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November 17, 2004
Where's Red America?, CIA Shakeup, DNC Chair
59 Million Inbred Redneck Idiot Jesusfreaks. Yet, I don't personally know 1. I can only think of 10 people who I know definitely voted for George W Bush this year, and not one of them was a "values" voter. 4 are very wealthy and their economic interests have always been represented by the Republican Party. 2 are Security Voters who disagree with George W Bush on Domestic policy, but feel he can better protect us (a whole other argument). The last 4 are Orthodox Jews who listened to the noise machine and bought the "Bush is good for Israel" bullshit. Only one of the people listed even approaches the social side of the "Values" vote, and he's moderate compared to the Bush line (Even though he did threaten to vote for Ollie North in the Senate race a few years back).
So where are all these "Values Voters" who hate Hollywood and got all worked up over Janet Jackson's boobs? How is it possible that I've never met one of these people in my life? Yet they obviously exist - there are 59 Million of them. My point is not that these people don't exist, my point is the huge difference between Urban and Rural America. How did we get to the point where Flag Burning became more important than Health Insurance?
Thomas Frank in What's the Matter with Kansas? points out that the Republican agenda seems to be to undone every workplace advance from the 20th Century, and the only way they can do that is by gaining power. And how did they gain power? By convincing poor people Jesus was more important than food. It's the same reason that the education system never gets funded under Republicans - the Republicans benefit if the people are stupid. And those who voted for George Bush despite having no job, no healthcare, and draft-age children are just that - stupid. And for the rest of the Red Staters who are otherwise reasonable people, but voted for Bush out of some fear of a terrorist attack - stop. The terrorists only attack Blue States! Why? Because that's where the wealth is, and that's where the targets are. The terrorists aren't coming to North Keiakuk, Iowa - no matter how much Dubya says they are. Stop putting those in the crossfire further at risk. This administrations diplomatic, military, and intelligence failures make New York/DC/Boston even more targetted than before. More dangerous, not less.
Recently Partisan-Hack Porter Goss has been firing career staff who's expert opnions don't line up with Goss' world view. This is despicable. They are playing politics with the security of our country - just to prevent "embarassment" for the administration. If the administration didn't go to war without evidence, there'd be no embarassment.
Howard Dean for DNC Chair. We need some new blood in there. Someone who's not going to be afraid to go after the Repubs, and order the party to not rollover in the name of some bullshit Bi-Partisan myth. Bi-Partisanship does not mean let the other guy have what he wants without a fight. It means attempt to compromise. But as far as I can tell, that message hasn't gotten through to the current party leadership.
Posted by MikeSager at November 17, 2004 12:29 PM
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MEMO
TO: DNC MEMBERS
FROM: A REFORM DEMOCRAT
RE: MODERNIZING THE DNC
Over the next two months, you will be bombarded with suggestions on how you should vote when it comes time to decide the direction of the Democratic Party. As you consider who should lead our Party, please keep in mind the following observations:
Evaluating 2004
The Democratic Party did not "come close" to winning in 2004. This is a zero-sum game and we need to measure our position against that of the GOP. Democrats would have needed a 10 point across the board increase in support to have done as well as Republicans. True, Kerry came close to scraping together an electoral vote win, but Democrats did poorly and Kerry lost. We lost. We are in worse position than we were before the election. As Mayor Gavin Newsom is fond of saying, "Do what you've done and you'll get what you've got."
Choosing a new DNC Chair
When choosing a new leader for our Party, please make your choice based on your own decision of who will take the steps necessary to modernize the Party. We must have a full-time leader with the vision necessary to restructure our organization. We can't let our Party serve as a golden parachute for those who lost in 2004 -- we need the DNC staffed by the best and the brightest not the oldest and best connected. Our next Chair needs 100% dedication to the effort and must put the Party before any other concern. Recently there has been talk of a candidate running to protect his home state's antiquated primary tradition -- we can't afford to elect somebody with a conflict of interest and ulterior motives. We need reform.
Accountability
Only by deciding our goals and quantifying our methods can we determine what is working and what isn't. We need to hold programs and people accountable. We lost and we can't be afraid to fire losers. The campaigns of tomorrow are far different from the campaigns of a decade ago -- we need to evaluate individuals by their value in a modern campaign. The railroads didn't hire the fastest Pony Express riders; they hired people who made good railroad engineers. Campaigns have gone through a similar sea change and our Party's future depends upon intelligent reaction to the new rules of politics.
Reform
We are reforming our local central committees but we need your vote to reform the Democratic National Committee. We are waiting for systematic reform, but the Party needs the grassroots more than we need the Party. We want to win and we will support the best vehicles for victory. We would like to continue our support for the DNC, but we're also members of Democracy for America and Moveon and the New Democrat Network. If the Party won't stand up for us, we know they will. We know they were built as modern organizations and a far more efficient than the Democrat Party. DNC members need to elect a new Chair who can compete with DfA, Moveon, and NDN or the party will be relegated to only hosting the convention. We are Democrats and we don't want the most moderate or least controversial Chair, we want a leader. So lead us or we will follow the visionaries at the reform organizations.
For more information, read I am a Reform Democrat on Daily Kos, the NDN Blog, Blog for America, Change for America or Democrat Blog Swarm.
If you have additional ideas on modernizing and reform the Democratic National Committee, please email me at bob.brigham [at] gmail.com. I am a Reform Democrat.
Posted by: Bob Brigham at November 21, 2004 6:02 PM
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