Dems/Centrists??!!

[Casandra]

I just don't get it!! Why do the Dems think we are all wanting 'Centrists' for our leaders...nice easy to get along with, compromising, negotiating, follow the leader Centrists. Are there actual numbers to support this, or is this a new recipe in the 'Kool-Aid'? I want a clear cut fighten Democrat. I want to know loud and clear there are differences and this is not a watered down version of a Repug. Just some of my thoughts, as I am getting so sick of being told how Centrist Dems are the whole answer..not for me!!!!

[applegrove]

1. You don't get everything you want in a democracy. You get what you

need. For sure there would be a little policy for you (perhaps improved health care) and stuff for the economy and stuff for all groups in the big tent.

Centrists are important because without them Dems loose the election. Then right wing cabals get into power.

Fracture if you want. Make yourself into a tribe that excludes anyone who doesn't think exactly like you do. The repukes will be in power forever!!

[election_2004]

2. I don't mind a centrist if he/she is fair-minded and has integrity....

I don't care for the opportunists like Joementum, though.

It really depends on the person, and how much character they have.

[Toots]

3. Just what is now considered center?

Social Security is broke so must be fixed with Private Accounts, Need more Tax Cuts, Let's Open ANWR, Stay the Course in Iraq, We don't need Presidential Papers released or Energy Meeting Minutes. Long live the Clear Sky Inniatives and Clean Forests Act. What is the rest of the Center's position on things anyway?

[Adelante]

4. We don't necessarily need centrist leaders

What we need are centrist voters, since we don't have a big enough base to win elections. We need leaders who can speak to centrist Democrats, Independents and moderate Republicans and bring them with us. Or else, we keep losing. A clear cut fighting Democrat can do this, imo, by reaching out with the Democratic agenda to those voters instead of running away from it.

[wyldwolf]

5. some of the best Dems have been centrist/moderate (numbers for you)

From FDR (yes, Virginia, he was), Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, and Clinton.

A Gallup poll of Democratic National Committee members (in February 2005) showed that, by more than two-to-one (52%-23%) the DNC members want the party to become more moderate, rather than more liberal. That view is shared by Democrats nationally (rank and file voters); in a January survey, Gallup found that 59% of Democrats wanted the party to take a more moderate course.

[Darkhawk32]

6. Think about this..

The Repukes have gone so far to the right, that even a Centrist seems like a ultra-leftwing liberal. Anybody that seems "centrist" is probably a Republican in Dems' clothing.

[CTLawGuy]

7. I don't think the debate is about center vs. left

it is about fighter vs. wimp.

Dean is a moderate, but he is a fighter for what is right.

Tom Daschle is also a moderate, but a wimp of the highest order, putting his political career above human life.

It is the Dem party's wimpiness that has caused it to be so unsuccessful lately.