Posted on 11/08/2004 6:55:26 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
A week before I left Odessa, Texas to begin my first year at Stanford, I was walking down my street when a sweet, elderly neighbor and family friend noticed me and gave me this parting, final piece of advice, “I know Stanford’s up around San Francisco, but remember your values and don’t become like one of them.” I know many of you might be surprised, but this is the way millions of Americans think. They are not bad people; the people in my hometown are actually as nice as they come. But they’ve been exposed to different things, and Republicans have molded their view of liberals as flag-burning, God-blaspheming, peace-flag-waving hippies.
That’s why red state Democrats need to speak up. Many of us campaigned and poured our hearts out into the last few months, and we now wake up feeling like hell.
So as a Southerner, this is what Democrats have to do to win back America.
1) Have joy. Sounds simple, but in other words, cheer up. Don’t walk around bitter that conservatives are running this country.
History is on our side. From race issues to feminism to gay rights, liberals have always stood on the forefront of social and moral advance. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.”
2) Fight for every race. The next presidential election might be four years away, but we have our work cut out for us before then. Each race helps frame political attitudes nationwide and affects the whole landscape.
If the Democrats lose four more Senate seats in the 2006 elections, they’ll lose their ability to filibuster Bush’s judicial nominations, and we can all say good-bye to affirmative action, a woman’s right to choose and the separation between church and state.
3) Define God and “moral values.” Red-state voters want to be able to identify with candidates by knowing how religion calculate into their thinking. Liberals win on the issues, but we have serious PR problems. We just have to connect the Democratic agenda to notions of morality, family and God, as shameless as that might feel.
4) Get over yourself. I’ve been so annoyed by those who critique Tom Daschle, say Michael Moore’s a radical and try to sound smart by saying they’re fiscal conservatives. Republicans have something we need: party discipline. Ronald Reagan’s famous 11th amendment was, “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.” It’s time we quit criticizing our own in public.
5) Dumb it down and get dirty. That means running negative campaign ads that parallel the type of vicious demagoguery launched against patriots like Max Cleland, Bill Clinton and John Edwards.
The Kerry campaign missed its chance to tear at Bush’s character and honor, and instead ran Brady Bunch ads that had less resonance in voters’ minds. Run campaigns as much on character as on the issues.
6) Play offense. The Republicans took our legitimate disdain for Bush and convinced the American public that we were all just hateful people.
As a result, Kerry never made direct criticisms of the incumbent president during his nomination acceptance speech, and he never nipped the “flip-flopper” charges at the bud.
Democrats need to stand up early and passionately, as well as stake out issues before the Republicans beat them to it.
7) Be proud of being a liberal. I’ll never forget listening to an audience member at a Democratic National Convention event choking back tears and asking former Gore campaign manager Donna Brazile, “When did being liberal become so bad?”
Brazile explained how we lost the word years ago during the Great Society reforms, when conservatives appealed to voters’ most sinister hatreds toward the poor and minorities. Don’t run away from the liberal title like Kerry did; be unapologetic and flaunt it.
8) Become more hawkish. Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy were more hawkish than their opponents. Liberals will continue to lose if they look weak on defense and have members that keep sporting those silly “war is not the answer” bumper stickers.
“If you punch me, I’ll punch you harder.” That’s the saying posted in Terry McAuliffe’s office. And it applies to our generation more than anything. For America to progress, it needs us to fight, fight, and fight. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
This is our generation’s cause. Let’s make sure it outlasts us.
Amit Patel is a senior majoring in international relations with a secondary major in history. E-mail him at ... [snip]
Amit Patel is a senior majoring in international relations with a secondary major in history.
Well, there's the problem....................
OK, this one is perfect. EVERY point is wrong. Somebody please get this college kid out and teach him about the real world.
The only thing better than liberals not getting it is liberals who THINK they get it but still don't get it. Liberals win on the issues? Flaunt your liberalism? Step right up to the plate with that, we'll continue to kick your butts and take happy morning after pictures of you all crying your eyes out.
Clearly this young girl has been deceived, and has forgotten the values of Odessa.
Wait, wait a second.....ODESSA, NOT MIDLAND is where she said she was from. That explains everything!!!!!!
Kind of clueless, isn't he? This agenda will only lead to a repeat of 2004.(But if it results in a massive gloatfest like we just had . . . Knock yourselves out 'RATS!)
In other words, do more of what we did during the elections-compare Bush to Hitler.
Redefining Democrats=imbecilic, patrician-like, manipulative, lying, cheating, communist, dangerous, brainless....many more.
Afte 4 years in the ivory tower wait until this poor sod hit the real world.
“If you punch me, I’ll punch you harder.” That’s the saying posted in Terry McAuliffe’s office."
But first he's got to recover from the knockout punch he suffered last week. Smelling salts please!
"Shameless" ?!?
You cannot define JELLO, therefore the Democraps are never going to win.
Also, we must all work diligently in the coming months to convince “progressives” that the Democratic Party has let them down. They must abandon the party. Their only recourse is to join and work for the Green Party moving forward. I may even register as a Green Party member to swell their voter registration rolls. Divide and conquer.
Begin with putting all known “progressives” in your sphere of influence on the Green Party mail list from their website. Great fun. Start inundating them with information now.
If the Democrats lose four more Senate seats in the 2006 elections, they’ll lose their ability to filibuster Bush’s judicial nominations
I guess Dems only purpose is to filibuster. They prefer the courts be on their side because they'll never be able to pass liberal legislation, but the courts could.
We just have to connect the Democratic agenda to notions of morality, family and God, as shameless as that might feel.
If you feel ashamed, you shouldn't do it. How's that for family values?
...running negative campaign ads that parallel the type of vicious demagoguery launched against patriots like Max Cleland, Bill Clinton and John Edwards.
Bill Clinton and John Edwards patriots? Hello?
The Republicans took our legitimate disdain for Bush and convinced the American public that we were all just hateful people.
No, AMERICA listened to you and determined that you were just hateful people.
Donna Brazile, “When did being liberal become so bad?”
When we realized that you thought you knew better how to spend our money, when we realized that you wanted homosexual marriage, when we realized that you wanted to turn our national security over to France, when we realized that you were willing to do or say anything to take the White House, even if it was bad for the country, THAT'S WHEN.
Become more hawkish. Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy were more hawkish than their opponents. Liberals will continue to lose if they look weak on defense and have members that keep sporting those silly “war is not the answer” bumper stickers.
LOL! Let Howard "The Scream" Dean lead your party and then become more hawkish. Talk about FLIP FLOP!
Amit Patel is a senior majoring in international relations with a secondary major in history.
Now I understand, he's been using his professors brain rather than his own.
And, Amit, while you are there, look to your left and see if you can check your appendix...."
Are they all this delusional??
Another college kid in need of real education.
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