Monday, November 29, 2004
Quit It!
Two weeks ago, I made a few recommendations for the future of the Democratic party. The first suggestion was to get control of the political language. We need to stop talking about the Republican agenda and start setting the tone ourselves. Then yesterday, as I browsed Atrios' Eschaton, I was directed to a blog by Matthew Gross which contained what is quite possibly the perfect analogy of the current Democrat/Republican relationship. It equates the Democratic Party to an abused spouse with the Republicans as the abuser. It's really quite accurate and well worth the time to read it in full.
After reading this, I felt better about the direction of my party. It made me feel like I wasn't crazy. It was saying the same things as me, but in a much clearer way. I immediately e-mailed it to my friends and told many others about it. I was encouraged.
Then came this:
Quit it! This is why we lost the election. We are playing the game by their rules. For too long, we have let them define the terms of engagement and we are playing on their field. Until our leaders (unfortunately Edwards and Kery are looked at as our leaders until future notice) are willing to talk about something other than the Republican agenda, we will continue to lose ground. We need to stop talking about God and religion as though we are trying to catch up with the Republicans. Our values and morals are nothing to be ashamed of. Why do we act like the scolded child trying to make up for spilling juice on the carpet? Or, as the Mathew Gross article asks, why do we keep acting like the abused spouse? It appears as if we are sucking up. As long as we talk like we're the party of lesser morals, we are going to be perceived that way.
The Democratic party has long been the party of charity, mercy, compassion, and equality. To me, these are true values. Doing what is right for those who can't do for themselves is always an honorable endeavor. As Democrats, we should be proud of our legacy and promote it. Make the Republicans talk about our agenda. Put the burden on them and make them play catch up to us. We have accomplished many great things for our country. As Mr. Bush likes to say, "[We] have earned political capital." It's time we started spending it.
No more groveling. No more sucking up. No more following. From now on, we lead. When you talk to your conservative friends and relatives, be proud. We should never be ashamed of who we are or what we have done. We could all take a cue from Rush Limbaugh. Even though he is quite often wrong, he is proud of his party. We could use some of that pomposity.
- Watch Dan Rather apologize for not getting his facts straight, humiliated before the eyes of America, voluntarily undermining his credibility and career of over thirty years. Observe Donna Brazille squirm as she is ridiculed by Bay Buchanan, and pronounced irrelevant and nearly non-existent. Listen as Donna and Nancy Pelosi and Senator Charles Schumer take to the airwaves saying that they have to go back to the drawing board and learn from their mistakes and try to be better, more likable, more appealing, have a stronger message, speak to morality. Watch them awkwardly quote the bible, trying to speak the new language of America. Surf the blogs, and read the comments of dismayed, discombobulated, confused individuals trying to figure out what they did wrong. Hear the cacophony of voices, crying out, “Why did they beat me?”
And then ask anyone who has ever worked in a domestic violence shelter if they have heard this before.
They will tell you, every single day.
The answer is quite simple. They beat us because they are abusers. We can call it hate. We can call it fear. We can say it is unfair. But we are looped into the cycle of violence, and we need to start calling the dominating side what they are: abusive. And we need to recognize that we are the victims of verbal, mental, and even, in the case of Iraq, physical violence.
As victims we can’t stop asking ourselves what we did wrong. We can’t seem to grasp that they will keep hitting us and beating us as long as we keep sticking around and asking ourselves what we are doing to deserve the beating.
After reading this, I felt better about the direction of my party. It made me feel like I wasn't crazy. It was saying the same things as me, but in a much clearer way. I immediately e-mailed it to my friends and told many others about it. I was encouraged.
Then came this:
- The 51-year-old [John] Edwards has ideas about the path his party should take for the future.
He said the party needs to be sure that voters understand Democrats have the same values as the people Edwards grew up with in South and North Carolina, where Republicans have dominated national elections.
"I wish we'd had better chances, better opportunities (in the 2004 campaign) for me to talk about what my personal values are," Edwards said.
"How important my relationship with God is, how important my faith is in our day-to-day lives, the struggles my family's had in the past, plus what Elizabeth is facing now."
Quit it! This is why we lost the election. We are playing the game by their rules. For too long, we have let them define the terms of engagement and we are playing on their field. Until our leaders (unfortunately Edwards and Kery are looked at as our leaders until future notice) are willing to talk about something other than the Republican agenda, we will continue to lose ground. We need to stop talking about God and religion as though we are trying to catch up with the Republicans. Our values and morals are nothing to be ashamed of. Why do we act like the scolded child trying to make up for spilling juice on the carpet? Or, as the Mathew Gross article asks, why do we keep acting like the abused spouse? It appears as if we are sucking up. As long as we talk like we're the party of lesser morals, we are going to be perceived that way.
The Democratic party has long been the party of charity, mercy, compassion, and equality. To me, these are true values. Doing what is right for those who can't do for themselves is always an honorable endeavor. As Democrats, we should be proud of our legacy and promote it. Make the Republicans talk about our agenda. Put the burden on them and make them play catch up to us. We have accomplished many great things for our country. As Mr. Bush likes to say, "[We] have earned political capital." It's time we started spending it.
No more groveling. No more sucking up. No more following. From now on, we lead. When you talk to your conservative friends and relatives, be proud. We should never be ashamed of who we are or what we have done. We could all take a cue from Rush Limbaugh. Even though he is quite often wrong, he is proud of his party. We could use some of that pomposity.
