Not that the Democrats Need Another Piece of Advice but this one nailed it

[umtalal]

From the Los Angeles Times

EDITORIAL
Democrats and the God Gap

November 7, 2004

<snip>

Democrats are getting free advice from all over. We do not agree with those who say the Democratic Party must embrace moral issues as now defined by conservatives and exploited by Republican strategists. Opposition to gay marriage and abortion rights will always be Republican issues, and the Democrats shouldn't want them.

What the Democrats should do is recast their own issues in moral terms. It shouldn't be hard. Democrats seem oblivious to their platform's moral potency: innocent children suffering because their families can't get health insurance; platoons of young men and women dying in a war that didn't have to be; the pillaging of God's green Earth. Those are "values" issues too, but the Democrats haven't figured out how to frame them that way.

Those voters who think liberals are godless monsters who care only about gay marriage and personal freedom are mostly decent, well-meaning people. Can it really be impossible to persuade them that they don't want to live in a country where 50 million people have no health insurance?


http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-soul7nov07,1,5163938.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

[acmavm]

1. Yes, this is the time for Democrats to claim the moral high ground from

those that wallow in the ooze and slime of corporate corruption and lies and deceit from those claiming they have a 'mandate' to tear this country to shreds.

[Eric J in MN]

2. Kerry and Edwards weren't pro-gay-marriage, nor

was Bill Clinton.

Democrats should clarify that issue by supporting state laws against gay-marriage (which don't also ban civil unions) or a federal constituationl amendment against gay-marriage (which doesn't also ban civil unions.)

[hollywood926]

3. Thanks - couldn't agree more n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. kick

[umtalal]

5. thank you DU'rs keep it kicking and it will reach the majority on the DU.

[dogman]

6. We've had that for some time.

Jesse jackson has said this for years. The RW demonizes him as socialist and shameless self-promoter. The MSM jumps aboard and he is discounted . Wes Clark ran these issues in his primary fight and was completely ignored and again given no MSM coverage. The MSM amplifies B$$$ morals(oxymoron) and ignores us. This has been the pattern throughout this election cycle.

[Union Thug]

7. "Godless" people such as myself...

are tired of the 'morals' snowjob that so many born-againers are spinning. What is moral is in understanding that all humans have worth and have the right to healthcare, living wages, and an education.

The religious moralists have given a big FU to the same human beings their so called 'god' is said to love. Belief in an afterlife takes the focus off the present life. Dump the religious context and get real.

[Maeve]

9. One disagreement

Belief in the afterlife and that someday these right-wing haters are going to hear "Boy, did you ever get ME wrong! Get outta here!" by God is one of my sustaining happy-thoughts.

Half-jest and full-serious....

[Union Thug]

13. HA! I really wish that I believed that..

they would get theirs in the great beyond.

[autorank]

8. "Reasons for Losing" a Rigged Election are Meaningless Until...

...we determine if the election was rigged. There would be none of this "God Gap" stuff if the votes had been counted properly. This should be the position at this moment because there is reason to seriously question much of what went down 11/2.

Until we know if we really won, these topics are meaningless. Would be even be asking this of we won.

Corporate America controls the media and we get manufactured news.
Corporate America now controls the voting machines and we get manufactured elections.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

[Senior citizen]

10. They can be persuaded.

"Can it really be impossible to persuade them that they don't want to live in a country where 50 million people have no health insurance?"

Years ago I was in line for a flu shot with a conservative Navy wife who told me that she wanted everyone to have access to health care, but she was against socialized medicine.

All it takes to persuade them is to frame the issues from a moral viewpoint so that they can understand that they have been prevented from getting what they want by people who mislabelled it.

[Catt03]

11. We should not put religion in the mix

Clinton, Gore, Kerry and Edwards are very religious people. they are uncomfortbale wearing it on their sleeves and I agree with them.

The key statements, in reading this article are

Democrats seem oblivious to their platform's moral potency: innocent children suffering because their families can't get health insurance; platoons of young men and women dying in a war that didn't have to be; the pillaging of God's green Earth. Those are "values" issues too, but the Democrats haven't figured out how to frame them that way.

Spiritual not religion. This is a start anyway.

[Justyce]

12. The Rep.'s managed a long time ago to

draw attention away from the bottom line with tag lines & baffling everyone w/ B.S. They managed to snag the label of the 'moral party' which is nothing more than an ad slogan. The bottom line is, was, and always will be that rep's work to help the rich & dem's work to help the working & poor. If you don't have a stable economy in which the citizens can survive, let alone prosper, then how can you even begin to address the other issues. You will notice most elderly people seem to vote Dem, because they've lived it. Just my opinion. And for those in the south, I remember a line in one of Alabama's songs about the depression "Daddy was a veteran, a southern democrat - they oughta get a rich man to vote like that."

[Jade Fox]

14. Wait a minute. Who made Gay marriage an issue?

How many times did Kerry/Edwards talk about health insurance? About a
millions times, as I recall.

The Republicans knew both gay marriage and abortion would make people
go all stupid and not listen to logical arguments about real issues that
effect their lives. because behind both gay marriage and abortion is sex.
Nothing seems to make people act stupider in this culture than things
that make them think about sex they're not having. Except maybe race.
Bring up sex or race with the Southerners and the Chisto-Totalitarians
and you've got them squirming. Then tell them you will make it go away.

I don't know what to do about this. I wish I did. But I see nothing in this
article that really helps.