Dean -The Future of the Democratic Party

[rodeodance]

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/120704U.shtml

The Future of the Democratic Party
By Howard Dean
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Monday 06 December 2004

Since Election Day, there has been a lot of predictable moaning and groaning about the future of the Democratic Party. Particularly predictable are the suggestions that we need to be more like Republicans in order to win. Democrats need to learn by our previous mistakes - we have tried being "Republican-lite" and it does not work. It is a mistake to run away from the things we believe and I think we can win in the so-called Republican states by being real Democrats.

We have to realize that there are no red states and no blue states, just American states. I believe the country is still more in sync with Democratic values than Republican values. Our task is to remind ourselves and the American people of the hallmark issues that distinguish Democrats from Republicans.

For example, Democrats historically tackle economic issues with bold, common-sense policies. Our last Democratic president created 22 million new jobs in this country. In the last four years, George W. Bush oversaw the loss of over 1.5 million. Democrats balance budgets, Republicans do not. Democrats consistently try to pass legislation that would provide some kind of affordable health care, Republicans do not. Democrats believe we ought to raise the minimum wage to help the average worker keep up with the cost of living, Republicans do not. Democrats believe corporations have too much power over our daily lives; Republicans do not - and to prove it, they have given away billions of dollars of our tax money to the biggest corporations in the world over the last four years.

On each of these issues, the majority of the American people are with Democrats not Republicans. Democrats have the right beliefs to win; we just execute a poor public relations plan. And, despite the enormous improvement in our ground game, the Republicans executed a more effective strategy. Republicans are far more successful because they work in a more unified, disciplined way with local supporters, especially with their base. They also avoid the Democrats chronic pitfall of listening to pundits from inside the Beltway.

......Democrats can win by simply being Democrats. Reinventing ourselves as Republicans is the death knell of our party. We need to get back to basics and start listening to people from outside Washington. Only then can we save the greatest nation on the face of the earth from the twin Republican perils of enormous deficits and constant misadventures abroad.

[Liberty Belle]

1. Amen. Dems also stand for protecting our environment,

something almost everyone except the neocons can agree is important. Even conservatives want their children to breathe clean air and water, or should.

[autorank]

2. Agreed...at the DNC.

Once selected, he sould get in a pickup and tour the red states. Seriously, walk the walk. Talk to real people. Mix it up. We are so dull as a party! No offense and we're not entertainers but, please, some creativity is called for.

[Eric J in MN]

3. Republicans don't listen to pundits inside the Beltway?

Is Karl Rove inside or outside the Beltway?

[mandyky]

4. Rove heavily uses focus groups from their base

outside of the Beltway

[Fitz_G]

5. A dem in a sea of red

Greetings from Lawrence,KS--the Democratic Alamo of the heartland!
I was driving down I-70 in central Kansas a few weeks ago and decided to scan the am stations just to get a sense for how bad things have become. I found the following programs: 6 stations playing the same Rush Limbaugh show, a local right-wing show, a Christian station, a sports show, and a country music station. That's it. No balance exists out here.

Our first priority has got to be the leveling of the playing field for our message. Without that, the best platform or aggressive campaign will merely be spun into oblivion around here. Dems have no credibility and this is why.

Second, I agree that we need to get back to basics and with most stances of the Democratic party, but I don't hear anyone attacking issues that matter to people around here. Its not enough to tell people the economy is in bad shape and that jobs have been lost. We have to realize that a new generation has entered the workforce since we had control or had a real voice. That generation is by and large clueless as to the true nature of conflict between business and labor. Most still equate Marxist theory to political totalitarianism. We have to start from the beginning. I've found that the story of the Molly McGuires of the 19th century coal mines resonates well out here when I talk of it.

As Thomas Frank wrote in "What's the Matter with Kansas?" our farmers have been pushed off their lands and hired back as 21st century indentured servants on corporate farms. I find the rise of corporate farming and issues like Mad-Cow to be a curious relationship, yet no one seems to be tying those issues together. Wal-Mart has killed our towns. Our state almost sold our turnpike just to raise some quick cash this year. The people around here need to hear how their social beliefs are being manipulated for an economic agenda and how their anger only makes them more susceptible to it. It's an old-fashioned union busting of the Democratic Party that we're facing, but on the national level.

If we want to win Kansas, the heartland, and then America, we need to quit telling and start showing. Don't call it Orwellian, show the Orwellian tactics and marriage between the administration, media, and business community. People love a good conspiracy theory here and the truth is on our side. It has to be someone with red-stater credibility. Unfortunately, their hatred of Michael Moore drowns his message. And for the love of all things humble and right, please stop making fun of the red-staters and start educating them on the issues. These people are angry and the jokes only undermine my credibility when I try to discuss the morality of liberalism with them.

[bemildred]

6. They ought to be angry, but they need to figure out who to be angry at.

And it ain't Mike Moore, or the people making fun of them. Take a look
in the mirror (not you), and take a look at the political leaders that
are supposed to be looking out for you, and see if you can still find
that pitchfork, and you might have a chance.

My regards to you, there ARE some fine people in Kansas, I used to
spend a lot of time there.

[Bread and Circus]

7. The problem is that it seems that the Dem party is running scared.

[ixion]

8. Go Howard!

I've always felt that Dean and Kucinich are awesome!