With Bush’s approval rating below 40 percent, Democrats are hoping to pick up congressional seats in the coming midterm elections. But when it comes to offering an alternative agenda to go along with their “Bush is bad” refrain, the Democrats are having trouble agreeing on one, The Washington Post reports. Democratic leaders have repeatedly delayed the unveiling of the party’s agenda — meant to be its own version of the GOP’s 1994 Contract With America.
But columnist E.J. Dionne argues that the effect of the Contract With America on the 1994 midterms has been overblown. The shift in power was more likely driven by voters’ dislike of Bill Clinton. But Democrats, he says, have failed to show that their critiques of Bush are the rational first step toward an alternative agenda, not just irrational ranting.
He writes: “The president’s critics need to identify precisely why they oppose him, not only so they can make clear that they are not psycho basket cases but also to convey the idea that they know what needs to be put right.”
Posted by Melissa Cooley
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51 Comments
The majority of demorats are in lock step with bush on trade policy and immigration policy. Most demorats were also in favor of going to war in iraq for israel and now that it has gone sour they are stuck with it! In short, the dems’ have nothing of value to offer.
V.L.R.B!!
Sad to say, but Ian is right about democrats really being no different at all from republicans. The only ones who don’t think so are idealogue sheep.
Well the republican VP shoots an attorney. The republican whitehouse team reveals the secret identy of Valerie Plame a covert CIA agent working to keep America free of terrorists. Giving her identity to the press could be treason. Then republican Rev Fred Phelps in Topeka calls dead America soldiers fags ….. and the democrats are nuts?
Phelps a republican? I don’t think you have your facts straight.
Defeating incumbents requires two steps: 1) Fire the guy/party who currently has the job, because _______; 2) Hire me/my party because _______ (the line is where the alternative plan goes).
Bush has done his best to help democrats with the first step, but I am not seeing much yet on step 2.
I’m not sure anyone could undo the crap that GW and friends have done to us.
The DNC ala Howard Dean did lay out a “Contract with America” clone a few days ago. Here is their six point plan for a new Democratic majority’s first 100 days:
http://theflyoverzone.blogspot.com/2006/03/howard-dean-lays-out-democrats.html
The real problem for the Democrats has very little to do with Republicans. They need to learn to bury the hatchet in a location other than in each other’s back.
Until they resolve their internal mess, and family hatreds, why worry about conservatives.
http://theflyoverzone.blogspot.com/2006/03/cure-for-democrats-good-family.html
If this blog serves as any example, I can see what is meant by this. The Bush bashing is a constant..but there has been very little, if any, alternative offered. Anything positive would be a welcome change.
This is pretty postive to me–
March, 07, 2006Gallup News Service
Fourteen-point Democratic lead is among the widest since 1994
PRINCETON, NJ — The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll, conducted Feb 28 to march 1, finds the democrats holding a substantial lead over the Republicans as the party more registered voters currently support in this fall’s elections for Congress. More than half of registered voters (53%) favor the Democratic candidate for the u.S. House in their district; only 39% favor the Republican.
http://poll.gallup.com/content/?ci=21793
IN YOUR FACE, BRANDON . . .
raptor,
I have already proposed an alternative. Take a lot of Pat Buchanan and combine with a little Ralph Nader and you have the perfect recipe with which to save America!
Viva La Raza Blanco!!
In the 2006 elections the issue will be “1) Fire Todd Tiahrt who currently has the job, because _______; 2) Hire me because _______ (the line is where the alternative plan goes).
The party is secondary in an off-term election. If a good candidate emerges in the Fourth he should have a good chance. Multiply that by 435 in the House and a few dozen in the Senate …
I can’t remember the guy’s name, but he’s an attorney, was a Clinton appointee to the U.S. attorney’s office who ran against Thiahrt. He lives on the east side of college hill. I knew met him because of his fund-raising efforts to build a parent financed multipurpose room at Hyde Elementary.
I feel bad I cannot remember his name. He was the strongest democratic challenge that Todd ever faced. This dem took Wichita. But all Tiahrt had to do was wait for the vote to be returned from the rural areas of the district where they vote on only one issue. Care to guess which one?
To beat Tiahrt, a candidate would really have to slaughter him in Wichita. I don’t think that is going to happen. Would I like to see it. You bet. But not holding my breath.
This why the demorats have nothing to offer; they are the same filthy traitors as the neo-cons are!
Paul Hackett, Ohio’s very popular Democratic senatorial hopeful, has withdrawn from the race, citing pressure from New York’s senior Senator Chuck Schumer and Nevada’s Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic Leader. The pair are the same men who had talked Hackett into running in the first place. Schumer, Reid and others in the Democratic Party leadership had tapped Hackett, an Iraq War veteran, after his powerful showing in a run for Congress in a GOP stronghold on an anti-war platform in 2005. Hackett is one of over fifty military veterans recruited by the Democrats to run for the US Congress, taking advantage of public anger over Bush’s war on Iraq.
After accepting the offer, Hackett spoke out forcefully against the “Christian” Zionist leadership of the Republican Party, which sees Israel as a divine instrument whose interests are of more importance than those of America’s. This alone was bound to upset the Jewish Schumer, who has close links with various Zionist hate groups. Then Hackett spoke out about the question of illegal immigration, a taboo subject for neo-conservatives and liberals alike. As reported here at V-News, Hackett “lambasted the Bush border fiasco, saying the Republican Party “is willing to let illegals come in and take the jobs of Americans,” according to reports. While the statement immediately received condemnation from the usual suspects, Hackett is aware that his position has strong vote-catching appeal among blue collar workers, and refused to back down. “Illegal immigration is illegal. It’s that simple,” he said when questioned about whether or not he stood by his statements. Hackett also put the blame for the crisis squarely on corporate exploiters, which is sure to garner support from financially-strapped Rust Belt Whites who see their jobs go overseas thanks to globalization. He also said that he is opposed to amnesty for illegals, a capstone of Bush’s crazy immigration misleadership.”http://www.nationalvanguard.org/story.php?id=7936
Viva La Raza Blanco!!
The dem who gave Todd a run for his money was not the older defense attorney (who also lives on the east side of college hill) and was a democratic challenger after the younger guy who was at the U.S. Attorney’s office. My wife will remember and I’ll ask her tonight. Its hell when your memory starts going. Or, maybe its hell being an unmemorable democratic losing candidate.
The older guy’s name is Jim Lawing. He is a nice guy, but he did not stand a chance against Tiahrt.
Carlos Nolla.
Ask your wife to remember something else for you. (You might work a backrub in there if yer clever enough.) ;)
By the way, where’s the WE’s host server? Wales?!? Ireland? (weird time stamps!)
Now the time’s back to normal. In preview mode, the time stamps are 6 hours ahead of CST. (which happens to be Dublin time)
If one takes a look at the radical left-wing organizations associated with the democrat party, one need look no further than earth first, PETA, ANSWER, etc. The ordinary american thinks these groups as lunitic, and in some ways they are.
It is also a fact the democrat party is splintered, which makes a workable platform that much harder to implement. And they havn’t done much to discredit that notion.
What they have done is bitch about everything the republicans have done in the last six years. What they haven’t done is come up with workable solutions. They will gain seats in congress next electtion because the republicans have proven themselves incapable of leadership. But the democrats sure haven’t done anything to prove that they are.
Carlos did a better job the first time against Tiahrt than he did the second time. This year I think “Tanker Todd” is vulnerable. By the way; where ARE all those pork-barrel tanker jobs anyhow?
I want to say that the biggest problem the Dems have is that – by comparison to the only really viable alternative, the GOP – they’re neither as disciplined nor as cohesive. “One message, many messengers” seems to work very well for the GOP.
But first things first: the Dems have yet to figure out what that message should be. And lately they’ve been extremely cohesive.
The Republicans have it pretty bad these days, but all in all they seem, pretty much, to stay quiet until the mother ship figures out what should be said. They’re cohesive enough that, up until very recently, whatever the mother ship was offering was exactly what they wanted to tout.
The Democrats, otho, have even bigger problems: since 1998 or so they’ve all felt duty-bound to freely edit the mother ship’s stuff. This has not worked out well for them in hindsight. [/sarcasm]
The Dems have *real* problems.
No, it was not Carlos Nolla – this guy ran against Todd in ‘96 or ‘98.
Randy Rathbun?
Probably Randy back that far.
Rathbun, Yes! Real nice guy and he gave old Toddly a scare he won’t soon forget.
Rathbun put in a lot of time and energy into getting Hyde’s multi-purpose built. The A.A. Hyde family came back to Wichita, donated money to the project and were there at its dedication ceremony. Rathbun did this work full well knowing his kids would be out of Hyde and not directly benefiting from his efforts.
Democrats are more generous as a general rule. Too bad they seem to fall short of taking advantage of that trait. It would be fresh breath of air when compared to the “Ownership society” – “I got mine and don’t think about touching it, asshole” mentality prevelant today. It really is that “kinder-gentler” country envisioned by the first Bush, don’t ya know.
Now, maybe I will be able to leverage that back rub.
Democrats need to prove that they are not raving lunatics? Just look at the ones on this forum. That will give you an answer to that question. LOL ;)
Joe – you are a glowing example of GOP arrogance and ignorance. LOL ;)
Good one, Ben.
I was a little troubled by the “raving lunatic” designation. Being angry and passionate doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re a lunatic, does it?
I think Melissa was having a bad day and bought some labeling that came directly from Rove and company via their subsidiary: The Washington Post.
Ever notice how people like Rove (whose mother killed herself) are always the first ones to call others crazy and suggest therapy? Interesting isn’t it.
Ben, were you being mean spirited or trying to be funny. I was trying to inject humor. Notice my LOL and ;)
Kansas is probably beyond any hope. People here are just too stupid. I used to work with a bunch of guys with union…..and bush stickers on their toolboxes.
Ask anyone of ‘em. Why do you vote GOP?
Standard answer. “Democrats will take muh guns away!” Another favorite was “Well I know you talk and talk against the boss J, but I aint never been hired by a poor man”
So in Kansas it is hopeless.
I DO get tired of this question as to what ideas the Democrats have. They do have many. Deal is the GOP IS IN POWER! They control what legislation even reaches the floor much less gets a vote. The idea that Democrats have no ideas is the product of the GOP never letting those ideas get heard.
But that can be got around. The party in power is making it really easy.
The message to America should be:
Are you better off now than you were before the GOP took control of the government? And if not, are you willing to continue exploring just how bad worse can get?
For the record, the Democratic party has no affilition with or support of PETA, Earth First, or ANSWER.
The GOP however is closely allied with groups like the former Moral Majority, Christian Coalition, Pat “Kill Chavez” Robertson, and Rush Limbaugh who was given an honorary Congressional seat by former House Speaker Newt Gingerich for helping the Repukes take the House in ‘94.
If you want raving lunatics, the right-wing is a cuckoo’s nest–Ann Coulter (too bad terrorists didn’t hit the NY Times), Michelle “Mad Dog” Malkin, that Savage guy (yes, “Savage” is his real name), and gay porn-star Jeff Gannon hired to ask softball questions of the President during tough press conferences.
BTW, you reality deny-ers might want to check that poll again. Registered voters swinging hard for Democrats and away from Republicans.
Sucks to be you.
JR, PL, well said.Just keep what’s going to happen in November our little secret.Nobody around here’s going to believe us, anyway ;)
JR, good post. I’ll NEVER understand why anybody paid hourly votes republican. It reminds me of Marine boot camp when the drill instructor would smack some poor boot. The recruit would be forced to yell, “Please sir, I’ll have another!” Some people never tire of being bent over.
What you guys are describing is the “What’s the matter with Kansas?” effect – voters voting in ways inconsistent with their interests.
I don’t think the phenomenon is well understood at all. I am going to speculate about it some because this effect is interesting.
Let’s take Joe Williams as a case study. Joe, I am not downing or being critical of you. I really don’t know anything about you at all. Most of what follows is speculation.
What is not speculation is that Joe usually spouts the Republican party-line – “free markets, hard work, personal responsibility, the ownership society will set you free.”
Joe also tells us that he does not make much money in his current job. Yet, he espouses viewpoints that are more in-line with well-off entrepreneurs. How does this inconsistency come about?
Speculation begins here: I think Joe works around well-off entrepreneurs, or knows them somehow. He may be a bank clerk who sort of knows the bank president … for example.
I used to think that people like Joe (typical Kansas voter) came to identify with well-off Republicans through a process that was like the Freudian “identification with the aggressor” – how the oedipal conflict is resolved.I am convinced, now however, that the foregoing is not at all true.
How Repubs get people like Joe on their side, is by something as simple as dispensing hope. Joe, hopes and wants to believe he can be like the well-off entrepreneurs he knows. The Repubs have sold hope, seldom have paid off on any promise to anyone really – but they have been doing something that the Dems have forgotten about long ago. [What is pathetic here is that the Repubs, as I say, seldom deliver the goods - but they are still racking up those "hope sales". This farce is allowed because Dems have failed to get it - which is too bad]
So, in contrast to what you were saying J.R., I don’t think Kansans are stupid, I think Dems have been very poor salespersons. Let’s put the responsibility where it belongs – Republicans never really do that -we could show them how, if we weren’t so fucking afraid.
He who has the best populist message wins, according to Thomas Frank. When it comes to populist messages, the Dems have flat had their asses kicked by the Repubs.
Time to figure out these simple things, Dems.
I can think of many, many nasty things to say about the Democratic Party, but “lunacy” isn’t a word that readily comes to mind (well, other than in relation to their self-destructive, cowardly political game-playing).
E.J. Dionne became famous for a book called “Why Americans Hate Politics.” I think he’s been punditeering a tad too long. . . he sounds like he’s channeling the DLC.
“Lunacy” describes the current regime in Washington. Dems need to present a clear, appealing alternative, not, e.g., a “smarter, tougher” ‘me-too’. Focus on working people–not the “middle class”–that’s too elitist-sounding–but average joes. Give people something to vote for, and they might just do it!
Just heard yesterday: There are 3 Dems lining up to take on Toddly. We’ll see.
Even the democrat Clinton left a balanced budget when he left office. Now the insane republicans that run the new administration have the united states back in the INSANE TRILLIONS of dollars of DEBT! It is insane how they have sold out the future of this once great nation with a BILLION here and a BILLION there to add up to more debt than a sane person can calculate! How many times have they requested another 300 BILLION for Iraq? Even more insane is VP Cneney’s old oil company getting paid BILLIONS to repair what we blow up over there. No wonder the war goes on killing poor American kids as long as those in power profit from an insane war based on insane lie after insane lie! Americans need to impeach the insanity that destroys their once great nation!
Uncle Sam
DD, you left out the part about social issues. The voters in kansas will let their big business masters exploit them financially all day long. The only thing they ask in return is no abortion, no welfare, no gay marriage, no gambling, no worker’s comp, etc.
Thomas Frank makes the point that kansans vote against their own ECONOMIC self interests in favor of the social agenda of the religious right. That is the winning message in kansas.
In this state, good government and sound fiscal policy take a back seat to social issues.
True KFG,But Thomas Frank also points out that when it comes to abortion, at least, they never deliver. And as PL, I think, or maybe others, have said they will never overturn Roe v. Wade for fear of losing that wedge issue.
The no gay marriage thing they did deliver on – but that was only because Wright/Fox forced them into it.
True, welfare has been reined in also. I did not think there was a grass roots opposition to worker’s comp, though.
I’ll never forget George Will’s review of Frank’s book – his argument was that it was okay for the Kansas rubes to be peasants, because at least they had good conservative morals. I wanted to write him and ask when he planned to move out here.
DD, lots of opposition to worker’s comp out here. Same issue as entreprenuer envy. They think workers comp just goes to the damn union people and other welfare scum who sue the system. Anti-trial lawyer stuff, except they are not sophisticated enough to know what tort reform really means. They just read the talking points.
Of course conservatives dont deliver on the social issues unless its easy, and civil rights for gays was a no-brainer.
Hell, everyone, fundamentalists, catholics, bushies, black churches, concerned women of america (lol), employers, most republicans and many democrats can all agree on at least one thing.
THEY HATE QUEERS! Of course they would never admit it, but just look at the results. Anytime they need a dog to kick, we are close at hand.
Of course we all know a dog that gets kicked is a dog likely to bite. I’m filing my teeth right now :)
KFG,
I wish what you are saying was not true. But, I am afraid it is.
For what little it is worth, you can have dinner in my house any time you like. And, I am planning on being around for awhile.
Peace to you my friend,DD
I’ll second that.
I’ll third that.;)
Thank you all!! Being invited to break bread in someone’s home is not an honor I take lightly.
I hate sounding so whiney about the gay thing. It hurts my pride terribly to admit to being wounded. But if we dont speak up and tell the truth…I guess you see what happens.
I cant stop the kicking from happening but I can take the blows and, like, judo, turn it on the perpetrators. I can shine the light of truth on hate. I hope to at least make the bigots squirm a little. The thinking ones anyway!
I dont imagine bonbon huy or kay o’connor worry about me too much…lololololol.
One more thing…
I said this on another thread, but it could be repeated here.
What difference does it make which party gay people choose if the parties hate us equally?
KFG,
Though most people don’t know the truth, gay people are better employees. Let me explain.
1)gay people are smarter, usually;and2) they don’t have, as often any way, family problems to contend with – which leads to time off.
Businesses would be better off hiring gay folk. We straights had better hope those HR pukes don’t figure that out.
Farmgirrl,
I got my difficulties with the Democrats too. I hold my nose every time I vote.
But little voice is better than no voice at all.
I’d expound on what DD said.
Gay people know and understand baseless persecution. They know the deck aint stacked fair. And they can prove it.
That makes you valuable Farmgirrl.
The right will see such as me as malcontent; equally treated but failed by my own deficiencies which are of course in their view my fault.
You are not so restricted. YOu got a legitimate beef. You are placed outside of the game. I know it does not seem so, but in that you are lucky. You can argue discrimination. I just gotta admit to not playing by the rules…….and suffering accordingly.
No Republican is for you Ksfarrm. And though the Dems may seem to fail you, remember that in Ks we are the minority too.
I know you are right JR, but I cant go back to my abuser:)
I was a democrat for over 30 years and it breaks my heart to leave the party. I wrangle with this daily. Duty vs honor.
Believe it or not, there have been some prominent republican state legislators who have offered to support me if I switch sides, so to speak :)
I cant bring myself to do that either, as I expect I would just be used and then tossed on the heap when my usefullness was over. Kinda like the dems, lol.
Plus, my dad would come back from the grave to whip my butt! I am thinking nuevo california, or maybe
(cue music please) Oh Canada…
Attending ANY political meeting in rural kansas reminds me of the John Prine song “Grandpa was a Carpenter” when he went to church with his grandma.
He noticed “stained glass in every window, hearing aids in every pew.”
Original Article at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_katherin_060302_the_liberal_agenda_3a_.htm
——————————————————————————–March 2, 2006
The Liberal Agenda: Good Neighbors
By Katherine Brengle
The right-wing says that there is a Liberal Agenda. This agenda is chock full of evil. Liberals want to make Christianity illegal, kill babies, abolish the military, and advance the other agenda–the oft-cited “homosexual agenda”–onto our nation’s innocent and impressionable children.
The left usually responds by saying, “There is no liberal agenda,” and calling it quits.
But guess what campers–there is a liberal agenda. Oh yes, there really, really is.
The great liberal agenda, the object of the Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy, is to make life better for every individual in this country.
The Liberal Agenda is based on a truly simple concept, one that every American can understand with no interpretation whatsoever.
We’re good neighbors.
Very simply, we want the best not only for ourselves, but for everyone around us. We want this because we believe that every person deserves a life in which they can be healthy, free, and happy. (Those three should ring a bell–life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, anyone?)
We believe that people are healthiest when they have access to quality, affordable healthcare, food and an environment free of toxins, and access to educational resources regarding health-related issues. We believe that people are free when they have a voice in their government, when that government is transparent, when voting rights are upheld and cherished, and when our national security is strong and discerning. We believe that people are happiest when they are economically stable, able to spend time with their families, and able to express themselves freely.
What makes us good neighbors is that we do not just want these things for ourselves, or for our friends and family. We want them for everyone. We want them for the people in the next house, the people down the street, and people 2,000 miles away. We want them for George W. Bush, and we want them for Dick Cheney, and we want them for you.
The conservative agenda aims to take these things away from Americans. Conservatives aren’t good neighbors. They have demonstrated this again and again, and we are complicit to a degree because we have allowed them to do this to you. We are sorry, and we see the cost of this mistake, and we want to do better. We can do better, because we’re good neighbors.
A good neighbor is there with candles and a hurricane lamp when your power goes out. A good neighbor helps you jump-start your car when you accidentally leave the headlights on. A good neighbor is there to watch your kids when you have to run out for a gallon of milk, or to an emergency. A good neighbor shares tools, and cups of sugar, and jokes over the fence. A good neighbor will pick up your mail every day while you are on vacation and help you install your air conditioner when you aren’t.
In government, liberals can deliver as good neighbors. We can keep your taxes low so you hold on to more of your money and simultaneously cut the national deficit so your kids don’t inherit our debt. We can make sure you, and everyone you know, have access to healthcare so if you get sick, you won’t be left hanging. We can make sure you have a job, and that if you lose your job you won’t get left out in the cold. We can make sure that you are able to retire you are still young enough to enjoy your golden years. We want you and your kids to get the best possible education–hell, you’re paying for it, you deserve it. We just want your quality of life to be the absolute best it can be, because we care about your well-being.
We want all of this, and we will do all of this, because we’re good neighbors.
Authors Bio: Katherine Brengle is a freelance writer and activist. She is also a member of Military Families Speak Out, and her husband currently serves with the United States Marine Corps in Iraq. Katherine recently joined the staff of the American Liberalism Project where her column appears on Tuesdays.—–
Excellent post Tell!