Moderates and liberals unite!!!

[Pushed To The Left]

What both liberal and moderate Americans need to realize is that they have a common enemy right now: the far right. The extreme right-wing is in power in America. The best way for moderates to move the country back to the middle is to support and strengthen the left! The best thing for the left to do is embrace the moderates and combine with them to crush the hardcore conservatives!

[Carolab]

1. Agreed--read this

http://www.freewillastrology.com/home.shtml

[Cheswick2.0]

2. the point is not whether someone is left or moderate

The difference is between those who are for party reform or status quo. There is a battle for the soul of the party and it is healthy. Do we want to be the other corporate party as the DLC urges (to free us from the special interests groups such as labor and minorities)? Or do we want to give the power back to the people and make the party respond to the grassroots and become more populist? That is the real battle.

[sandnsea]

3. The left HAS the power

There comes a time in every child's life when they realize they are the grown-up and are responsible for their own future. It's not necessary to rant against their parent anymore, because they find their own power.

That's all the left has to do right now. Stop being the people of protest and start being the people of solutions. It isn't enough to protest the war and paint signs saying "who would Jesus bomb". Workable solutions must be offered that recognizes the complexity of Iraq; political factions, terrorists and insurgents. If gay couples want to marry, they need to be the face of the gay rights movement. Universal health care is more than a human rights issue, it's an economic issue for business and trade. Grown ups deal with all aspects of the real world and present solutions in that context.

The Democratic Party is currently like the aging parent, tired and unable to focus. The left has the perfect opportunity to step in and lead the country forward. But only if they do it with adult maturity and reason, which includes listening to everyone.

[Old and In the Way]

5. Absolutely.

We have to start pounding on a vision that contrasts to what the Republicans are offering.

Republicans = Oil = No Domestic Plan = War = Dead End
Democrats = Alternative/Renewable Energy = Jobs = Future

We ought to be going at the heart of what the Republican vision of the future is.....and counter with a progressive vision that addresses all of our core issues: Wars for oil, the environment, domestic jobs.

[Old and In the Way]

4. Moderate....Left.....does it matter today?

How about good vs. evil. Sane people choose good. Worrying today about shades of policy minutae and labels is rather like arguing about the best placement of deckchairs on the Titanic.

Me? I'm ABRP Anybody but the Republican Party.

[DrCorday]

6. All for it!

Hey, I'm new to DU, but I'm so sick of commenting on the endless Republican blogs... so much work, so little reward.

First thing I noticed: Higher level of discussion. I went to our main page and spotted, right off the bat, a discussion on Ukraine's recent troubles. Most of my republican blog pals are concerned primarily with "the media is liberal," and "we won! yay! democrats = hollywood elite." It's refreshing to see that someone actually cares about the world out there.

Anyway, on to comments: In all of their back-patting, I think that many conservatives fail to realize we did get 48% of the vote. That's huge. We weren't buried, by any means, and we have not been crushed.

I also think the middle has been disconnected from the middle: we need to do a better job of showing how extreme these guys really are and show how bad that really is.

[Old and In the Way]

7. Better news.

Our numbers are growing....theirs ain't. I figured that "51%" is the highwater mark. It's all downhill from there. The real damage of the past 4 years will start to kick in and they'll be busy creating all kinds of outrageous shit to try and deflect the people from understanding the root cause of the problems: them. But it's not going to work. Out of that 51%, fully 1/2 are convertable. Maybe not today, bu tgive it another year or 2.

More and more people are talking and joining in on the conversation (like you, welcome aboard) and that bodes ill for Republicans, I think.

It does amaze me how uniform their responses/reactions are. I have no idea how they justify the anti-American actions of this administration, but eventually, they will wake up and see the reality. Those people will become the most rabid converts, too. Sorta like reformed smokers.