The Lieberman problem - Democratic Underground

red_house

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Sun Aug-10-03 11:58 PM
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The Lieberman problem

Straight up.

The Democratic Party has an identity problem....This identity problem isn't manifested in the public's perception of the party, but rather, it is the RESULT of the party's own unraveled core....Its origins can be traced to the 2000 "election" and has solidified itself by constant, unprincipled appeasements to our rivals on practically every issue imaginable....Joe Lieberman has capitalized on the knowledge of this internal dilemma to his benefit and the DLC's relentless push to drive the left's influence off the playing table....The philosophical claim to this party is up for grabs....His gambit proposes a RIGHTWARD shift in the hopes of redefining our collective image among centrist voters and he's openly challenging his own party's contenders to take him on....

BUT...

Despite searching far and wide among pro-Democratic websites, liberal/progressive message boards, ect, you'll scarcely find evidence, financial or agenda-driven support, to account for his party-leading poll numbers in the mainstream press....Some folks like to hang their hats on the theory that polling data is skewered and unreliable, but more often than not, it's surprisingly accurate....The proof is that no one here or on the street denies his standing as of this moment....He can afford to be brazen if he chooses...Wether or not he believes that his numbers are cosmetic, he is calling the left's bluff and it must be answered.

If we're to conclude that the "name-recognition" factor alone accounts for his high standing among Democratic voters, then he's getting a free ride that must finally be challenged.

So, WHO'S IT GONNA BE?

There's a reluctance among many here to see our candidates going at each other's throats, but this coming election will not be for the squeamish and the time to rewind our core for the sake of broader mass appeal, let alone the party's future, is NOW....Purging the "Bush-lite" candidate early on will only help to fine tune the party's goal, which is to DEFEAT BUSH, lest we forget what we're fighting for....In the coming debates (and I hope the candidates lurk here occassionally :D) I'd suggest that non-DLC sanctioned candidates begin the process of dismembering this imposter by questioning where his true allegiances are stemming from, foreign and domestic.

The "faith-based initiave", the censorship-implying-holier-than-thou assaults on on the entertainment industry, The Homeland Security issue, the TOTAL embrace of the "pre-emptive" doctrine, the IFCJ/Pat Robertson projects....All fair game to those who recognize that the RACE isn't won by holding the opponent's hand as you approach the finish line.

From outside the ring, Al Gore should take his lumps, also....A total repudiation of Lieberman is due, and i mean TOTAL....There's no question in my mind that he absolutely BLEW IT when taking Lieberman as his VP....Gore, so consumed with distancing himself from Clinton on the advice of "image handlers", took Lieberman's "statesmanly" charade too close to heart and came to find out later that this wimp couldn't be counted on to hold firm to his principles in that wretched fall of 2000...What do you make of a man who's willing to publicly trash his own party's sitting president in front of the entire country and then, 2 short years later, deliberately subvert his own party's chance to rightly reclaim the White House?

Politics isn't just a seasonal challenge among philosophical parties, it's also a challenge among like-minded people to find a LEADER who'll chart the course of its destiny....This party can ill afford to let the likes of Lieberman/DLC types to fracture the foundations of the party....We've got to define ourselves because our opponents
are doing it FOR US!!....We're too concerned with looking "united" and it's a smokescreen for a deeper problem....The only thing uniting us right now is the agreed upon mix of confusion, disgust and impotence....Either somebody STANDS UP and claims the party or pack it in for another 4 years....My patience is getting past the "worn thin" stage....We need a CONSTRUCTIVE fight if we want attention, folks....You should be begging for it, because this "play nice" attitude ain't getting the job done.

Let's face it: If this country hasn't lost its hard-on for the Bush league's "pre-emptive, civil rights-trampling, cheap labor, corporate-sheltering conservatism" by '04, then nobody's gonna beat him....But I do know this: Joe Lieberman's brand of "conservatism" doesn't stand a CHANCE next to the real thing....Only a 180 degree REAL alternative can inspire my vote....This man is not an alternative that I can support and the Democratic Party will find itself in a world of hurt for many years to come if it doesn't start defining itself on its own terms....The DLC can't win without us, but I'm convinced that we CAN without THEM.

I'm new to this site and I thouroughly enjoy this forum....Aside from much of the bickering going on, this place is a real find and I'm grateful that I've been welcomed so kindly....I've noticed that some threads have ignited a "gender war" tonight and it's not very constructive, in my opinion....It's not my place to make demands of anyone here, but for what it's worth, I think we'd all be best served by keeping our eye on the ball and setting all the petty stuff aside....We can draw more people to our cause if we make a better effort toward emphasizing what's really important....Time is of the essence, right?

:kick: KICK IT!!!!