the Democratic party will not save your ass.

[ulysses]

Political parties are not made for action, but for codifying action already taken. Look for leadership, not within party structures, but without. In our case on the left, that means leaders within issue groups. One hopes for leaders who can build bridges between groups and so create a more powerful front but, in the end, it is us who will create change.

Vote as you will, but there will be no significant change until we make it. Imho, the first change to be made is unity among the fractured members of the working class.

[deutsey]

1. That's what happened prior to the New Deal in the '30s

FDR didn't just step in and miraculously transform American society with the Democratic Party. He and the Party took what people in the labor and socialist movements had been working on for decades and, as you say, codified their action.

The only hope we have today, I believe, is something similar happening. Continue voting Democratic, but get active in movements and causes outside the official Party structure.

[rzemanfl]

2. I see unity among the working class as a real long shot. Unity

between working class pot-smokers who worry about passing their urine tests and working class right-to-lifers who spend their spare time picketing abortion clinics is going to be difficult to achieve. When everyone is Bushrupt it will come, but it will be no easy road.

[NMDemDist2]

4. Bushrupt Bwhahahahahahaha n/t

[rzemanfl]

9. There are two forms of Bushruptcy, moral and financial. The

former is the ability to lie and ignore reality in exchange for money. The latter is when that money isn't worth anything anymore.

[dbt]

3. The party needs to worry about saving its OWN ass.

I am used to saving mine by now--thanks to the Clintons, the DLC and McAuliffe.

:freak:
dbt

[Tigress DEM]

5. I disagree

First of all, my ass is my own responsibility, not the Democratic party's.

Second this whole "issue" based madness is imho what creates fractures in the party. I think we should get back to Democratic ideals and prioritize issues on life/death matters first, constitutional threats second and everything else as it can be fit in.

Third if you don't like the Democratic party - go join the greens or something and behave like an honest person. DINO can apply to people who use the DEMS as a base to recruit also.

Fourth, if a person doesn't believe election fraud really happened in 2004 I suppose then you can believe the DEMS didn't have what it takes to win. WE DID IT PEOPLE - in real honest terms Bush stole the election, so therefore WE WON, but we were robbed. This isn't whining, it's the blasted truth. Kerry may have conceded, but I haven't.

Lastly the unity needs to be larger than your view of the "worker class" uniting. Granted that would be great, but we need EVERYONE on board on the basics. Repubs, Independent, DEMS - Everyone has to say NO to Unjust war, No to torture, No to tax cuts for the rich and bubkis for the poor... because this is NOT the American way!

Just like the lines were erased at 9/11 as soon as everyone realizes the REAL threat to America we will ALL Stand Together and bring this administration down from their pedestal.

This country stands for Freedom, Justice and a Chance for Individuals to make their own way in an environment that is supportive of people doing their best. Now are we there TODAY? No. But getting back to that place is the goal. Shall we stop global warming and boot the imposter who likes to piss on the Constitution out of office along the way? Sure. But DAMMIT I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK.

[KG]

6. one would think that would be obvious.

until one reads DU.

[Lexingtonian]

7. political parties are coalitions

What you say is half true. The opposite of what you claim is also half of the truth.

Form your own group if you like, and join it to the coalition as best as you can. Or join one of the ones that already exist. Same difference. We're a federation (working toward a greater internal unity, toward dissolution of our boundaries) and a confederation (disparate entities but working against a common opponent) at the same time

"unity among the fractured members of the working class"...I dunno how successful that aim is in a vacuum. The working class famously pretends to independence but actually obeys and believes The Powers That Be with various degrees of resentment. The present Republican game is to distract the working class into anxiety about 'social issues' and empower it there, then to utterly disempower it in the economic realm. This is the 'wedge' game. This traditionally only beaten back/solved by working people deciding to not care about 'social issues' anymore, choosing to consider them settled and little trouble to live with, and regaining unity around economic injustices.

[Selatius]

8. Yes, grassroots organizing is the way

It's all about individual responsibility on this issue. These organizations a) must) be built around the community, b) must be run from the ground-up in a democratic fashion, and c) must be centered around an idea, not a leader.

People won't respond if you don't address people's immediate concerns in their respective communities, and they are less likely to get involved if they don't have a direct voice into the process, hence the requirement that it be from the ground-up, and the organization must run on the merit of its ideas, not on the charisma of a few people. History teaches us that leaders are easily assassinated, but ideas are much harder to kill.