans.
I can't believe I read the whole thing..... Well, nice, at least it's an honest assessment, something the Dems need right now.
That's probably not going to happen. First, nobody is going to be the party of small government, because most voters don't want small government. http://www.publicagenda.com/issues/major_proposals_detail.cfm?issue_type=healthcare&list=1 Notice the very low levels of support for cutting federal spending. In fact, for pretty much all of the major budget categories, the public wants either the same amount or more spending. It's true that many people claim to support small government, but in most cases that's because they don't know what the government actually spends its money on. As a result, the GOP has claimed to be the party of small government, when what they really mean is that they are the party of tax cuts. Naturally, this has led to deficits, as spending continues or increases, and tax revenue drops. As this fiscal situation becomes unsustainable, the Republicans' economic approach will become less feasible, both in political and in policy terms. I suspect that this will cause them to rely even more strongly on cultural and religious issues for public support.
In case any of you are interested, the Daily Mirror in England is offering free downloads of the infamous "How Could 59 million people be so dumb" cover page that ran Wednesday. www.mirror.co.uk I only promote this crappy "newspaper" as a public service to those of us who need some comic relief right now
This seems to be the buzzword of the GOP. They've been desperately trying to show the win (while clear) as "most" of the country or as some sort of huge mandate. Frankly, I just think it's completely ironic that a guy who won an election due to his extreme homophobia is all over the television bragging about his mandate.