Reply #73: Some good points

[Polemonium]

Unfortunately, it is hard for me to convince friends/neighbors in my town that there is a long term strategy in the Democratic Party. If there are examples of the party leadership reaching out to progressives tell me what they are. In the short-term, many in my town will be voting for either Nader or the Green Party. A month ago most of them were working for Democratic candidates. If we don't reach out to these folks we've lost not only there money, energy and time, but we loose their vote. Perhaps the short-term goal of getting bush* out of office can be met without them (I've no idea how representative my town is of progressives in other parts of the country). But there is every reason to believe that these folks can be brought back to the Democratic Party if there is something within it to inspire them, and their energy would be great to have on board.