The Democratic Party is not ideological enough to deal with an

[mmonk]

ideological foe that is a my way or the highway party. That is my opinion after the last ten years. Democrats don't have a conviction strong enough. I say that as a Democrat. That may be a strength in times past but it is a definite weakness now. I cannot work within Reaganomics. I can't because it's core absolutes are false. I don't care how many people around me belong to its religion. I cannot act within nor accept a false paradigm.


How can we change this or is it even possible? Thoughts?

[boston bean]

1. I'm there with you, and I don't know if it's possible to change.

Too many are willing to accept an allegedly new status quo.

[msongs]

2. here ya go, the future of the Democratic Party once the appeasers get out of the way...

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/09/elizabeth-warren-class-warfare-video-/1?csp=34news

Elizabeth Warren knows how to counter repubs and they are already hating her for it

[polichick]

6. Thanks for that post - REAL Dems have no problem fighting...

...and know how to welcome the hatred. Good on her!

[mmonk]

7. That is why I've worked so hard in the short time she has announced

her candidacy to get people to donate to her campaign. But she can't sit there on an island by herself. We need to get her some help in government.

[kentuck]

3. Rec

and kick

[teddy51]

4. The problem I see is that Democrats in general (unlike Repugs) don' t have a killer

instinct. Not sure that I personally want one, but it is important to wining.

[MannyGoldstein]

5. Elizabeth Warren's sudden popularity marks the end of the Pretendocrats

America is finally thirsting for real Democrats, with convictions, spines, and mouths.

More Elizabeth Warrens will soon appear to meet demand. The Pretendocrats will be banished to Wall Street, the place they love best.

[banned from Kos]

10. You do realize Warren is an unabashed fan of capitalism?

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/jamessurowiecki/2009/11/video-elizabeth-warren.html

very revealing interview here - I support her 100%

[MannyGoldstein]

12. Me too.

We're just not fans of predatory capitalism.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[eridani]

9. Norman Goldman talked to Bill Richardson after one of the 2007 debates

He asked Richardson what the Democratic Party stood for. Richardson couldn't think of anything to say, and walked away.

[On the Road]

11. Are You Equating Being Ideological

with having a conviction?

[TheKentuckian]

13. Probably not but a set of convictions? I think so.

A solitary conviction isn't an ideology but several start to form one.

[mmonk]

15. Any convictions enough to scrap Reaganomics or rightwing framing.

[ThomCat]

14. When the Democratic party made the decision

to start pursuing corporate money as the be-all and end-all of every policy decision, and when lobbyists became the arbiters of every decision, at that moment, the democratic party stopped representing workers and the poor. The party started representing corporations and the wealthy.

The party made a deliberate decision to try to take the wealthy contributors away from the republicans, and become the new right wing party. The right wing of the democratic party became the core of the democratic party, and deliberately made the left the unheard fringe.

A deal was made. The republicans will shout and create the pro-corporate ideas that scare most people. They will shout until people get used to hearing those ideas, and keep shouting until those ideas stop sounding so scary everyone has heard them repeated so often. The democratic party will then quietly push through those very same ideas, and convince people that somehow it was necessary. Somehow it was a compromise.

It will be classic misdirection, Good Cop, Bad Cop, keeping people from ever realizing that both partied are working together, not against each other the way we thing they are, and not working for us the way we think they should be. They're working for a system that is there to benefit the rich, and corporations.

We only get the occasional crumbs that they feel are necessary to keep us compliant and participating in the system as willing clients and consumers. We certainly aren't getting any of our rights back though. And we aren't getting a voice in any of the decisions that are getting made. Only a fool would be naive enough to think that.

[WillyT]

16. K & R !!!

:kick:

[Selatius]

17. I really think the problem is we're dealing with an influx of right-wing Democrats into the party.

They, of course, are going to conflict with left-wingers still in the party.

So when it comes time to agree to a policy or a certain set of actions, there is no agreement.

This is the perfect recipe for a party that looks weak or waffling. It can't even come to an internal consensus on how to move forward because it's truly divided on the inside, so how can it even be expected to fight a full-scale war against the Republicans when the party is still fighting within itself?

[unkachuck]

18. "How can we change this..."

....with discipline....a heavy price should be extracted from any Democratic politician who wanders from the Democratic Partys' constituents and their core values....

....this could mean facing an organized 'primaring' from the Base.
....being considered a member 'not in good standing' and subsequently booted from the Party.
....DNC issues official Democratic Party memberships - then defends the Democratic brand aggressively in the courts keeping charlatans from using the Democratic label.
....Democratic brand users must sign a financial agreement with the DNC turning over all campaign contributions to the DNC to be allocated/re-allocated by the DNC as the Party sees fit.
....organized punishment using governmental bodies controlled by Democrats for wayward Democrats up to and including criminal investigations.

....we've got to put the fear of God in our politicians in order to distract them from all that easy corporate money....