Dean Caves
I guess the Democratic Party heads have decided to go ahead and create policy without wating for us to finish our debates about the right course of action. Here are some quotes from an article where our beloved radical, Howard Dean, and others, don't talk about Iraq at a DNC meeting, but instead say that: Democrats will appeal to voters as the party that will provide universal health insurance, build “national defense based on international cooperation,” and buttress parents’ moral authority." “We’re going to make it easier for parents to teach their kids right from wrong,” Dean said. Other risky stances the Dems want to take are: “Can we find common ground with faith-based voters around the issue of violence in the media?” "...create a task force on “violence and sexual immorality which has permeated our entertainment industry.”
Be careful what you ask for.....
posted by Dumplingeater @ 6/13/2005
7 comments
7 Comments:
I don't have a problem with anything in that article. How does a person or group get to the point of being able to influence the DNC?
Alternately, doing something about motivating the base, or better yet, enlarging the base by connecting with "disaffected" voters would get the DNC's attention -- particularly if they feel that you're motivitating them with an eye towards seeking out new paths. Need I mention Neighborhood Networks at this point?
Meta, campaign finance reform seems to have no hope as an issue. Don't you think Dean's focus on smaller, individual donors is at least a good start?
I hear you. What about a two-pronged strategy of both organizing people and raising money?
I have a lot of questions and doubts about the Dumpling strategy. What does it mean to organize disaffected voters really? First, who are the disaffected? I really believe there are disaffected people from all classes, not just the poor. And for the poor, do you think these people are all going to be liberal democrat when you lay out "the truth"? I don't think so. So what does organizing mean? Herding them up and telling them how to vote? That's why I like the IAF way of organizing.
What are some of the options for getting campaign finance reform (which is really a euphemism for corruption) done? Law suits? Transparency? Letters and phone calls? Electing "progressives" and holding them accountable?
Whoa.
"What does it mean to organize disaffected voters, really?"
On Sunday, I went to the Odunde festival to hand out flyers for NN. It was amazing he high percentage of folks I talked to that were interested in taking time out from partaking in the festivities to talk to me about the minimum wage and the goals of NN. People are interested in having their government more accountable and less corrupt. They don't need convincing to believe that their interests are not being represented by their current governmental structures. However, rightly so, they have no confidence that the current governmental structure will EVER represent their interests. The folks I talked to were very interested in, at least hearing about, alternative means to apply pressure.
"Who are the diasffected" Yes, there are disaffected people from all classes. We are among the folks who are disaffected voters from the middle/upper middle class. And we already vote "liberal democrat" for the most part.
I don't think that "all these people are going to be liberal democrat," and I don't particularly care. On the other hand, I think that many, if not most of those people who are poor don't vote, and many, if not most of them do care about issues such as the minumum wage, tax breaks for the rich, social security, medicare, etc., etc. BUT MANY, IF NOT MOST OF THEM, CURRENTLY DON'T VOTE. And many of them that do vote, vote for fat cat legislators that are dismantling the policies that do benefit them (read What's the Matter with Kansas)
I don't get where you got that I think that organizing means "herding them up and telling them how to vote." Vic, that's totally absurd. I like the IAF way of organizing, and I've been lobbying NN to look at that model. But I think the regadless of your organizing model, way of reaching people IS to get out into their neighborhoods and begin talking to them about the issues and trying to convince them that there is hope if people start exerting pressure on politicians to actually represent their interests, or they will find others who do.
Ok, you got me! That's interesting about Odunde. If you have time can you post about it? What did you say to people, what did they say to you? What else happened? How many NN people were there? Did you sign people up for NN or something? What was the feel?
By the way, Meta. I agree with you about campaign finance reform, and am frustrated that the Dems don't seem to be taking election reform in general as seriously as I would like. Are there issues that are more imporantant than that? I don't think so. But until we elect people who are more interested in the issues (and sadly, prehaps finding compromise positions on the issues) than staying in office and cozying up to lobbyists, that isn't going to change.
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