Howard Dean isn't waiting until Wednesday. He wants Democrats to be Democrats - NOW. It's hard to argue with what he writes today.
LINK - Democrats need to learn by our previous mistakes - we have tried being "Republican-lite" and it does not work. It is a mistake to run away from the things we believe and I think we can win in the so-called Republican states by being real Democrats.Nice slap at the DLC there. And you know how I feel about the DLC.
We have to realize that there are no red states and no blue states, just American states. I believe the country is still more in sync with Democratic values than Republican values. Our task is to remind ourselves and the American people of the hallmark issues that distinguish Democrats from Republicans.
For example, Democrats historically tackle economic issues with bold, common-sense policies. Our last Democratic president created 22 million new jobs in this country. In the last four years, George W. Bush oversaw the loss of over 1.5 million. Democrats balance budgets, Republicans do not. Democrats consistently try to pass legislation that would provide some kind of affordable health care, Republicans do not. Democrats believe we ought to raise the minimum wage to help the average worker keep up with the cost of living, Republicans do not. Democrats believe corporations have too much power over our daily lives; Republicans do not - and to prove it, they have given away billions of dollars of our tax money to the biggest corporations in the world over the last four years.
On each of these issues, the majority of the American people are with Democrats not Republicans. Democrats have the right beliefs to win; we just execute a poor public relations plan.
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Democrats can win by simply being Democrats. Reinventing ourselves as Republicans is the death knell of our party. We need to get back to basics and start listening to people from outside Washington. Only then can we save the greatest nation on the face of the earth from the twin Republican perils of enormous deficits and constant misadventures abroad.
It's not so much that I'm rallying behind Dean again (I'm holding that hand close to my vest). But I'm definitely rallying behind what he's saying.
Mario Cuomo said it in 1992 when he nominated Clinton - give up the Democratic predicate, and we might as well tear the donkeys off our lapels and retreat to our ivory towers where when we see the blisters and callouses on our hands - we know it's time to put down the polo mallets.
It holds true today. Someone has to corner the market of being Democrats. It might as well be us - because we really suck at being Republicans.
