Dems doomed without solid reform plan

[Scooter24]

Published Thursday, January 12, 2006
Dems doomed without solid reform plan

Have you ever had a moment when it suddenly, finally and tragically dawned on you that, however much you may love your significant other, he or she is simply never going to change enough for you to stay together?

I'm afraid I may be reaching that point with the Democrats.

To root for the Democrats is generally to suffer from sustained bouts of exasperation, but lately the liberal idealists on this campus have been subjected to new levels of pain. Here we stand at what should be a moment of unparalleled opportunity for blue America, a perfect chance to retake the Congress in 2006 as the Republican war machine drowns in a swamp of corruption. Just in the last few months, criminal indictments have forced Tom Delay to at last vacate his leadership position so that a less evil party hack can fill it. The Jack Abramoff scandal has exploded across front pages around the country -- the demise of the powerful Republican lobbyist has tainted innumerable lawmakers and political figures, overwhelmingly conservative, who chose to do business with him. And other prominent Republican ethical woes, like the indictment of Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, have added fuel to the fire.


And yet what is the Democratic response to this ethical implosion? Of course, minority leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are making the predictable rounds on the morning talk shows to piously condemn the "culture of corruption in Republican Washington." But as is usually the problem for the party these days, Democrats must do more than criticize the Republicans in power. They must actually articulate what they would do differently.

(more)

http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=31228

[leveymg]

1. There's only one word the Dems all need to repeat: "Indict."

Say it over and over. It's going to happen.

Here's a word for the author, "Patience."

[Gman]

2. As hoaky as we thought the Contract On America was

it worked. It was a clear, defined national strategy for Congress. Yes, it was stupid and we all knew it was going to be a pack of lies. But as a clear national strategy, it worked beyond expectations. It was a clear message at the right time.

Right now is the right time. But we had better have a clear well defined strategy or we will have squandered this opportunity.

[yurbud]

5. Dean had four or five simple points that I memorized the first time I saw

them.

95% of Americans want the same things:

Good jobs that can support a family
access to a good education for their kids
access to good healtchcare at a reasonable price
physical safety from threats foreign and domestic

There are other issues that are important, even urgent, but nearly all Americans could agree on these, the only question is how to get from here to there.

On the first three, the GOP barely even makes a pretense of caring about them.

The last they use as an excuse to enrich their friends.

[yurbud]

6. Dems also need to bluntly attack core of GOP economic agenda:

deregulation

privatization

cutting taxes on the rich & corporations

NAFTA, CAFTA all future TAs


Are not only failed public policies but an integral part of the culture of corruption.

We cannot leave these untouched, but must make them an embarassment to the right.

They should blush whenever someone MENTIONS them, even in a positive way.

Somehow, this has already happened with "trickle down" economics and Bush's use of the term "privatizing social security" even though he pursued the policy after the word became an albatross.

[depakid]

3. unparalleled opportunity for blue America- and it starts

and probably ends with filibustering Alito. If the don't stand their ground here and do the right thing- given that they have all of the issues- inclusing ethics- on their side, I don't know who'll ever believe they're sincere about reform.

[abluelady]

4. We Not Only Need a Platform

We need to stop allowing the Repugs to call the rules of the game. Everytime a Repug brings up a sex scandal, we need to address a legitimate failing of theirs. We need to stop the name calling and hit them right between the eyes with facts: deaths in Iraq; corruption in the congress; poverty in America; etc. They should have to respond to us, as opposed to us responding to them.