A Democratic Contract with America

[quaoar]

When the Republicans got their ass handed to them in 1992, they regrouped. Frank Luntz got together focus groups and found what people wanted to hear from politicians about issues. From that was born the Contract with America.

The beauty of The Contract with America was not what was in it because they never lived up to it.

The beauty of the Contract was that it clearly laid out what the Republican Party stood for and it nationalized the 1994 congressional elections. That's why they won. They did not fight 435 separate fights. They fought one battle. It was simple and easy for voters to understand.

And that's what we need to do. We can call it something else, but we need to draw up a statement of principles -- what the Democratic Party stands for and what we will fight to accomplish if we are elected to Congress.

And with the help of Dean, MoveOn and others, we need to amass a large war chest and fund candidates willing to run under that banner. And we need to contest as many seats as possible -- not just a strategic few we think might be winnable.

So what do you think? What would you like to see in the Contract?

[Larkspur]

1. The DLC chiefs will veto it if Dean and MoveOn write it

[Tesibria]

2. YES!!!

The ONLY way to take our country back -- is to take our party back.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

3. This is what I wanted all along.

Democrats should do whatever it takes to win. "Little Lies" will get us there. I don't care about the "promises". We just need to get the Country back.

[Nite Owl]

4. I was thinking that too

last night but will Dems stick together the way that they did? That's something we don't do well. If we stick with the same leadership it won't happen.

[ThoughtCriminal]

5. Yes - vital idea

On almost every level, the next two years are going to be hell for almost every American. By 2006, the situation is likey to be desperate.

[LisaLynne]

6. It's a good idea.

People have forgotten or just don't know what the Dem party is supposed to stand for. We need to clearly spell it out for them so they can see the difference. Then, we need to get the word out there. It's really a process.

We need to go back to being for civil rights and for the working class, more and more becoming the working poor. People have acted afraid to shout "Class warfare", but what is happening? The Republicans have declared war against the lower classes. Not to mention women and all races that are not white. We need to speak to that.

[Nicky Scarfo]

8. ditto. ditto. ditto. right on, sister.

[Nicky Scarfo]

7. I'm surprised they didn't do it already.

It amazes me that Dems have learned so little from the Repugs' organizational successes. Everyone is too interested in playing the blame game and focusing on voter turnout for the next election than looking at reality, engaging in some self-criticism, and then laying out a long-term strategy to get our shit together organizationally speaking.

[David__77]

9. Yes, and Dean is the man with the vision for this.

We can and will come back stronger than most expect. I will not dump on Kerry. He ran a good campaign, and I don't blame him for conceding.

But I was a Dean supporter and think that he really had the aggressive, national-based strategy that we need to build a working coalition. I don't wish for bad things to happen to this country, but there will be a serious decline in US prestige in the next few years.

We came very close to toppling a "wartime president," which would really be unprecedented. Let's not whine and wring our hands, please! Let's conduct ourselves with optimism and dignity. Let's build left infrastructure and move on from here!

[quaoar]

11. Dean won my respect

when he started running ads in Texas. He was taking the fight straight to Bush on his home turf.

[info being]

10. Good idea. But what is it gonna say? That's the problem.

[quaoar]

12. So make a suggestion

[quaoar]

13. kick