So what are we anyway?

[The Jacobin]

So what are we anyway?

This is the question that many have tackled in recent days. Here's my take.

Our tactics have been wrong. There hasn't been such thing as a swing voter since Reagan Democrats in 1980, but too many people still believe they are the end-all be-all to winning elections. The two parties are too polarized for there to be anyone to still believe "there ain't a dime's worth of difference between 'em." A voter will either vote for the person they are predisposed to vote for or will abstain because of some flaw that the voter just can't get over. This means the base is everything.

The base of our party is the working people of America. We have been shouted down on faux news for being practioners of class warfare. Our response has been a meek, 'no, no, we're really nice people.' The response should be YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT! We have allowed unions to be destroyed in this country and as a result we have gelded ourselves just to make a few rich men happy.

The workers always outnumber the managers and owners. It's still the economy stupid. And let's be very clear what "the economy" means. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is not the measure of the economy. The true measure is the real purchasing power of the worker in America. They have been screwed in two ways. The wages in real dollars is falling and the prices of goods and services is rising.

Nominating a person who inherited or married his wealth like Kerry is a guarantee to annoy our base. We need to move our primaries out of New Hampshire and Iowa and into Michigan and other states where unions are strong. That way we will get a candidate that will be from the working people and for the working people.

[ladjf]

1. We are a group of political people connected by our philosophies

that say the rights of all people are important. The Dems lost the South during the civil rights movement because the supported what was right. We recovered from that loss as , for one thing, the number of blacks increased and began to make up for the loss of Southern whites. Now we have lost the ground as we have correctly supported gay rights and women's rights. Does that mean we should retreat from caring about ALL the people's rights? Should we emulate
the stupid, greedy and uncaring positions of the Republicans in an attempt to regain political control? You know the answer to that.

In the long run our positions will win out. The trouble is that the damage done during this period of political lunacy could be irreversible.

We can and ultimately will overcome this scourge. Everyday on this board I see hundreds of intelligent posts by caring and concerned people, brainstorming their asses off in search of some workable strategies. Please everyone, keep your brains in gear, keep sharing with us all your ideas.

Also, have you noticed a distinct trend toward increased closeness among the posters? That's because we are partners in adversity. We are joining forces. Ironically, the right-wing fundies feel a closeness with each other and that their values are being attacked by us. As I see it, however, our complaint that we don't want them to tell us how to live our lives while they feel that it is their right to decree how we live our lives. Do you see the huge difference? We wouldn't give a damm what they do or say at their meetings. Just leave us alone. But, when the put 3 right wing judges on the SC, overture R v W, bankrupt SS, deprive citizens of the Constitutional rights that's going way over the line. We all know that.

Yes, we are living in very hard times. But, we have no reasonable choice but to fight for what we KNOW is right, not just for us, but, ironically, for them as well. Their goals aren't even good for them, let alone the rest of us.