dKos CALL TO ACTION: "Strong Families, Strong Communities, Strong Nation"

[Nothing Without Hope]

This dKos diary entry by Hunter is a MUST-READ for all Dems and should be integrated into talking points and planning. We have the high ground, and we must USE it to face forward and offer POSITIVE ALTERNATIVES to the GOP decay, fear and greed. We can heal the country and give hope to the people for a better, wiser future.

Hunter asked himself the question: "What do Democrats stand for?" and found that the answer wasn't difficult to find or understand:

Strong Families, Strong Communities, Strong Nation

He then explains the profound depth and strength of this seemingly simple framing vision.

Rather than only bashing GOPs and bemoaning the hopelessness of it all - neither of which provides any direction or positivity - we must seize this moment to move firmly ahead, rallying the public to a cause of real promise and hope. This is the turning point, up or down, for us and the country. We can move ahead with positive, inclusive, creative, practical goals, or we can ride the neocons' ruination of our nation all the way down. Any Dem leaders who cannot rise to this challenge must be marginalized and left behind as we move ahead. There is no other choice.

Hunter's profound framing vision, "Strong families, Strong Communities, Strong Nation" is a good starting place in the discourse; there are more and we must find a way to communicate them and make them reality. Global peace, human dignity, wise environmental stewardship with development of sustainable forms of energy and much more - we must find the expression, leaders, and practical plans to lead our people to the best potential future.

I urge you to read the entire diary; this excerpt does not do it justice:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/3/02940/6976

Strong Families. Strong Communities. Strong Nation.

by Hunter
Sun Oct 2nd, 2005 at 21:29:40 PDT

A passing comment by Republican pollster Frank Luntz on the Mclaughlin Group (yes, I know; I'm a glutton for punishment) and this excellent diary by Torta converged to ring the same bell in my ears: what do Democrats stand for? It seems a common refrain, or assumption, that Democrats do not have an overall theme or narrative, and I will certainly agree that the party as a whole does a rather bad job of articulating the message. But it lodged in my brain, and after a half hour of thought I realized that I, at least, know what I stand for. And it's not complicated. And I think, in reality, it encapsulates the Democratic Party rather well:

Strong Families. Strong Communities. Strong Nation.

(snip - much more; he explains each phrase lucidly and shows how it all works together)

If you thought, upon first seeing the rather simple mantra Strong Families, Strong Communities, Strong Nation, that it was uncomfortably Republican in both tone and focus-group terseness, I urge you to rethink the point. Democratic ideals can be boiled down into simple, easy to understand frameworks. And national strength, despite the current Republican conviction to the country, cannot merely be summoned from hem and bluster, but by an encompassing framework to produce that strength -- not the illusion, but the actual structure that can withstand decades and generations.

Where the Democratic voice can be heard is in the same place it has always existed: in the notion that it takes more than military maneuvers to produce national greatness. It takes actual military strength; it takes economic strength; it takes community strength. One without the others is doomed to be unsustainable.

Do Democrats stand for something? Of course we do. We stand for strengthening America from within. Every family, encouraged and protected. Every community, made economically stable and prosperous. The entire nation, made strong through policies that encourage economic strength, dismantle corruption, bribery and cronyism, and produce a tiered homeland security framework both within and outside our borders.

(snip)

[tocqueville]

1. What ? a fascist motto ??????????????????????

It's identic with Pétains motto and today's French right wing extremists have similar mottos :

Vichy coined : "Work,Family,Homeland"

instead of :

"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (brotherhood)"

Obviously some have different priorities...

specially the two last goals :

Equality = working to make everybody have the same chances from start (education for example), nobody has special rights making him former.

Fraternity = solidarity : building collective systems to share wealth and help eachother

a society based on Hunter's recipe turns into a small minded nationalistic one very rapidly. I don't understand the difference with the average "thinking" of the Bible Belt...

Truly amazing for coming from Liberals, I can't believe my eyes

Reference Wikipedia :

On July 12th, Pétain designated Pierre Laval as Vice-President and his designated successor, and appointed Fernand de Brinon as representative to the German High Command in Paris. Pétain remained as the head of the Vichy regime until August 20, 1944. Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité (Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood), the French national motto, was replaced by Travail, Famille, Patrie (Work, Family, Fatherland).

:wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

[Gloria]

2. No need to reinvent the wheel!! Just use this from 1992:

"It's time to Put People First...For a Change!"

This was Clinton's theme which is printed on the bottom of the card handed out at the rally just before the election at the Meadowlands (NJ). Variations of this basic theme were used throughout the campaign.

It goes to the most basic elements of the gut...which is what we need. It's the antidote to FEAR, which is what the GOP peddles.

Populist, Change.....short and sweet!!

[Totally Committed]

4. I bet the beneficiaries of his Welfare Reform Bill and NAFTA

really appreaciated that sentiment.

We need more than a good slogan! We need to start electing people we can trust to do the right thing, and live up to those slogans!

It's not enough to say the words. Or print the words. The rpoof is in the pudding.

[Gloria]

6. I agree. but it's a good slogan, none the less. If we had a candidate

who believed in it, it could be great.

[Nothing Without Hope]

3. This got negative attention last night, but I think it should be read and

has merit. Not as the ONLY frame, of course, but as one of several ways to get our message across to a frightened, divided country. Of COURSE it isn't "fascist"!!!

[tocqueville]

5. of course it is well meant

but it's easy to make mistakes (the road to hell...). Even if the American political context is different from the European, I think that the Democrat Party should retake the lead with an other set of ideas than from the thirties. It should emphasize on the "pursuit of happiness" for American citizens and give them a hope of security through other means than family and community, which are pure conservative ideas. And regarding the nation, I'll call it a New America, that's exactly what America and the world needs...