I am a Democrat.

[LittleClarkie]

I pay Democratic dues.

I go to Democratic conventions to be a delegate. (or I will, for the first time ever this year)

I have Democratic bumper stickers on my car.

The last donation I made was to a Democrat's Senate campaign. (and he's not even in my home state, guess who)

When I vote in 2008, it will be for a Democrat.

The party is more than it's leadership. And the only way to change that leadership if you're not happy is to remain IN the party.

If you want my membership card, you'll have to pry it out of my cold dead hands.

Erica

[snowbear]

1. Rock on Clarkie!

[LittleClarkie]

19. Thanks

I appreciate it.

[murielm99]

2. I am a Democrat, too.

I am a precinct committeeman. I knock on doors. I make phone calls. I raise money for candidates.

I am an officer in my county Democratic Central Committee. I attend conventions and meetings. I talk to candidates and elected officials. I make sure my voice is heard. I make sure the voices of the people in my precinct and my county are heard.

The party is not its leadership. It is the grassroots. When we speak up, they listen. The leadership has to listen, or we get rid of them.

We can change the leadership, but only if we are willing to step in and take those leadership positions ourselves. That takes time and energy, as I am sure you know.

Politics is not pretty. It is rough and tumble. Many people get angry and hurt because they do not always get what they want. They walk away, because it is emotionally draining and time consuming. They walk away, because the reality is gritty and often disappointing.

I like being a Democrat. Even though we lose sometimes, even though we have to get from Point A to Point B by roundabout means, we are right.

Like you, I will live and die a Democrat.

[elocs]

5. It seems like we are in the minority here where it is now popular to trash the Democrats.

It used to be Impeach! Impeach! Impeach! all the time. Now its the Democrats are cowards, they are spineless, I'm leaving, I won't support them. The Republicans must be loving this. Some of us have deep Democratic Party roots going back generations and we are not easily shaken. The Party is more than its leadership and it is more than Representatives and Senators.

[Kurovski]

25. Pity the poor Republicans. Their standard-bearer hovers at 30% approval,

the world reviles him, the economy staggers, and Republicans regularly defect from the party, and even talk about wanting Gore for president.

Sometimes it looks like disenchanted Republicans will end up supporting the Democratic party better than some "Democrats"! :D

[KaptBunnyPants]

26. Well, that is what those who control the Party wanted.

Blame the masses if you want, but responsibility lies with that faction of the Party which is dominated by corporate influence and generally approves of the Bush status quo. Blind faith in a broken party only allows these corrupt elements to hide behind a party label.

[LittleClarkie]

21. Thank you for your service and for understanding where I was coming from

And dang, I forgot to add phone banking and canvassing to my list. I've done those too. Just haven't been a ward captain or anything like that. But at least I know where my ward begins and ends. Not a ton of people can say that!

[Egnever]

3. You go clarkie!

I go to Democratic conventions to be a delegate. (or I will, for the first time ever this year)

That is outstanding!

I tried last time around but when Kerry got the nod the wind went out of me. The initial primary vote here locally stunk to high heaven. Kerry was right outside the door giving a speech and inside where the votes were cast were covered with kerry banners by the acting party leadership at the time. It was my first go round and was hard for me to swallow. This time I am a bit wiser and I will not succumb so easily.

[elocs]

4. Amen, LittleClarkie, Amen!

It's like family. You work and do your best to change things, but you don't quit on them and walk away.

[Cameron27]

6. Bravo!

I'm a Democrat with everything on your list except: "go to Democratic conventions to be a delegate. (or I will, for the first time ever this year)"

Someday I hope to add that too!

K&R

[Kiouni]

7. I am a Democrat because

there simply is no other choice. I don't like to say I vote along party lines (even though I support the majority of what Democrats stand for) but I vote for the best candidate. And the best candidate will always be a Democrat.

[Solon]

8. Blind allegiance to party makes no sense to me...

Political Parties are tools for political change, no more, no less. They don't need loyalty, they need to be USED. When one breaks, see if its reparable, if its beyond repair, replace it. I don't see what's so complicated about that, and no, I'm not sure where the Democratic party sits in my analogy, it may not be beyond repair.

[LittleClarkie]

18. If it's not that complicated

then why hasn't a viable third party cropped up yet.

Apparently it's not that simple.

I would personally say that the party is not beyond repair. And I tend to look at it from the bottom up. Local THEN national.

People need to step up and take leadership positions in the party if they want to effect change.

[Lord Helmet]

9. I voted for the first time in 2004.

And these boards bum me out more, well at least as much as what Bush is doing to this country.
Man if we don't hang together, we shall surely lose another election.

I need some hope.

[Robbien]

10. And your DC Democrats will continue supporting continuous Iraq bombing

and know you won't do anything about it except continue sending them your money and your support.

They thank you and count on you. Good doggie.

[LittleClarkie]

17. Only one of those DC Democrats is "mine"

He got my money. 50 bucks worth. And he's fighting to end the war.

Meanwhile, read my post again. As I say, the leadership is not the party.

[William769]

11. Probably the best post to grace this website in awhile.

Thank you.

K&R

[beachmom]

12. Yep. Great post, Little Clarkie

Look, not only are elected officials in Washington, state houses, and governorships Democrats, but we are too. In fact, they're nothing without us. People who say they're leaving are blowing hot air. Come 2008, with the prospect of Romney, McCain, or Guiliani in the WH, they'll be back, acting like nothing happened.

[Virginia Dare]

16. I predict they'll be doing that by Labor Day...n/t

[LittleClarkie]

22. I've never been a fan of the dramatic exit.

It just feels like the influence of those leaving will go way down, and they don't seem to know it.

[medlakeguy]

13. wish i could be a delegate

but our convention is in june so there's really no point

[LittleClarkie]

23. Ours is at the end of June

I wouldn't have found out about it except that I have breakfast with some of the county party office holders, and they brought it up to me. The benefits of keeping plugged in.

[jonnyblitz]

14. well isn't that precious. bless your heart.

I hope to one day be as fabulous as you. :thumbsup:

[Virginia Dare]

15. Thank you for your service THE PARTY...

I'm a fellow Democrat for life. I don't support everything the party does, I've been angry at them plenty of times, this isn't one of them. One of the lessons learned in politics is never raise the bar too high, and your expectations won't be dashed.

[renie408]

20. I dunno. What if the Democratic Party does what the GOP did?

And over a period of years turns into something completely different from what you currently believe? My mother is NOW a Democrat. She was a Repbulican for most of her life. But she says she cannot even recognize the Republican party any more. It didn't happen over night. But one day she looked up and noticed that her party wasn't there any more.

I have beliefs. I vote those. They are not me, but they serve me and so I vote my beliefs. Right now that means voting for a Democrat.

[murielm99]

30. I have thought about that.

I have told republicans in my area that they should think about their party. It does not stand for small government, fiscal conservatism and keeping government out of our personal lives any more. I ask them why they are still republicans, and tell them they should think about making a change. Some of them are thinking about it.

I know my parents were Democrats during the years that our party supported segregation and racial suppression. They live in the North, and they did not think about that. They supported the party that was pro-union and believed in helping the working class.

I could not have supported segregation if I had been a voter then. But our party had the sense to change things regarding civil rights. We are not perfect, but we do try to do the right thing.

The republicans have been working, ever since the New Deal was put into place, to overthrow everything that has helped the common man and woman. It is not just the New Deal, either. Give them a chance, and they will get rid of civil rights legislation, and women's rights, too.

They got a toehold when Reagan was elected, and they have been eroding Democratic gains ever since. They are organized, and they play a long game. They plan for thirty, forty, sixty years, to get what they want.

We have to be just as organized. And that means that people like LittleClarkie, and people like me, have to stay in it for the long haul. We have to be the leadership and change the leadership. We can't sit and cry, or take our ball and go home if we don't like a few things that happen. Politics does not work that way. I think some DUers really need to grow up. They need to realize that politics is not the theoretical shit they learn in political science classes. They need to realize, too, that some of those who work in the grassroots, and many of those who hold elected office are just as idealistic as the people on DU. They are doing, not talking.

I think I would leave my party if it became as corrupt as the republican party. We will certainly have corrupt individuals, and we need to boot them out as soon as they are discovered. But as long as we keep up our end, I think that is unlikely. I think we are organized differently than the republicans. We don't do lockstep. We do actually listen to the grassroots. They don't. We have a loud, contentious decision making style, not a top-down style, like they do. I think there is more hope for the country with Democrats in charge.

I am tired of crybabies. If I don't get my way at a political meeting or caucus, I can get angry. But I get over it. I don't cry and tell everyone that I am going to quit. One more nice thing about DU is that I can put crybabies on ignore. It is too bad I can't do that in real life.

[ClassWarrior]

31. This is all the more reason to do what LC's advocating.

This isn't just about voting. It's about getting involved. Making sure OUR Party continues to hold our values dear.

NGU.

[madfloridian]

35. That is what they are doing right now. Morphing.

Right now. Into a party that twice this week did things in secret and made them sound good. The trade deal and the funding bill.

[chieftain]

24. My sentiments exactly but more eloquently stated. K&R.

[ClassWarrior]

27. Amen, LC. Amen.

See you at the convention!

NGU.

[roguevalley]

28. my family has been democrats since 1796, when the party formed.

we have voted dem since that time. there are dem activists in our family. My father and mother were FDR dems and the greatest people I ever knew. Born dem. Live dem. Die dem.

[ncteechur]

29. I am a Democrat, too.

And will be one until I die. ( I thought about being funny and saying that if I win the lotto and $364,000,000 I would then become a rich republican--but I wouln't)

[madfloridian]

32. Does anyone remember when I was comdemned and called Good German

for saying I would stick with the party and work for change?

I do, very well.

I posted about my calls yesterday that showed they had no clue why we were upset with them.

Now there is a rash of posts saying we must remain on board. I never said I wasn't on board.

Just pointing out shades of hypocrisy here. The more outrageous the bills they pass the more loyal we must sound.

Just saying.

Disclaimer, I know I have no other options. But they screwed us twice last week, and posts admonishing us for questioning are ballooning here.

[LittleClarkie]

33. I hope, since it's my OP, you're not suggesting I'm hypocritical

because I know I never called you a good German.

[madfloridian]

34. You are right...you never called me that.

:shrug: