A true majority
The partisan Left, as is its wont, is collapsing into self-recrimination, accusations of disloyalty, and ideological puritanism. This even before we know for sure whether John Kerry actually won! But I am reminded of a wise saying:
I do sincerely hope that the "lets burn the cities!!" crowd gets fed up and moves to Canada if Bush wins. The problem is always your in-house extremists - they taint the message and undermine your respectability.
Right and Left mirror each other - except that Right has their own media. But if we had ours too, would we be any different? not when the inmates scream like howler monkeys about revolution when the democratic process doesn't break their way.
It's time to start approaching the problems of this country from a pragmatist, not an idealogue, perspective. It's time to wrk to build a true majority, that can genuinely reach across the aisle, not pin our hopes on ekeing out a narrow margin from an ever-vanishing pool of undecideds. While an ever-increasing pool of non-participants - esp the youth vote - get pushed farther and farther away.
We need to follow the path of Howard Dean - bring people into the process and be more inclusive. Reach out to the confederate flag pickup crowd and the NASCAR guys and build a robust majority that can win with a mandate in both the popular vote and the electoral college.
We need to end Democratism and Republicanism as our rallying points. 2004 was their last gasp. Sorry to say it, but DailyKos.com is as much a dinosaur as the DCCC it butted heads with. What did we achieve? More polarization, not unity. For all our critique of Bush for being a divider, what has our "side" done to counter? nothing. Instead we have pursued the same track.
An electoral victory that hinges on GOTV is fundamentally flawed. Bring the message, bring the policy, bring the civility - and the voters will come.
And yeah, Nader cost us this election too, if you look closely at the returns in the swing states - including Ohio. Why? Because young people really do believe there isn't a dime's worth of difference between the parties. And in one sense, they are right.
"Luminous beings are we, Luke - not this crude matter." --Yoda
I do sincerely hope that the "lets burn the cities!!" crowd gets fed up and moves to Canada if Bush wins. The problem is always your in-house extremists - they taint the message and undermine your respectability.
Right and Left mirror each other - except that Right has their own media. But if we had ours too, would we be any different? not when the inmates scream like howler monkeys about revolution when the democratic process doesn't break their way.
It's time to start approaching the problems of this country from a pragmatist, not an idealogue, perspective. It's time to wrk to build a true majority, that can genuinely reach across the aisle, not pin our hopes on ekeing out a narrow margin from an ever-vanishing pool of undecideds. While an ever-increasing pool of non-participants - esp the youth vote - get pushed farther and farther away.
While young voters split among Bush and Democrat Al Gore four years ago, 56 percent of voters aged 18-29 preferred Kerry Tuesday, according the CNN's exit polls. But even though more than 1.4 million new young voters registered to vote in this election, the youth block comprised roughly the same percentage of voters that it did four years ago, according to Associated Press exit polls.
We need to follow the path of Howard Dean - bring people into the process and be more inclusive. Reach out to the confederate flag pickup crowd and the NASCAR guys and build a robust majority that can win with a mandate in both the popular vote and the electoral college.
We need to end Democratism and Republicanism as our rallying points. 2004 was their last gasp. Sorry to say it, but DailyKos.com is as much a dinosaur as the DCCC it butted heads with. What did we achieve? More polarization, not unity. For all our critique of Bush for being a divider, what has our "side" done to counter? nothing. Instead we have pursued the same track.
An electoral victory that hinges on GOTV is fundamentally flawed. Bring the message, bring the policy, bring the civility - and the voters will come.
And yeah, Nader cost us this election too, if you look closely at the returns in the swing states - including Ohio. Why? Because young people really do believe there isn't a dime's worth of difference between the parties. And in one sense, they are right.
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