And so it begins.
Anglachel: Hillary is Not Going to Save Us
The Democratic Party has been brought up brutally short by Obama and made to look at the deep division that splits most of its traditional base from the current leadership and a very vocal and dominant, though numerically minor, constituency, a group that mostly identifies as “Independent” (fearful of seeming too loyal to a party – how gauche!) and constantly threatens to bolt and protest vote. Their ideal candidate is someone who lauds Reagan and won’t put “Democrat” on his campaign literature. If a primary challenge is made, it needs to be done not merely against Obama, but also against this political faction within the Democratic Party. Modern New Dealers must retake the party and make it, once more, the party of FDR.
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An FDR Democrat begins each day with a single question – What will I do to make the lives of ordinary Americans better? – and ends the day by saying what he or she has accomplished towards that end.
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Give up fantasies of political perfection and the notion that any one candidate can save us from the bad guys. New Deal 2.0 is going to be a multi-year effort in party capture and rebuilding.
Joe Cannon: New Deal: A Manifesto
New Deal Democrats. If you don’t feel comfortable with that phrase, maybe you need another blog. Another party. Another nation.
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The trick, of course, will be to keep contentious factions together: The Hillary hailers, the Gore groupies, the Kucinich kids, the friends of Feingold — not to mention people like my ladyfriend, who has always had a soft spot for Carol Moseley Braun. There will be those who say that the best strategy for the new party is to go radical; others will prefer a more centrist approach.
What will unite us is this slogan: Anyone but Obama in 2012.
No. I tell a lie. It has to go deeper than that.
This isn’t about a presidency; it’s about an entire party that has taken the wrong direction.
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Have any Democrats really pushed to end outsourcing? Have any Democrats pushed for tarrifs on cheap imports? Have any Democrats proclaimed that unfettered trade is a failure? Have any Democrats called for government investment in new American factories?
How many Dems would dare to tell you that Toyota would still be a minor maker of looms if not for the massive help it received from the Japanese government?
Today, the Dems are poised to cave on tax cuts for millionaires, even though polls show that the majority of Republican voters don’t want such cuts.
Riverdaughter: Fairness, Dignity, Respect: Conducting Subversion in Public
That means showing up at public meetings and not allowing others to shout you down. That means sticking up for the working people, even if they are public servants who seem to be benefitting from your taxes. That means rewarding solidarity with your support. That means giving to others when you don’t have much yourself: feeding the poor, buying a gift for a disadvantaged child at Christmas, donating money to classrooms in need. That means helping your friends who have become unemployed through no fault of their own. That means standing up for them when the ignorant and narrow minded call them parasites after all of their years of hard work and taxes for the public good. That means never accepting the fate that others would assign to you. That means women sticking up for themselves and letting go of Roe that has created a false sense of equality and has been used by your enemies to rally the opposition to tear down your rights. That means never giving anyone consent to treat you as an inferior. That means conducting your business in public, transparently, creating your principles and values and inviting others to join you. That means imposing discipline on yourself and others to stick to the point, not be distracted by identity politics. That means insisting on equality for all because the country can use all the help it can get from everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, education level or any other criteria that separate us from one another.
Do not let them separate you from your friends. Hold hands, get together, brainstorm, meet, plan, do, solve and never, never let the bastards grind you down. Push back forcefully. You don’t have a choice. This is your country. Take it back. Insist on Fairness, Dignity, Respect. Demand a New Deal.
Joe Cannon (again): New Deal: It’s time to fight back!
What’s that? You say that you would prefer to mount a third party challenge?
Pheh. Come on — think about it: Have libertarians working within the Libertarian party ever accomplished anything? No. But libertarians working within the Republican party have accomplished astonishing things. Astonishing and horrifying.
We must mirror their tactics if we want to undo the damage they’ve done.
The best image we can present is that of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the man in the wheelchair who kicked Hitler’s ass.
Yeah. I’m liking that image. Liking it a lot!
