How to scare the bejeevers out of republicans Options

[Marine]

Third Way Releases Groundbreaking Report: The Politics of Polarization
New Study of Electorate Updates Seminal Work by Galston and Kamarck

Washington — Third Way today released a new study by William Galston and Elaine Kamarck entitled The Politics of Polarization , which examines the recent past, the present, and the foreseeable future of modern-day electoral politics. This paper follows the authors' enormously influential 1989 study, The Politics of Evasion, which helped shape Bill Clinton's approach to politics and governance.

Like their earlier work, the new study exposes several pervasive myths that are allowing Democrats to evade difficult truths about the electorate. The Politics of Polarization also reveals how Democrats have lost ground among key groups of voters, including married women and Catholics. And it uncovers a new phenomenon the authors call "the great sorting-out," which explains how the extraordinary new levels of partisanship have polarized the electorate to the detriment of Democrats.

After their earlier study, which was released by the Democratic Leadership Council, helped propel Clinton to the presidency, Galston, now the Saul Stern Professor of Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland and Director of its Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, and Kamarck, now a lecturer in public policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, served together in the Clinton White House.

"Bill Galston and Elaine Kamarck helped define an entire era of American politics and exploded some of the myths that Democrats harbored in the late 1980s," said Third Way President Jonathan Cowan . "We are delighted to be releasing this fascinating new portrait of the political landscape, and we are confident that this study will have a significant impact on the politics of our time."

Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), a founding co-chair of Third Way and chair of the group's Middle Class Project, said in a statement: "This report does a brilliant job of deciphering electoral trends over the last few national elections, while suggesting how Democrats can position themselves to win again. There's a leadership vacuum in this country that Democrats can fill by distinguishing ourselves from Republicans and offering a bold, positive vision of the future. The Politics of Polarization is a work of great importance, and I will be sending it to all of my Democratic colleagues in the Senate and urging them to consider it carefully."

The Politics of Polarization first looks back at the Clinton legacy and notes how his incumbency shaped voter opinion of Democrats in the areas of economics, where he restored Democratic credibility; national security, where he had few opportunities to change voter perceptions; and values, where he left a mixed legacy, with gains for Democrats in the areas of race-based values but substantial erosion in religion-based values.

The paper identifies four myths to which Democrats have fallen prey:

The myth of mobilization is the belief that the key to Democratic victory is to energize the base and bring them to the polls in record numbers.

The myth of demography is the view that long-term, ongoing changes in the U.S. population - such as an increase in the number of Hispanic voters and female professionals - will secure a Democratic majority for decades to come.

The myth of language holds that the problem with the Democratic Party is not what it advocates, but rather how it speaks.

The myth of prescription drugs is shorthand for the theory that the Party can win national elections by avoiding cultural issues, downplaying national security, and changing the subject to domestic issues such as health care, education, and job security in the post-9/11 world.
The report also unearths a dominant political trend the authors tab as "the great sorting-out" and demonstrates that the current climate of polarization has tilted the national playing field against Democrats. Over the past thirty years, the ideological segmentation of the electorate has barely budged, but the authors found that ideology is a far greater predictor of voting behavior than in years past. For Democrats, the ramifications of the great sorting-out are mostly negative as there are three conservatives for every two liberals. Thus, compared to a generation ago, blue states are bluer, red states redder, and swing states fewer. Citing one example, the authors note that Jimmy Carter captured 72% of the liberal vote and won, while John Kerry captured 85% of the liberal vote and lost.

The Politics of Polarization concludes by urging Democrats to confront the current myths of the party, stop hiding behind domestic policy and honestly confront national security, show tolerance and common sense on hot-button social issues, develop new economic policies that embrace global competition while establishing a modernized social safety net, and pay more attention to the very personal qualities of integrity and character that often win or lose elections.

"Sixteen years ago, we wrote The Politics of Evasion after a Massachusetts Democrat lost a race many thought he should have won to a Texas Republican of questionable political skills," said Kamarck. "Besides the obvious parallels, it was time for a deep analysis of the electorate relying on real data, not pre-conceived assumptions."

"Once the myths that cloud the minds of Democrats have been dispelled, they can begin to confront the real challenges they face in foreign policy and national defense, culture, and the economy, and also in their understanding of how successful candidates must present themselves to the American people," said Galston.

"This study should serve as a wake-up call to progressives," Cowan said. "The facts are clear and the news is sobering. But as we saw in 1989, sometimes facing facts can move people to action."

http://www.third-way.com/news/pop.htm


The management team of Third Way, and its sister organization, the Third Way Institute, is composed of political entrepreneurs who have served in senior positions in Congress and the Clinton Administration and also have extensive experience running successful national advocacy groups.


Jon Cowan
President Jim Kessler
Vice President For Policy
Matt Bennett
Vice President For Public Affairs Nancy Hale
Director of Finance & Operations
Nancy Jacobson
Senior Advisor Chad FitzGerald
Director of Development
Sean Barney
Senior Policy Advisor Aaron Scholer
Director of National Security Policy



Lewis B. Cullman
Scott Delman
John S. Dyson Robert R. Dyson
Andrew J. McKelvey Herbert S. Miller
Bernard L. Schwartz Adam Solomon
Rob Katz Claudia J. Kennedy
Thurgood Marshall, Jr.


Third Way Leadership

Jonathan Cowan (President): In 2000, Mr. Cowan founded Americans for Gun Safety, and until July 2004 served as President of AGS. AGS became, in the words of The Washington Post, the "dominant" group on the gun safety side of the gun debate - carving out a new approach on a highly polarized issue. Before founding AGS, Mr. Cowan was a Visiting Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics, teaching a course on youth and political advocacy. In the late 1990s, Mr. Cowan served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, managing a federal agency of 9,000 employees with a $27 billion annual budget. Previously, he was Senior Advisor to the HUD Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. In 1992, he co-founded Lead...or Leave, which became the nation's leading Generation X advocacy group. He was featured on the cover of U.S. News & World Report, in Time, on Nightline, 60 Minutes, the Today show and in many other media outlet as a generational spokesperson. He also co-authored Revolution X, and has published op-eds in the New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.

Jim Kessler (Vice President for Policy): Mr. Kessler served as the Director of Policy and Research at AGS for nearly four years. He joined AGS after a 12-year career on Capitol Hill, where, after serving as Legislative Director for Representative Chet Atkins and Rep./Senator Charles Schumer, he became the leading congressional expert on gun policy. As the top policy aide to Rep./Sen. Schumer, Mr. Kessler drafted dozens of newsworthy reports, including those on the GOP Contract on America, Medicare cuts to local hospitals, college tuition increases, energy shortages, and mortgage discrimination in New York. Mr. Kessler also has extensive campaign experience, including service as policy director for Charles Schumer’s successful Senate bid in 1998.

Matt Bennett (Vice President for Public Affairs): Mr. Bennett served for three years as Director of Communications and Public Affairs at AGS. He took a leave from AGS in 2004 to serve as Director of Communications for the Clark for President Campaign. Mr. Bennett came to AGS after four years in the White House, where he served as Deputy Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs, the leading White House liaison to governors. Before that, Mr. Bennett served as Trip Director and Assistant Counsel to the Vice President, where he managed Vice President Gore’s traveling staff. Mr. Bennett has served as a staff member in the Dukakis, Clinton ’92 and Clinton ’96 campaigns. He is an attorney and was a litigation associate for the Washington office of King & Spalding from 1993-1997.

Nancy Hale (Director of Finance and Operations): Ms. Hale served with the other founders of Third Way as the Managing Director of the Tides/Tsunami Fund, a 501©(4) nonprofit legislative advocacy organization that handles all of the legal, financial, human resources and other administrative support services for AGS. Ms. Hale, who left Tsunami in 2003 but continued her work with AGS as a Principal in Groundwork Strategies, has twenty years of experience in the non-profit sector, advising progressive social welfare and advocacy organizations. Ms. Hale was instrumental in formulating the mission and strategy of AGS and scores of other groups and in helping to develop their business plans, infrastructure and fundraising operations. Prior to joining Tides/Tsunami, Ms. Hale has served as a director and development consultant to a number of independent nonprofit organizations.

Nancy Jacobson (Senior Advisor): Ms. Jacobson is a longtime fundraiser. In addition to helping found Third Way, she also serves as Senior Advisor to Senator Evan Bayh, National Finance Chair for the Democratic Leadership Council, and Founder and Executive Director of Next Generation, a political action committee devoted to supporting moderate Senate candidates. Ms. Jacobson was Finance Director of the Democratic National Committee when President Clinton assumed office in 1993. Ms. Jacobson received her B.A. in Political Science from Syracuse University and a Masters in Public Relations from American University. She is married to Mark Penn, who served as pollster and strategic advisor to President Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Chad FitzGerald (Finance Director): In the 2004 election cycle, Mr. FitzGerald was Director of the West Region for America Coming Together (ACT) and held a similar position in the Lieberman for President campaign. Prior to that, Mr. FitzGerald worked as Deputy Finance Director for Senator Tom Daschle and was the Founder and Director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's High Tech and Bio Tech Council. Mr. FitzGerald began his career with Senator John Kerry's 1996 Senate campaign and soon after served as Deputy Finance Director of the Kerry Committee.

Sean Barney (Senior Policy Analyst): Prior to joining Third Way as a Senior Policy Analyst, Mr. Barney was the Policy Director for Tom Carper’s successful 2000 campaign for Senate. He subsequently joined Senator Carper’s staff, advising Carper on budget, tax, entitlements, education, foreign affairs, and defense policy. Mr. Barney previously served as a speechwriter for presidential candidate Bill Bradley. In addition to his political and legislative experience, Mr. Barney is a Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He enlisted in the spring of 2002 and now serves as a machinegunner with Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines.


Aaron Scholer (Director of National Security Policy): Dr. Scholer serves as the Director of National Security Policy at Third Way. Prior to joining Third Way, he was a Post-doctoral Fellow for National Security Affairs on the personal staff of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and the Defense Fellow and Deputy Military Legislative Assistant to Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT). Dr. Scholer has served as a Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University’s Department of Government and he has been published in such publications as Joint Forces Quarterly and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Journal. He holds a PhD in Politics and International Relations from the University of Lancaster in the United Kingdom.

Third Way Board of Trustees


Lewis B. Cullman: Mr. Cullman was the founder and president of Cullman Ventures, Inc., a diversified corporation that included the At-A-Glance group, which manufactures and markets diaries, calendars, and appointment books. He graduated from Yale University in 1941, earned an M.S. from New York University in 1942, and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy until the end of the war. Mr. Cullman was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Purdue University.

Mr. Cullman serves on the boards of General American Investors Co., Inc; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Museum of Modern Art, Neuroscience Research Foundation, Inc.; and The New York Botanical Garden. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Mr. Cullman recently authored Can’t Take It With You, The Art of Making and Giving Money. He is also Chairman of Chess-in-the-Schools, an educational organization that has taught chess to more than 300,000 economically disadvantaged students in over 300 New York City public schools in all five boroughs.

Mr. Cullman and his wife Dorothy have endowed and supported numerous institutions and their programs. These include the New York Public Library’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Scholars & Writers Program, the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center at the Library of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, and the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Science, Industry and Business Library; the American Museum of Natural History’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Hall of the Universe; and, jointly, the Museum of Natural History and New York Botanical Garden’s Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Program in Molecular Systematics. They are major contributors to Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors.


Scott Delman: As President and co-founder of Capital Z Investment Partners, Scott Delman (Yale ’82, Harvard Business School, ’86) oversees a $3 billion alternative asset management business focused on investing in hedge funds, private equity funds and structured products. His professional abilities in these areas stem from two decades of experience in international finance and investing.

Prior to forming his own firm in 1997, Mr. Delman served for three years as Executive Director of Foreign & Colonial Emerging Markets, with $5 billion in funds under management. In the early 1990’s, he served as the head of Bank of America’s Emerging Markets division, whereby he oversaw activity in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. During this time, he was also an advisor to the Egyptian government on its privatization program. During the period 1987-1990, he was a business development officer at Prudential Bache Capital Funding.

Mr. Delman serves on the International Council of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and on the Advisory Board of the International Security Studies Program at Yale University.


John S. Dyson: Mr. Dyson is Chairman of Millbrook Capital Management, Inc., a private investment firm. MCM’s business activities include managing a manufacturing company, a vineyard and wine group and a hedge fund. In addition, MCM manages direct investments and indirect investments for the Dyson Family and MCM’s executives.

From 1994-2001 Mr. Dyson worked in the administration of New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani as the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Finance (1994-1996) and as the Chairman of the Mayors Council of Economic Advisors (1997-2001).

Mr. Dyson was the Chairman of the New York Power Authority (1979-1985), the Commissioner of Commerce for New York State (1975-1979), and Commissioner of Agriculture of New York State (1974)

In 1970-1974 he worked at Dyson-Kissner-Moran, a family-owned investment company. He served as a director & co-chairman of the board in later years.

Mr. Dyson served as First Lieutenant, US Army, Military Intelligence for two years, including one year in Vietnam. He later served six months in the Pentagon on the staff of the Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence (1968-1970).

Mr. Dyson holds a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University (1967), and a Bachelor of Science Degree from Cornell University (1965), where he majored in Agricultural Economics. He is the author of Our Historic Hudson, a book on the history of the Hudson River Valley.


Robert R. Dyson: Robert “Rob” R. Dyson has a wide range of business interests and responsibilities. He is Chairman and CEO of the Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corp., a privately owned, diversified investment holding company that was founded by his father Charles H. Dyson in 1954.

The role of a community leader is one that comes naturally to Rob. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Marist College, a life member of the Board of Trustees of Cornell University and a board member of Health Quest Systems, Inc., the parent board of Vassar Brothers Medical Center and Northern Dutchess Hospital. Rob has lead the Dyson Foundation as President since 2000, distributes approximately $13,500,000 in grants annually.

Yet another interest—and passion—of Rob’s is Dyson Racing, one of the top-rated sports car racing teams in the country. Dyson racing has won almost all of the major professional International Motor Sports Association sanctioned races in the country, and has twice garnered overall wins in the prestigious Daytona 24 Hour competition. Rob continues to drive for the race team.

Rob’s degrees are from Marietta College (B.A. in Economics) and the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University (M.B.A.).


Andrew J. McKelvey: Andrew J. McKelvey, Chairman and CEO of TMP Worldwide, and a graduate of Westminster College, founded Telephone Marketing Programs (TMP) in 1967 with no capital and no clients initially. Focusing on the niche market of yellow pages advertising, TMP captured approximately a 30 percent share of the national accounts segment of the U.S. yellow pages advertising market.

Under McKelvey’s direction, TMP entered the human capital industry in 1993. In 1995, McKelvey prompted TMP’s acquisition of both The Monster Board and Online Career Center, two of the first 1,000 commercial sites on the World Wide Web. TMP Interactive was born.

Today the company’s revenue of over $1 billion is made up from Monster.com Internet revenue, recruitment advertising, mid-market selection, executive search and yellow page advertising. TMP now has more than 8,000 employees serving more than 50,000 clients in 29 countries around the world.


Herbert S. Miller: Herbert S. Miller, former CEO and Chairman of The Mills Corporation, one of America’s most innovative and successful mall developers and managers, founded Western Development Corporation (WDC) in 1967 and serves as its Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Principal Stockholder.

WDC has developed over 20 million square feet of real estate projects over the past thirty-five years. In 1985, Mr. Miller created an entirely new category of retailing in America: The Mills Concept – the value oriented super regional mall. Opened in 1985, Potomac Mills in Woodbridge, Va. was the prototype of this concept. By 1987, WDC focused its expertise in expanding the Mills concept to other major metropolitan areas.

In Washington, Mr. Miller chaired the Mayor’s Interactive Downtown Task Force that identified the development opportunities and economic incentives essential to attract a critical mass of retail, housing, and entertainment to Washington DC’s downtown. The goal being to blend retail, communications, and entertainment into the dynamic heart of an urban entertainment core.


Bernard L. Schwartz: Bernard L. Schwartz is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Loral Space & Communications Ltd., headquartered in New York City. Loral designs and manufactures large, geostationary telecommunications satellites, and provides fixed satellite services, including: broadcast transponder leasing and value-added services, domestic and international corporate data networks, broadband data transmission and Internet services.

Prior to 1996, Mr. Schwartz served for 24 years as chairman of Loral Corporation, a Fortune 200 designer and manufacturer of advanced, state-of-the-art defense systems and hardware.

Mr. Schwartz has established numerous permanent programs for the purpose of promoting constructive capitalism as the engine for economic progress. He is also a trustee of the Democratic Leadership Council and chairman of the editorial board of advisors of Blueprint, the Council’s flagship publication that examines the key issues facing the nation in the 21st century.

Mr. Schwartz graduated from City College of New York with a B.S. degree in finance. He received an honorary Doctorate of Science from City College of New York. He and his wife live in New York City and have two daughters, three granddaughters and one grandson.


Adam Solomom: Adam Solomon is Chairman of StoneWater Capital LLC, which he founded in 2004 with the mission of growing capital by investing in public markets through equity managers who think and act like private equity investors. StoneWater is distinct among fund-of-funds management firms, for its dedicated focus on public market fundamental investing.

For the prior decade, Mr. Solomon was Chairman and co-founder of Shaker Investments, Inc., an asset management firm with $2 billion under management. During his tenure, the firm's long/short fund ranked among the top ten percent of such funds.

Mr. Solomon joined Warburg Pincus in 1982, a leading global private equity/venture capital firm. As a Managing Director, he was involved in early stage venture capital, emerging growth companies, management buy-outs, and corporate restructuring. Preceding Warburg, Mr. Solomon was a Vice President in the investment banking division of Salomon Brothers, Inc. Mr. Solomon's early career began as a journalist for the Madison Capital Times covering the Wisconsin State Legislature. Later, he joined the Wisconsin State Government as the Assistant to Secretary Manuel Carballo in the Wisconsin Department of Health and Human Services.

Mr. Solomon currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Institute for International Economics, the leading think tank in international economics, and serves on the Board of Directors of Westhill Partners, a communications and political strategy firm. He is also on the Board of Directors of AmericaSpeaks, the leader in large scale citizen engagement, and Teachers Count, which delivers a wide variety of services and benefits to teachers. Mr. Solomon is also a founding board member of The Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding.

Mr. Solomon received a B.A in politics, philosophy, and economics from Oxford University and an M.S. in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is married to Vicki Rosen-Solomon, an artist.


Rob Katz: As a Third Way Trustee, Rob Katz is representing a Boulder-based partnership of investors in Third Way, including David Friedman, Al Yates and Jared Polis. Mr. Katz is associated with Apollo Management, L.P., a New York based investment fund with over $15 billion in invested capital; he joined Apollo at its founding in August 1990. Since his move to Boulder, CO in 2002, Mr. Katz transitioned to a consulting role for Apollo from his previous position as a Senior Partner of the firm.

Prior to joining Apollo, Mr. Katz was in the Mergers and Acquisitions department of Drexel Burnham Lambert. He graduated with a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania 1988. Mr. Katz has served on numerous boards of directors, including City Harvest, Inc. a New York based charity dedicated to fighting hunger. He is currently on the board of Vail Resorts, Inc., the leading North American mountain resort operator, where he serves as Lead Director. He is also Chairman of the Board of iPCS, Inc., a wireless communications operator affiliated with Sprint.


Claudia J. Kennedy: Claudia J. Kennedy is the first woman to achieve the rank of three-star general in the United States Army, taking her from the Women's Army Corps in the late 1960s to the position of Deputy Chief of Staff for Army Intelligence from 1997 to 2000.

Following in her father's footsteps, General Kennedy joined the Army in 1968. In 1969, she was commissioned a Second Lieutenant. During her career, she commanded a company, an intelligence battalion, a recruiting battalion and an intelligence brigade. As a general officer, she served as the senior intelligence officer for the U.S. Forces Command, Deputy Commanding General for the Army Intelligence Center and School.

She has received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Distinguished Service Medal and four Legions of Merits, which are awarded for "exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements."

Claudia Kennedy has been named to a list of "Best Women Role Models", and Vanity Fair's "Most Influential". She also was named to the Ladies Home Journal's "100 Most Important Women" list. General Kennedy has been honored for leadership and lifetime achievement by such organizations as Business and Professional Women (USA), Girl Scout Council of Hawaii, Women Executives and State Government, National Women's Law Center, DAR, the National Center for Women and Policy, and the Volunteers of America. General Kennedy has a B.A. degree in philosophy from Rhodes College.

She works now to help children by chairing First Star, a nonprofit corporation. Her book, Generally Speaking , was published in September 2001. She has appeared as a military consultant for NBC and CNN and widely elsewhere as a guest.


Thurgood Marshall, Jr.: Mr. Marshall practices in the Government Affairs Group at Swidler Berlin LLP. He counsels clients and devises strategies for dealing with Congress, the Executive Branch, and independent regulatory agencies and provides internal guidance regarding ethics compliance and corporate governance.

Prior to joining the Firm, Mr. Marshall served as a member of the White House senior staff, holding the position of Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary from 1997 to 2001. In that position, he was the liaison between the President and the agencies of the Executive Branch. He also directed White House response to natural disasters and transportation emergencies, including commercial aircraft crashes. Mr. Marshall served as Vice Chair of the White House Olympic Task Force and, in that capacity, coordinated the involvement of the Federal Government in its preparations for the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Prior to his appointment as Cabinet Secretary in July 1997, Mr. Marshall was the Director of Legislative Affairs and Deputy Counsel for Vice President Al Gore. He managed all of the Vice President’s legislative activities, held a position on the Senate leadership staff, and played a leading role on a wide range of legislative priorities throughout the first term of the Clinton Administration. Mr. Marshall served previously as a counsel with the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, as well as the Governmental Affairs Committee. He worked extensively on legislative initiatives ranging from antitrust, criminal procedure, corporate crime, insurance, intellectual property, telecommunications, to consumer protection, transportation safety, and product liability.

Mr. Marshall began his legal career as a law clerk to the United States District Judge Barrington D. Parker (D.D.C.) and practiced corporate law before moving to Capitol Hill.

http://www.third-way.com/leadership/

[Sunshine]

What date did that get published?

[mommadona]

Third Way is a new and unique political organization: a strategy center for progressives.

Third Way develops policy and communications products to help senators and other progressive leaders better advance their values in red states and counties where progressive ideas have lost resonance.

Oh, great - if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em.....

"SPONSORED" ThinkTanks are the BANE of civilization. Just SECULAR alternatives to ORGANIZED religion.

No ----- WAIT-------I jumped too quick.....

Looked at the thread title again.



BUT (Larrrrge Caveat) IF THEY CAN HIT THE GROUND RUNNING ON THE WHITE SANDS SPEED TRACK.

I would suggest comic books as a vehicle. It worked in China.

This post has been edited by mommadona: Oct 6 2005, 08:56 PM

[Marine]

What date did that get published?

Just in the last couple of days

http://www.third-way.com/news/tw_pop.pdf

Here is a link to the full document, it's long but very worthwhile reading. It's a good sign that somebody is paying attention to how to win at the DNC (finally).

[Beamer]

I distrust this organization because of its affiliation with the DLC and because it's like the Clinton administration in exile - it's like they want their government jobs back.

Plus, I disagree with with them that the following is a myth:

The myth of mobilization is the belief that the key to Democratic victory is to energize the base and bring them to the polls in record numbers.

I would listen to an organization like Campaign for America's Future http://www.ourfuture.org/. This is truly a progressive organization.

[Sunshine]

"The myth of language holds that the problem with the Democratic Party is not what it advocates, but rather how it speaks. "

This is the key statement IMHO.

It is absurd to suggest the Dems need to change what they believe.

In fact, Dems are right on most issues IMHO.

Dems have also been right about national defense. We were much safer under Clinton and our military became much stronger under him, whereas under Bush it has become weaker.

I think Dems have problems, not with espousing what they believe (though there are some challenges), but in figuring out how to convince Americans that the GOP is lying about what they believe.

[TheRestofUs]

"The myth of language holds that the problem with the Democratic Party is not what it advocates, but rather how it speaks. "

This is the key statement IMHO.

It is absurd to suggest the Dems need to change what they believe.

In fact, Dems are right on most issues IMHO.

Dems have also been right about national defense.  We were much safer under Clinton and our military became much stronger under him, whereas under Bush it has become weaker.

I think Dems have problems, not with espousing what they believe (though there are some challenges), but in figuring out how to convince Americans that the GOP is lying about what they believe.

I agree with this. I have pointed out that NO honest person wants to associate with corruption. It serves NO ONE but the corrupt. The Dems need to learn how to speak to the Average American. Then they need to stand for their ideas, understand the cultural concerns of many conservatives that are legitimate, and stand for honesty and integrity in Government! Any Dem involved in corruption needs to be drummed out of the Party!

[Frenchy]

The myth of mobilization is the belief that the key to Democratic victory is to energize the base and bring them to the polls in record numbers.

Don't you have to have an energizing message to do that?

[Chris]

Don't you have to have an energizing message to do that?

Nothing is more encouraging than "Once we get in office we will raise your taxes by as much as possible and provide you with more useless government programs that waste $.66 of every tax dollar you give us."

Democrats would be coming out in droves!

[Frenchy]

Nothing is more encouraging than "Once we get in office we will raise your taxes by as much as possible and provide you with more useless government programs that waste $.66 of every tax dollar you give us."

Democrats would be coming out in droves!

So in other words...The message is the same as the Republicans?

[Chris]

So in other words...The message is the same as the Republicans? 

It would be similar...Republicans create the same useless programs and waste the same $.66 or more of every tax dollar. The only difference is that Republicans just spend and don't tax. So they are just postponing the inevitablity of even higher taxes than the Democrats. Hmmm...I think it's something called INTEREST.

[Sunshine]

The reality is that our tax revenues are too low for the spending ALL AMERICANS want.

Americans DO NOT want FEMA cut.

Americans DO NOT want CDC cut.

Americans DO NOT want Nasa's moon/mars missions cut.

Americans DO NOT want Aids research/aide cut.

Americans DO want Tamiflu to be readily available to all citizens--not just the military.

The list goes on.

But Bush's scorched earth economics policies will require such cuts.

YET - The Dems have a hard time being courageous about the need to raise tax revenues. This is because they DO NOT listen to Sunshine. This is how the Dems should explain the need to restore fiscal sanity in the USA: We Dems support an overhaul of the IRS, the tax code and the budget process so that tax rates will be fair and sufficient and EASY, such that pork spending will be eliminated and essential programs like FEMA and the CDC will not be gutted as Bush is doing, and so that we achieve balanced budgets with occassional and slight surplusses to offset the occassional and slight deficits that are bound to occur in any healthy economy when unforeseen expenses like natural disasters strike.

Of course, they will need to provide tantalizing details on how such a reform will work, but I'll leave that to the imagination of elected Democrats to work out.

[Sunshine]

It would be similar...Republicans create the same useless programs and waste the same $.66 or more of every tax dollar. The only difference is that Republicans just spend and don't tax. So they are just postponing the inevitablity of even higher taxes than the Democrats. Hmmm...I think it's something called INTEREST.

Under current fiscal policy, the US is driving up the percentage of the annual budget that goes to paying off bind interest/debt. We are accelerating the rise of that percentage with these trillions of new and future debt. Future generations will have to cope with larger budgets that pay for fewer services. Later, when China and other countries pull out their investments, the USA will no longer be able to fund critical services such as CDC, FEMA, etc, because we will be using all available revenues to pay off bind interest and fund the military. Bush is creating a major financial crisis for our children.

[Frenchy]

The taxes will come back regardless of which party is in power. As Sunshine said...Americans want their programs. Now if we could just get those Beltway Bottom Feeders to spend it wisely...!

[Sunshine]

The taxes will come back regardless of which party is in power. As Sunshine said...Americans want their programs. Now if we could just get those Beltway Bottom Feeders to spend it wisely...!

yep!