A New Day Dawning - Lay Down Your Vision

[welshTerrier2]

DU could be so much more than a two-year long combative primary season ... Today, amid the glow of massive electoral success, is the perfect day to reflect on who we are as DU citizens ... Are you content to make thousands of posts over the next two years about how great your candidate is or would you be more productive helping us map out a vision, your vision, for the Democratic Party and the country?

Too many will brush this question aside ... they actually believe mentioning their candidate's name a thousand times a day will influence anyone to support them or fund them or vote for them ... it won't!

the path to support for your candidate lies not in advertising him or her but in building a shared vision ... got that?? ... if you don't "visit voters where they live", your assumptions about what they are looking for are just not going to be effective no matter how loudly or how often you preach it ... and it sure as hell won't help us dig out of the deep holes we're in ...

and let's quickly bury the left-center-right madness ... where on the political spectrum do some of the most critical issues live? here's a brief list: oil dependency, big money in politics, global warming, exporting jobs, unaffordable medical care, massive budget deficits, loss of US prestige in the world, a broad loss of faith in government ... got the idea? is it really necessary to argue whether someone's stance is "far left" or "far right" or "far center" on these issues?

too much of what has passed for spectrum battles truly lies more in tactics than in values and policies ... perhaps, when we begin to put some meat on the bones of these issues, we will indeed be able to identify spectrum differences ... but without more details, i defy anyone to suggest there's any clarity along a spectrum on where most of us stand on these great and important issues ...

so i ask you all again, to raise the level here on DU ... if all you've been bringing to the table is candidate cheerleading, perhaps you could broaden your repetoire a bit ... as the hot celebrating begins to fade, and it will, perhaps instead of settling into "combative primary mode", you could cast a brief glance or two at the problems we face and look to your own ideas and solutions, ideas beyond the province of candidates and personalities, and discuss how we might address them ...

this is the first in a series of posts that will address each of the topics listed above, and surely others, in greater detail ...

[Gregorian]

1. I look forward to this.

Someone mentioned building a foundation. And that is where this needs to start. What is that? How can it be accomplished? Over time, once we get our country in order, and stable enough, we can begin to sort out just what needs to be done in order to achieve a better country for us all.

I think it's safe to say that we can begin by eliminating fruitless programs. And there is no doubt that education deserves a high priority.

We have a lot of work to do. Hopefully we can create a society where everyone wants to participate.

[welshTerrier2]

2. labels and candidates

when so much of our dialog on DU is about labels and candidates, very little, if anything, is actually accomplished ... while it is certainly understandable that many seek to promote one candidate or another, far too much time is spent in this largely fruitless pursuit ...

i can't say that others feel the same way, but the people who can influence me are those who engage in discussions on the issues with integrity ... when i know they are only parroting the views of the candidate they support, they carry very little influence at all ...

if DU is to become the voice for change it does, or at least should, aspire to, we have got to define a process where we define and prioritize the issues that concern us ... otherwise, all we are is a big bunch of noise about candidates and labels ...

[Gregorian]

4. This is a transitional period.

Many of us knew exactly where this administration was headed, long before the votes were (n)ever counted. We were full of rage and fear. We were immediately place in a defensive position. Now we can move away from the defensive. Six years. And the entire lifetime of DU. On the defensive, essentially. And any discussion was geared toward discovering the buried criminal activities. Many of which we still don't know, I would wager.

I think what I'm saying is, we are facing a spontaneous metamorphosis here.

My biggest concern now is that we may only have two years, at best, to get this ball rolling.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. Glad to see this thread ....

As are you, I'm bracing for the onslaught of 'my guy' posts that just clog things up and put serious posts in the 'fade fast' lane.

I'd love to see a Big Forum for the molotov cocktail set and another Big Forum where nothing that was in the news for the last two or three days is allowed in an OP. In other words, a Big Forum where ISSUES and IDEAS can be discussed, not knee jerk reactions to what was on Air America 30 seconds ago. Those posts do, indeed, have a place and serve a purpose, but its hard to imagine them coexisting with the longer term, more serious discussions.

[welshTerrier2]

5. GDP - No Candidate Hype

you mean a forum called GDPNCH? we could call it the "good punch" forum ...

the truth is, i'm not sure whether such a forum would get much activity ... unless i "spice up" my posts and make them sexy, i often get like 3 responses ... sort of like this thread ...

so, if instead of "Hillary's No Better than bush on Iraq" i go with "Is Nation-Building Even Possible?", we're not looking at much discussion ... lately i've found myself more focussed on substance than on fame and fortune ...

one thing i will say about the DU community and other progressive blogs, it's impact on the "real world" is severely underestimated ... i've become way more political and way more knowledgeable hanging around here ... i talk politics all the time with everyone i meet ... i speak to small groups and i'm much more involved in my community ... those who see this process as "not real" are badly misunderstanding the impact ...

maybe DU needs a "short-term" group to discuss ways DU could be modified to make it more effective ... one idea i had, and this would put us on "the map" big time, is to have a weekly moderated forum with a "special guest" ... not sure of the details but it could get us MSM coverage ... talk about fame and fortune ...

[Stinky The Clown]

6. I REALLY like the 'special guest' idea ......

.... how many times have we read about some luminary 'live blogging' on some other web site.

[inthebrain]

7. $10 an hour minimum wage and a move to solar panels

That would work.

I think we can issue student loan forgivness after we put an end to the Iraq war and raise taxes on the wealthy.

[Cafe Americano]

8. Green Green Green

The biggest global problem is climate change. Middle class tax cuts would be very hard for Bush to reject.