Nation-Building >> I have a dream | return to front page

Frequent (conservative) commentator Joe remarked below:

It's insane that Dean, who really embodied not only change, but honesty and conviction, can't get elected because people won't vote for something different.
It's sad.

thats really the crux. What choices are there? The polarization of the public "debate" is akin to screaming howler monkeys throwing crap at each other. Dean oferred a third Way where unity was paramount - a new American majority, not just liberal or conservative (labels whose obsolescence is long overdue). Yet with his moving off to obscurity, the same trends arise - we have lefties here adamantly opposed to supporting ANY Republican, and the occassional righty like Joe who expliciitly stated that he cannot even grant a modicum of respect to the motives of the liberals. What unity? Why shouldn't people just vote status quo in such an atmossphere?

I want to see a "Dean Nation" where left and right can contribute to a real debate and actually have real respect. But I dont see it anywhere. Since I'm libveral, outreach means going to the Right - but I routinely find that there's no hand outstretched to greet me in return. I have opened myself to conservative ideas and they have profoundly affected my positions - I do not toe the liberal line by any means. But even the most "reasonable" conservative such as Tacitus or Drezner or others still persist in rote demonization of the "Left" and still subscribe to the conservative polemics that are obstructing real progress.

The Right continually makes moral judgements against those who disagree - and the Left continually makes ideological purity their litmus test. Both are damaging and frankly I see no room for moderates left.

I had a dream that after the Dean campaign ended I could create a place where such considerations could thrive. One look at the Zonkboard suggests it is hopeless however, full of liberal frustration and bile as it is with the outnumbered token conservatives happy to respond in kind. But Dean Nation CAN exist - and I am ready to create it if it needs a different medium. But what? Scoop? Forum? Blog? Mailing list? I don't know. And unless I can find a reason for this blog to exist, or at least entice my fellow teammates to contribute, I don't know if it even should.

UPDATE: I haven't decided what to do yet, but a lot of that decision will hinge on what you, my community, thinks. Here's a quick poll to gauge how attached we are to these blogspot digs and what fraction of us are willing to embrace the hassle of going somewhere else.