A Reform Democrat - Part II

by Steve in Sacto, Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 08:31:39 PM EST

Over the past months the rallying cry in the run-up leading to the successful election of Howard Dean as the DNC party chairman has been "I am a reform Democrat!" In the context of a debate over leadership of the party machinery, the focus on this "reform" message was rightly on grass/net-roots tactics, infrastructure and a more inclusive, bottom-up leadership role in the party. And behind this rallying cry we've we won some important victories in electing Dean, the emergence of BlogPac as a net-based leader in the Social Security fight (tip of the hat, of course, to Josh Marshall, too), the State Party Blog Project etc. Organizationally, we are on the move.

However, as we move forward to the policy fights and party positioning leading up to the mid-terms next year it is imperative that we expand the "Reform Democrat" franchise to these arenas. As we have seen today, there is a continuing tension between the reactionary wing of the party, which believes we can return to the glory days of honorable bipartisanship and the reality-based net community, which sees an evil which must be defeated and replaced. It is time to mobilize for this fight over what it means to be a Democrat, how we are going to position the party to attract a majority of voters -- in short, how can we be truly new, proud Democrats.

With this focus on building a new, forward-looking, broad-based party,

I am a Reform Democrat:

    For the abolition of corporate lobbying corruption of our lawmakers

    For a fair, progressive tax code that rewards hard work, not fat-cat contributors

    For fair trade and the export of products, not jobs

    For fiscal responsibility, not borrowing from foreigners and handing the bill to our children

    For protection of consumers and workers

    For the ability of every person to live by their own moral code -- Kansas doesn't have to be San Francisco and vis versa

    For personal privacy and the right to be left alone from government interference in private lives

    For tolerance of all cultures and lifestyles (I strongly dissent from the anti-south sentiment in the comments here)

    For a strong military that honors service and keeps its promises to veterans

    For an affirmative strategy that fights terrorists instead of creating new terrorist havens

    For a return of our government to the people

Note this platform is not tax and spend liberalism -- it makes no big, new spending proposals -- but instead is aimed at creating a progressive populist positioning for the party that would position it as the vehicle to remove the corrupt GOP cabal that now controls the federal government. Most importantly, it's a platform/positioning that can play in all regions and doesn't require full progressive ideological commitment to join in the greater cause of returning control of the government to ordinary people.  Only the most die-hard corporate/DLC honks could have a problem with this.

This list is by no means complete, but it is an opening salvo:

I am a Reform Democrat.




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Bravo! (none / 0)

I'm trying to figure out exactly what Sen. Biden, Lieberman and Feinstein think they stand for. Biden was on MTP talking about making a decision about whether to run for President in '08. There are apparently a number of DLC reactionaries who think there is an outcry for pastel centrists without opinions on the vital issues of our day.

These people are like old mules who are very good at plowing a straight line, but don't have a clue what to do when confronted with an obstacle. Who do they think they are going to be bi-partisan with?

No retreat! No surrender!

by Gary Boatwright on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 08:49:52 PM EST

You sound like... (none / 0)

...Ralph Nader, in his 2000 announcement speech. (And that's a compliment!)
by craverguy on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 09:01:07 PM EST

Re: You sound like... (none / 0)

But without all the Green dogma and baggage.  A guy driving a pickup with a confederate flag decal can get behind my sort of libertarian/progressive list, but wouldn't be caught dead being hanging with Ralph and the Green kool-aid drinkers.
by Steve in Sacto on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 09:11:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: You sound like... (none / 0)

He would if he listened to Ralph for five minutes. One of the editorial staff of American Conservative did, and then endorsed him for president.
by craverguy on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 09:22:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: You sound like... (none / 0)

Justin Raimondo is editorial director of Antiwar.com.

Doesn't exactly look like a pickup driving confederate to me...

by Steve in Sacto on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 09:32:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: You sound like... (none / 0)

The magazine's mission statement.

Just because you're antiwar, doesn't make you a liberal. A good example would be Michael Peroutka, the 2004 Constitution Party candidate for president, who really is a pickup-driving Confederate.

by craverguy on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 09:48:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

True Conservatives are anti-war (none / 0)

The epitomy of the true conservative view of war is Pat Buchanan's phrase "A Republic, Not an Empire".
by jcjcjc on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 11:02:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: True Conservatives are anti-war (none / 0)

Yeah, I take that view. My thoughts on conflicts with foreign countries go something like this:

"If they don't start nothin', there won't be nothin'."

by craverguy on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 11:16:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The problem with war (none / 0)

Is that there is no cure for stupid.

You can't fix a place like Afghanistan without acts verging on genocide (even then, the Mongols tried it, and all that did was render the whole country unarable and make the tribes there even pissier).  

We should have captured Osama and left.  We've done neither.

Instead, we're sitting there refighting battles that were fought by the British, the Soviets, and the Khans.

It's absurd to believe that we're really reversing thousands of years of history with some ephemeral notion of liberty that is largely just a cultural archetype of English, Norse and Celtic peoples that framed our particular civilization long before the New World was ever known.

The 21st Century will be remembered as the time when Manifest Destiny was halted by the unwillingness of Americans to be realistic about military adventures.

by jcjcjc on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 11:41:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: You sound like... (none / 0)

Of course the Democratic Party is comparatively baggage free.
Rrrinnggg... Time to change the government.
by Carl Nyberg on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 09:28:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Amen (none / 0)

I am a Reform Democrat.
by blogswarm on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 10:35:58 PM EST

Please add a military reform (none / 0)

I want the government to stop overpaying for stealth bombers we don't use and start paying the infantryman a decent amount.

It is absurd that our military is now dragooning high-tech units trained to handle mutli-billion dollar equiment to fight infantry battles in Iraq.

Worse, it's pathetic that no internal review process was allowed to become policy, despite the desperate efforts of the USMC to get a move toward infantry warfare implemented in the aftermath of wars in the Balkans, Chechnya, the Congo, and East Africa.

The USMC made an explicit point of trying to explain to the Pentagon and Congress, as early as 1994 (during the Siege of Sarajevo) that modern warfare requires infantry, not stealth bombers.

But, given that the Pentagon has never been anything but a slush fund for Boeing and friends, it's hardly a surprise.

As a Reform Democrat, I want to see real military reform end the practice of overpaying for weapons systems that the military never wanted in the first place.

by jcjcjc on Tue Mar 01, 2005 at 11:00:53 PM EST

I am a reform Democrat... (none / 0)

GREAT THREAD!  My additions:

For the right of every American to breathe clean air and drink clean water, and to continue to find ways to help improve our air and water quality, both from the private sector and in government

For responsible conservation of natural resources, so that they can be used by both current and future generations

For development and use of resources that increases benefit for the American public, rather than corporate entities profiting at our expense.

For the ability of small businesses to grow and profit, to find solutions that help small businesses provide benefits for their employees (such as health care) that will allow small business to develop a motivated, reliable work force.

For a fair, progressive tax code that rewards hard working small businesses, not just fat-cat multinational corporations

For local control of the education of our children and providing help to locales with underperforming schools that still treats parents and teachers with respect

For taking responsibility for oneself and one's children

For minimizing unnecessary lawsuits, but protecting our right for redress when we are wronged and allowing our peers to determine the value of our injuries.

I, too, am a reform Democrat.

by The lurking ecologist on Wed Mar 02, 2005 at 09:35:24 AM EST


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