Gary Hart - The courage of our convictions - a manifesto for democrats

[Mass]

I am reading this book right now. I know it is a little bit late and that many of you have probably already read it, but I really find this book very comforting, because it is stating many of the things I have been thinking for the last few years.

A few chosen excerpts that caught my attention:

In an age of ego, celebrity, and personality, there is an overpowering search for a leader on a white hores, an exciting new candidate who will lead the Democratic Party out of the wilderness. This search has become a subtitute for tought, for purpose, for conviction. Twenty-first-century Democrats cling to the hope of a messiah in the vacant centrist venue where messiahs never appear.

Instead, the Democratic Party must decide what its core principles are and then, and only then, decide which national leader or leaders best embody those principles. No politician can save a political party that does not know what it stands for"

And what for Hart should be the Democratic manifesto

We, the Democratic Party, believe in:
-A national community based on social justice and equality for all;
-Restoring popular sovereignty and civic duty in the American republic;
-New international alliances to respond to the challenges of our time"

So refreshing after 12 years of clintonism.

[karynnj]

1. The first extract is so on target.

I wonder if it's fair to couple that with his introduction to Kerry on September 9th where he gave Kerry a huge amount of praise. (It used to be on Johnkerry.com - but I can't find it now after it was redesigned. (It is so much nicer and cooler now)

[ProSense]

2. That's pretty cool and on target! Thanks! n/t

[_dynamicdems]

3. Gary Hart doing a book signing for this in Cambridge, MA.

Former U.S. senator and presidential candidate GARY HART represented Colorado in the U.S. Senate from 1975 to 1987. He is the author of fifteen books, including The Shield and The Cloak and Restoration of the Republic. A lifelong Democratic reformer, he is currently a professor at the University of Colorado, a distinguished fellow at the New America Foundation, and chairman of the American Security Project.

Harvard Coop
ALL EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
1400 Massachusetts Avenue
Harvard Square, Cambridge
617-499-2000 www.thecoop.com

Gary Hart
Wednesday, October 18th at 5:30p.m.

Discussing and Signing:
The Courage of Our Convictions: A Manifesto for Democrats

[sandnsea]

4. Relate that to the local townhall

and then we have a maniesto. We are still missing that very simple picture of how Democratic policies equal ingenuity, responsibility, high morals, and freedom. I like a more international view of America, but too many work-a-day people just don't. Somebody has got to connect it up for them. And we cannot keep criticizing outsourcing and insourcing when the truth is, we've got no solution to it. Not to mention, the only new jobs in the US have been in health care. The number one value of our party ought to be to tell people the unvarnished truth.

[karynnj]

5. I agree with you - and Kerry is the one with the biography to do it

All his Faneuil Hall speeches, the Pepperdine one and his other comments make it look like this is where he is. I agree on the economy, you need to avoid simplistic answers for real thought on what to do. I really think that is becoming Kerry's platform.

If this is where people are in 2008, the Clintons cannot lead a moral challange - it is NOT believable. A trial lawyer who exploited emotion and became a multimillionaire is trumped by a pricipled prosecutor who spent his life in public service.

[Mass]

6. I got tired of the whining on GD and GDP and posted the first part

with a challenge for people to tell us why the candidate they support is the best for the issues they care.

Not expecting a lot of answers, though.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2886555