Frangible's thoughts on winning in 2008

[Frangible]

Yeah, maybe... or maybe not. Just some thoughts after this rather painful day of reflection on all that could have been.

First of all, the candidates. I think we need a southern democrat in order to get the southern states. Wes Clark... maybe someone else? I don't think the south will EVER support a non-southern dem. It sucks, but that's how the south is.

Next, the VP candidate. I'll get flamed for this one, but the VP on the ticket should be a moderate Republican. In Montana, a very red state, democrat Brian Schweitzer ran with a republican lt. governor to great success.

The issues... I think we need to expand on what Howard Dean called, "god, gays, and guns". While I do not think the latter was a significant factor in this election, the first two certainly were -- people showed up in droves for the single issue vote of gay marriage.

God -- we need to really ram home the teaching of Jesus and what the man actually (supposedly) did. How Christianity ended up being values of hatred to the Republicans is beyond me. Jesus's message was one of hope, love and compassion-- we can tie this in with the rest of the democratic platform. The Republicans CANNOT because they do not represent the teachings of Jesus, just some whacked religious perversion. What would Jesus do? NOT hate his fellow man and start illegal wars.

Gays -- this is a tricky subject, and one the evil republican bastards used to create a divisive wedge in this election. I personally believe in gay marriage, but the fact is, a stupidly high amount of the country does not. We need to make this a non-issue for now. It sucks, and I hate how bigoted the country has become, but we cannot allow single issue gay marriage voters to seal another 4 years of republican control, period.

Guns -- the founder of the democratic party, Thomas Jefferson, was a staunch supporter of gun rights, and I say we should go back to that. The fact is, Bush and Kerry didn't have much difference on this issue, yet Bush still got the NRA's endorsement. We need to be proactive on this issue. The NRA and GOA do endorse democrats, it's just a matter of having a pro-gun platform. Yeah, I'll get lynched for saying this as well, but the 2008 dem presidential nominee needs to pledge to veto any form of AWB that comes across their desk, and work on some other issue. Doing this and working with the NRA/GOA will ensure that WE get the NRA's and GOA's endorsement. Finally, we can combine gun rights with hunting and wildlife habitat / preservation-- Republicans have such a laughable environmental policy they cannot do this.

Finally, we need to fight the republicans on OUR terms on foreign and domestic policy. This year, we were on the defensive, and had to go to their turf. That hurt us.

(a couple hundred thousand dems moving to ohio and florida couldn't hurt either :) )

Anyway, just some late night rambling, flame away.

[WindRavenX]

1. Forget the South

We can't keep pandering to the South...it's killing us.
We need to focus more on the middle of the country.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

2. I, for the most part, agree

except I would make the issue about gay marriage into an issue over civil unions. Much more of the country supports civil unions and we could build on that and eventually legalize gay marriage. I also agree with you on gun control. The Democrats should drop this issue for the time being. It is one of the major wedge issues the rethuglicans use to divide the nation.

[UCLA Dem]

3. i think this country in many ways has always been bigoted.

women, African-Americans, Jews... you name it.

[Dogmudgeon]

4. No flames, just a shift of focus

I don't think we'll have a chance politically until we start changing things culturally.

At the very least, the unholy beast of Fundamentalism and Politics needs to be slain. No pretense of "respecting" their "faith". They don't respect us, and their "faith" is no more than a lifestyle bound by superstition in the name of Jesus. Who, incidentally, warned against this kind of thing.

A parallel movement in the Muslim world would be a Good Thing, too. Fundamentalism is an "innovation" denounced by Muhammad. Nowhere in the Quran is female genital mutilation or terrorism endorsed. But that's another bailiwick entirely. I'm not a Muslim so anything I would say about it would be incomplete and possibly boneheaded.

The gun issue won't be solved by following the NRA. The NRA will continue to support the Republican party and continue to demonize the Democrats and Liberals. Either a take-over or organizational destruction. Nothing less will do. A new, liberal firearms organization would do the trick, too.

We have to lay the foundation NOW for the future, the same way the proto-neo-Cons did it after 1964. Richard Viguerie is a good role model.

We neglected the non-political aspects of politics, and we got whomped. Time to learn from that mistake and master the political martial arts that laid us low.

--bkl