What Democrats Should Do
Democrats have to try harder than Republicans. Not that we've exactly been doing it. And Republicans have been trying pretty hard, at least leading up to and following 1994 when they took over Congress. They choose language to color our thinking (like "death tax"), they're all on the same page, and they usually raise more money. But a lot of what they do is just plain nasty, and wrong. They impeach, they recall, they redistrict when it's not legal. And much more, but I'll try to get on with my message.
My point is that the Democrats' thing is to build, to create--to devise a universal health-care system, for example--to improve human welfare, to contribute to the common good. And the Republicans' thing is, sometimes anyway, to get government out of the way so individuals can do what they want, and they have the money and the power to do this. Except that they use government for themselves when they want, like for huge weapons systems and pre-emptive invasions. In any case, it's (usually) harder to build than to destroy. And an awful lot of what they want to do is to tear down. We Democrats just have to live with this, and try harder.
The first thing Democrats must do is get our message out. Be positive. And don't be wimps. We're for universal single-payer health care, for example, not just enough for children. And we're for stopping our military aggression in Iraq now and focusing instead on supporting rebuilding infrastructure and so on. And we're for full employment. And better wages. In other words, we're interested in attacking the real issues, things people care about. Not burning the flag, defining what marriage is, prayer in public schools, and other so-called wedge issues designed to divert attention from the real issues. Ane we have to say what we're for.
Another thing is the tone of compaigning. It seems the case that dirty campaigning works. Lies often work, as the Swift Boat thing did in attacking Kerry. And stealing votes works, as with tampering with voting machines. Nonetheless, we Democrats must take the high road. In the long run it will pay off--I really believe this--to be the party that talks about the issues and favors voting machines that work and leave a paper trail, and sees that there are enough for people in all the districts, not just the rich ones. Let's make politics a good thing, not one everyone thinks is rotten. I've noticed that some of my Republican friends will say, when Democrats do something bad, yeah, that's awful, but when Republicans do something bad, they say, well, that's politics, that's why they don't want to get involved. But politics is so important that it's almost impossible to exaggerate this. It affects almost everything in our lives, large and small. We've all got to get into it and make politics better. It wouldn't hurt for Democratic candidates to point out that they're not attacking their opponents but that they will respond immediately if they are attacked.
I want to address particular questions as I go on with these political blogs. I'm thinking especially about things the Democrats, not to mention everyone else, seem to be a bit mixed up on. I hope people will bear with me. So let's get on with it for an energy plan, for jobs, for working with the rest of the world for peace, as with the PeaceJam kids meeting in Denver now with Nobel Peace Laureates.
We can make the world better. For the common good.
My point is that the Democrats' thing is to build, to create--to devise a universal health-care system, for example--to improve human welfare, to contribute to the common good. And the Republicans' thing is, sometimes anyway, to get government out of the way so individuals can do what they want, and they have the money and the power to do this. Except that they use government for themselves when they want, like for huge weapons systems and pre-emptive invasions. In any case, it's (usually) harder to build than to destroy. And an awful lot of what they want to do is to tear down. We Democrats just have to live with this, and try harder.
The first thing Democrats must do is get our message out. Be positive. And don't be wimps. We're for universal single-payer health care, for example, not just enough for children. And we're for stopping our military aggression in Iraq now and focusing instead on supporting rebuilding infrastructure and so on. And we're for full employment. And better wages. In other words, we're interested in attacking the real issues, things people care about. Not burning the flag, defining what marriage is, prayer in public schools, and other so-called wedge issues designed to divert attention from the real issues. Ane we have to say what we're for.
Another thing is the tone of compaigning. It seems the case that dirty campaigning works. Lies often work, as the Swift Boat thing did in attacking Kerry. And stealing votes works, as with tampering with voting machines. Nonetheless, we Democrats must take the high road. In the long run it will pay off--I really believe this--to be the party that talks about the issues and favors voting machines that work and leave a paper trail, and sees that there are enough for people in all the districts, not just the rich ones. Let's make politics a good thing, not one everyone thinks is rotten. I've noticed that some of my Republican friends will say, when Democrats do something bad, yeah, that's awful, but when Republicans do something bad, they say, well, that's politics, that's why they don't want to get involved. But politics is so important that it's almost impossible to exaggerate this. It affects almost everything in our lives, large and small. We've all got to get into it and make politics better. It wouldn't hurt for Democratic candidates to point out that they're not attacking their opponents but that they will respond immediately if they are attacked.
I want to address particular questions as I go on with these political blogs. I'm thinking especially about things the Democrats, not to mention everyone else, seem to be a bit mixed up on. I hope people will bear with me. So let's get on with it for an energy plan, for jobs, for working with the rest of the world for peace, as with the PeaceJam kids meeting in Denver now with Nobel Peace Laureates.
We can make the world better. For the common good.
posted by Gladys at 10:50 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home