Here we are back at the core issue......Democrats weary of being all too democratic, weary of being taken off some corporations payroll, weary of being labelled leftists or even worse......... communists.

"Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!"

Democrats are still thinking "there's no place like home, there's no place like home". They're clicking their heals together and hoping things will get better without having to put someone like Dean in charge for fear of repercussions. The Democratic(?) party needs a strong hand at the reins but at the same time, they are afraid he could lead them further astray from corporate protections and support. That's how bad it is with the good ole USA. We the people don't have control, we don't really have a say in the game. Big Business does.....and how. Dean is the man for the plan. The plan is to put the party and democracy back on the map. Without Dean at the helm, the ship will only seemingly change course, the destination will remain unchanged. But we've heard all this before, haven't we ? So what are we fighting for ? How far are we willing to go to bring democracy "back" to the USA ? No Dean no green sounds great but the party isn't interested in our money, they want and need the big money.

CORPORATIONS HAVE TOO MUCH CONTROL

I have no differences with Jay Hawk's comments.
Americans get exactly what we're paying for in our politicians.
Since we aren't paying and corporations are, they are getting what they want. Until we Americans are directly paying for campaigns we pay FAR, FAR MORE indirectly through corporation favorism. We need complete puiblic financing.

BTW Does anyone know anything about Dean's remaining competition (Donnie Fowler)? Heard him this morning and from what little I heard I thought he and Dean would be a dynamic duo

Yes.

But, we have the ability to affect this:

We should focus on resolving the election day problems, the partisanship of election officials, and non-partisan re-districting commissions. - At least that will stir up the entrenched and will give us confidence that the person who receives the most votes wins the election (or a state's electoral votes).

We should work on election ethics, contribution limits, and campaigns at the LOCAL level. We can implement regulations for city and county elections. Over time, these things will percolate up to state and then national elections.

We should work to get our message out by puncturing the Republican propaganda bubble. To this end, we need more balanced / left media. We need to frame issues better. We need to raise Hell with the Republicans and make them go completely berserk. And, we should work on humor. There's nothing that will puncture the Republican propaganda bubble than some really good ridicule. We should mercilessly ridicule the Republicans so that no one can take them seriously.

Forget eliminating the electoral college or publicly financed federal elections - but only now.

We have to focus on those things that we can actually accomplish and let the rest go until we've cleaned up some things.

Public financing isn't going to happen quickly. An alternative is to funnel all money (individual and PAC) through the parties and keep the donor list confidential to all but a non-partisan campaign ethics office. For primaries, fund all candidates who can turn out at least 15% to a state or district convention held at the start of campaign season.

This is probably illegal under McCain-Fiengold, but may not be if contribution limits are intact and it is clear that it is not party money but general campaign money that is simply being distributed. It may even be possible to do this without changing the law. If a Party ran a campaign this way it would probably get less graft, but it might get the voters.

There's not the political will to do federal campaign finance reform until some of the other stuff I was talking about are done.

Sadly, we have an abundance of riches at the moment: There are far more things that need to be done than the time to do them.

We need to focus on the low hanging fruit: Things more easily done for which popular support can be achieved and which move us in the right direction. At the moment, we need some victories.

You guys are forgetting something....actually two somethings....

First, Kerry got MILLIONS of dollars from campaign contributions from average Americans coast to coast, a huge chunk of which was never touched, even though it was needed and should have been used. Yes, we do have financial clout, specifically because there are limits on the donations that can be received from businesses, even if they do wiggle and squirm around those limitations.

Second, there is no way in hell they could ever afford to pay for the services little 'd' folks volunteer to do during campaigns and other drives. I'm not talking about the big names like Kerry, I'm talking about the huge number of rank and file dem politicians who need our volunteer labor to campaign effectively.

WE are the the ones on the phone banks making the phone calls, WE are the ones organizing campaigns in neighborhoods and towns and counties across this nation, WE are the ones going door to door and mall to mall to get people registered to vote, WE are the ones who do a huge ton of work for the Dem party, and we do it for free.

If every one of us would withhold not only our money, but our free labor, and make sure they know why we're doing it, the impact would definitely be felt. And if they wouldn't listen, then those who have found and built that unity among ourselves could then move in a new direction if needed.

But it won't happen unless people let go of their belief that the dem party can save us. It's gone beyond that. There are far too many dems in office who consistently vote with the GOP, who make grand promises in public then go directly opposite those promises behind closed doors, and too many of them are more concerned about corporate perks than the rights of the American people.

If we would expose every single instance of a dem leader betraying what this party is supposed to stand for, hold them accountable, and withdraw all support until they started fighting for us, I truly believe things would change in this party. Little change can be successfully fought for until we have people in Congress who actually fight for us, instead of voting with the GOP.

I just don't know if enough people understand the big picture and are willing to take the strong stand that is needed.

Just my opinion. ;)

You're abosultely right Lindy. And Geoff is right about our needing to go for the low hanging apples, work at the basis, in the communities. I just feal a little useless and left out but then again, I'm new to the picture. My playing field for the past two decades has been Europe. Prior to that I was just another victim of the Corporate driven War Machine. We could begin by supporting the real democrats, Boxer for example. Kennedy when he has a good moment. Dean....my man.

Let's not wait for Lefty. Lefty's not coming.

STRIKE ! A word I don't like to use. A heavy word. So said Berthold Brecht. But when we need to shout it out and carry it out.....to the streets....STRIKE !

Catch your breath!

Did you hear what Senator Reid and Rep. Pelosi said in the Democratic response to the Chicken Hawk's State of the Union lies?

While not perfect, they certainly hit a lot of the correct notes.

And, it looks like Howard Dean is going to be the next DNC Chair.

So, there are some positive signs that the Democratic Party is finally getting it.

Rather then threaten and attack, we should support the Democrats when they do well and encourage them to do better.

Instead of tearing down the ones that ain't gettin it, build up the one's that are doing the job.

Donate money to Democratic elected officials that represent your values and are willing to fight for them.

For the moment, it is probably better to ignore the ones who are not with the program or encourage them to do better. Don't donate money to them until you see them doing better.

If we really want to have an impact, we should have the ability to get one million people to send Senator Boxe a check for $5.00 paper clipped to a thank you note.

What do you think would happen if every time a congressional Democrat took a strong step in our direction, he or she received a couple hundred thousand thank you notes each with $5.00 attached?

Geoff

For me, the fact that overall so little outcry was raised over Gonzales being put in charge is a huge black mark against our dems.

So, too, the abject failure of our dem leaders to fight, hard, to protect our votes, or fight against this war based on lies, instead of making excuses for supporting it, or expose the cronyism of this administration, or protect our environment, or protect our rights.

I've seen far too much political grandstanding going on, watched them on CSPAN as they make grandiose speeches opposing some GOP bill, then turn around and vote in favor of that bill.

It's wrong, and as long as we enable them to keep doing business as usual, they will.

I agree that we should show our support as you suggested, by individually thanking those and supporting those who do take the right stand and vote against the BS the GOP and neocons are ramming down our throats. But as long as we accept piecemeal handouts while the party as a whole sells us out wholesale, that's what we're going to get, piecemeal pablum to keep little 'd' dems in line that do nothing in effect to stop the insanity of the neocon agenda.

Sooner or later, we've got to face the hard fact that the same corporations that fund the GOP are also on various boards of the dem party, including the DLC Board of Trustees, and as long as they have such exclusive access and CONTROL over the dem party, our voices and our rights and our needs will continue to be drowned out by their corporate muscle.

It must be eliminated. Period. And we must fight to make our dem leaders do the right thing, not just occasionally, but consistently.

I want to see Dean begin the process of removing corporate control over the dem party, and represent us in standing against the Iraq War. I also want to see him take the lead in protecting our votes and pushing the dem party into presenting a real alternative to the GOP. Unless those things are done, nothing will change, the dem party will still be morphed into an even more GOP lite agenda, with the corporations still calling the shots behind the scenes, and we the people will be the losers in the end.

Until I see that happen, until I see the dem party remember who they are supposed to represent, instead of selling us out and catering to the GOP funding corporations, I will not blindly support the dem party. Individuals, yes indeed. The whole dem party, no way. I will not endorse my own disenfranchisement.

There comes a time when taking a stand for the right thing has to be done, no matter how unpopular it might be or how much flaming you get. For me, that time is now. I love the dem party platform, truly believe in the 'we the people' principles it is supposed to stand for, but I no longer see the dem party honoring us or representing us or doing the right thing. It breaks my heart to have to say these things, and I struggled long and hard with it, but in the end, I must hold true to my own convictions.

I say again as I've said before, there is no party unity when the leaders of that party no longer represent the membership. We are not being represented, we are being sold out. The only way I can see to hammer home that we won't stand for it any longer is to demand accountability for their actions, withdraw support for the party at large until they straighten up, giving support only to those who truly represent us and are really trying to make a difference.

It's up to us, the little 'd' democrats, to either take back the dem party from the corporate sellouts or forge a new alliance among ourselves, holding true to the principles we believe in that continue to be betrayed by our dem leaders. No other party truly embodies in principles and platform what little 'd' democrats believe in, so those are the two choices open to us...either force the leadership to honor our will and reclaim it from corporate control and hold them accountable, or forge a new dem party, one way or another.

If not us, then who? If not now, then when? Time is truly running out. We cannot go on as we have, doing the same thing expecting different results. I don't expect perfection, but I demand legitimate representation for human beings, not corporations, and I refuse to blind myself to how I and millions, MILLIONS, of Americans have been betrayed.

I'm justifiably angry, I've had enough of being lied to and manipulated, and I will not march lockstep in support of the people leading this party that have completely lost touch with those they claim to represent. It's time they were all held accountable, publicly, and time we have the transparent government we are entitled to under our Constitution. No more closed doors deals, no more political grandstanding, no more corporate control.

The extreme right wing neocon element took over the GOP not by funding the GOP directly, but by systematically installing and supporting individuals from the bottom up, until they were able to have enough of a support base to steamroll over any opposition. By methodically rising up in the ranks, cutting deals with corporations, and building support among radical fundamentalists by catering to them, they have effectively taken over running the country.

We need to learn from our mistakes and from the past, and use their own tactics against them, if we are to have any hope of having a dem party that represents us and a country that is truly founded on democratic principles. From the bottom up, we must start now to build our own dem party, even from within what now exists, not by giving support to the leaders that have gone astray, but by throwing our support behind those who truly represent us, and by refusing to compromise one inch on that commitment.

I will support Dean if he holds true to his promises, but I will not support any dem in any position of leadership unless he/she proves by their actions that they are fighting for us and not selling us out. And I will not hold back from giving Dean hell if he, too, betrays us.

Accountability should be the new standard to which every politician is held, no exceptions. It may be unpopular in our time for people to be held accountable, but until they are held accountable, they will go right on screwing us over while demanding that we not rock the boat and toe the party line they set for us, even when that line is not in our interests and does nothing to protect us or our rights.

just my opinion. ;)

Okay, there is some indication of a movement in DC. The little finger on the left hand is twitching, a shake and tremor in the torso here and there. A bullet to the head to end the misery ? Hardly. We have nothing better to go on except RN or the Green and you guys aren't too hip on them for legitimate reasons. Can the patient be revived ? Only if we administer some strong voltage. What may this voltage be comprised of ? Blogs have made an impact and are now on the map but Blog entries are not clearly visible to the general public. Newspapers are, Billboards are, TV Ads are. A well organized "critical mass", formerly known as a "Demonstration" is only visible to those nearby, blocked from coverage by the bought-out Media. I see the country heading for worse times. It's gotta get really really bad before it changes for the good. This is gonna take a good while, so in the meantime, I'm outa here. Got some local work to do.

Okay, there is some indication of a movement in DC. The little finger on the left hand is twitching, a shake and tremor in the torso here and there. A bullet to the head to end the misery ? Hardly. We have nothing better to go on except RN or the Green and you guys aren't too hip on them for legitimate reasons. Can the patient be revived ? Only if we administer some strong voltage. What may this voltage be comprised of ? Blogs have made an impact and are now on the map but Blog entries are not clearly visible to the general public. Newspapers are, Billboards are, TV Ads are. A well organized "critical mass", formerly known as a "Demonstration" is only visible to those nearby, blocked from coverage by the bought-out Media. I see the country heading for worse times. It's gotta get really really bad before it changes for the good. This is gonna take a good while, so in the meantime, I'm outa here. Got some local work to do.