i was speaking to a colleague and fellow demorat/kerry supporter, prior to the election. he made the excellent point that to be a republican means a few, very well defined policies: taxes bad, stimulate business, strong defense/offense. however, what it means to be a democrat is less well defined. we seem always to be responding to what the republicans say, instead of offering our own bold mission. the word "liberal" has come to be a slur in most people's eyes - but "liberals" ended slavery, child labor, apartheid in the south, etc...democrats need to boldly present a vision of what we are - and not in response to the republicans. they control the terms of the debate, and democrats lose because of this. most views of democrats are, dare i say, very mainstream, yet the republicans, by controlling the terms of the debate, have painted democrats as left wing kooks. i feared kerry had not gotten across a compelling vision - and had posted to that effect, if not on this blog, then in other folks comments... - wish i was wrong...
Posted by Mike at November 3, 2004 03:45 PM