The Republicans are working their long-term plan...do Dems have any plan?

[rfranklin]

Do the Dems have any long range plan other than to suck up to corporate America? It doesn't seem so at this point. Any thoughts?

[Denninmi]

1. Cry? Hide? Surrender?

Seems to be the m/o most of the time, IMHO.

[Poboy]

11. All of those, but the order is slightly mixed up.

First they hide, then they cry, and of course surrender is a foregone conclusion.

[katnapped]

2. Nope, you've got it just about right... n/t

[Thunderstruck]

3. Our Dem leadership aren't leaders at all. They are followers. And they're

following the 'thugs right into the abyss.

[grasswire]

4. I think Ann Coulter revealed it more than a decade ago.

She said in response to criticism of her comments expressing the repeal of the New Deal and the vote for women: "We're in charge now."

[kenny blankenship]

5. Compromise isn't good enough for you?

"We are ready to meet your demands!" doesn't work as a rallying cry?

[dkofos]

6. Bipartisanship

[jp11]

7. Do whatever it takes to stay 'alive'.

Beyond that there is no plan.

[old mark]

8. K&R- Since the mid 1970's the Democrats' plan has been to say, Us, too...

GOP cuts taxes? Us, too.
GOP lays off public service workers? Us, too.
GOP wants a war? Us, too.

Mr. Obama is obviously far ahead of that game - he gives it up before the GOP even asks for it...Progress?


mark

[Canuckistanian]

9. Dems threw away their playbook long ago

Now they only play defense.

That is, when they're not scoring "own goals" by cooperating with their opponents.

[el_bryanto]

10. It's harder for Liberals to make long term plans

Frankly we are a far more diverse group - we want all sorts of different things. Labor vs. Environmentalists, for one example. Which means that we sort of default to something everybody can live with which tends to be a sort of moderate corporatism.

Bryant

[Poboy]

12. Frankly, thats a cop out.

[el_bryanto]

14. It's not an excuse, it's an explanation. n/t

[Enrique]

13. they're going to take the presidency, and large majorities in both houses of Congress

and then extend the Bush tax cuts again.

[ljm2002]

15. Unfortunately, selling out for corporate $$ precludes such plans...

...at least insofar as those plans might include supporting unions, the middle class, and certainly the poor.

In other words: Republicans can have plans and can make them public and their rhetoric may soar in support of those plans, precisely because they know and we know who they work for. On the other hands, Democrats must pay lip service to their traditional base, because that's who they SAY they work for; but they must moderate it if they expect to keep getting funds from the corporate elites and financial interests. So no soaring rhetoric for them, and the only plans they make must be made in secret, because they are serving two masters. Hence the typical spinelessness and mealy-mouthed support of righteous causes.

[wiggs]

16. I believe that dem leaders have felt that being on the correct side of issues

is enough and that time and passing of generations will lead automatically to a more progressive nation. And this was probably right at the time when the powerful RW elite in the 60's saw the way things were going and decided that RW think tanks, consolidation of media, and a strategy of polarization were needed to turn things around. It has worked brilliantly. That it is an undemocratic, irresponsible, and corrupt strategy appears to be beside the point.

Polarization, hate, fear, smearing, caging of voters, obstruction of legislation, traditional media control, new media (fox), courting corporations (Delay's 100 year gop K street strategy), destruction of grass roots organizations (acorn, unions, planned parenthood, etc), citizens united, using war to generate political capital, embrace of doctrinal fundamentalists (bible, constitution, reaganism, etc), ridicule of science and knowledge, lowering top tax rates and creating loopholes, new american century by neocons, concentration of wealth and power into fewer hands, ...all these reflect a concerted planned effort to pull the nation to the right and increase the right's influence.

Agree 100%: Dems need a long term strategy...doesn't have to be low/Rovian, but it would be nice if there was a strategy.