I'm sick of the Democratic party

[AmericanLiberal]

I am only 20 years old but I have been a Democrat ever since I was interested in politics. The only problem now is that the party leadership is stupid and incompetent. I honestly do not see Kerry winning this year. And I don't see the Democrats keeping all their seats in the House and Senate either. And that's not just because of the retiring Senators in the South or Texas redistricting. What I DO see is that at least a couple of Supreme Court justices will be retiring between now and 2008 and they will be confirmed by Republican supermajorities in Congress. I'm sick of seeing issues where we were the majority being eroded like gay marriage. I'm sick of allowing others to paint us as not serious on terrorism and national defense when most liberals live in areas that are most likely to be threatened by terrorism. I'm sick of being told to hope that the economy gets worse, as if a good economy prevented Gore from losing in 2000. I'm sick of Kerry and his constant pointing, his cruising to the nomination on 11% turnout then making nothing but gaffes on the real campaign, and his flip-flopping on the issues. God knows Bush flip flopped in 4 years more than he did in 19, but that still doesn't mean he's excused from defending himself. I'm sick of losing the suburban vote, which is the future. I'm sick of allowing this country to be as polarized as it is by political hucksters and those who carpetbag from the world of marketing and invection to make money. I'm sick of allowing one side to dominate talk radio and politics oriented news. Of former "Democrats" like Zell Miller coming out and switching parties. I'm sick of corporations controlling the FCC, the DC Court of Appeals, and soon the Supreme Court. I'm sick of secrecy and corruption in this government. Most of all I'm sick of Terry McAuliffe and his "we could have done a lot worse" attitude. He should have been replaced after the 2002 elections.

[displacedtexan]

1. Do something about it.

Get over to your local county Dem party HQ and get involved. The party needs you!

[Aquarian_Conspirator]

12. I'm sick of it too!!!

But I'm not giving up. You should link up with Democracy for America, the newest incarnation of Howard Dean's former presidential campaign. Dean brought me, and many others like myself, into the democratic wing of the democratic party. Dean may have been assassinated by the corporate media, but the movement he inspires, the grassroots movement which raised more money for a democratic candidate in democratic party history and brought millions of disaffected voters and former greens like myself into the party... well, we have only just begun to fight. And we won't stop until we take the party back! Take a look at our new mission:

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/features/2004/03/17/a_new_day.php

I highly recommend you visit the next Democracy for America meet-up in your area (April 7th). Talk to people and get fired up. It's the perfect cure for your justified frustration:

http://dean2004.meetup.com/

And remember, don't just get angry, have fun!

[Kathleen04]

15. How do you find your local county HQ?

I don't even think there is one here, if there is then I'm having no luck finding it or getting any info...

[Aquarian_Conspirator]

18. Here's how.

It's actually so simple that a lot of people don't even think of it. But you can find your nearest county democratic party HQ in the yellowpages. You can go right now to
http://www.yellowpages.com/Index.aspx
Just type, democratic, into the, "Name:", box, select your state, and you'll see all the democratic party organizations in your state.

[Kathleen04]

19. Aha thanks!

We have something here called SMARTpages and I tried that, but turned up nothing..but I used the Yellow Pages and found something!

Thanks again. :)

[FARAFIELD]

2. i have an idea

Im always interested in people that complain but dont have any solutions.

[ixion]

3. I'd like to see them moving towards their base

rather than towards the center. That's the reason for alot of the issue you site. The dems are constantly playing the defensive end of the game, allowing repugs to frame the arguments, which is half the battle.

The Dem leadership needs to get progressive, and get a spine. ;-)

[AmericanLiberal]

4. Had to vent

I agree ixion. Farafield I knew I was going to get that but I had to vent. The thing that makes me hopeful is that there are some things being done, such as trying to get on the radio waves, and doing more intellectual research.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. Hey, AmericanLiberal,

Democracy for America is one group which, I believe, will be watching the Democratic Party and reminding them of their populist base. Air America is due to start soon, and locals around here have been doing underground radio broadcasts since the protests last year. And look how many people have jumped the Bush ship-O'Neill and Clarke are very credible, especially if you listen to them. Fresh Air had O'Neill on a while back, and Clarke is due to be on the show tomorrow.

[FARAFIELD]

9. I didnt neccessarily mean

that your ideas were off. Simply that you had no alternative. We all get frustrated, especially when i hear conservatives talk about MEDIA BIAS!! Be better informed thats the key

[a_random_joel]

5. There's one thing that should trump all of your "sickness"

4 more years.

I'm sick of stolen elections.
I'm sick of pre-emptive war against phantoms.
I'm sick of dead soldiers.
I'm sick of bungled opportunities to prevent terror.
I'm sick of my country being hated by the rest of the world.
I'm sick of smirking wanna-be cowboys.
I'm sick of hidden energy task force meetings.
I'm sick of Tom Delay's smug ass.
I'm sick of the strangled middleclass being squeezed to give tax cuts to the top 1%.
I'm sick of lies.
I'm sick of misrepresentations.
I'm sick of character assassination.
I'm sick of the outing of clandestine CIA agents.
I'm sick of the future draft (you're 20, huh?)
I'm sick of Social Security going bankrupt.
I'm sick of people losing their jobs.
I'm sick of rising gas prices.
I'm sick of rising health care costs.
I'm sick of 43 Million being uninsured.
I'm sick of poisoned air and water.


I can keep going... really, I can.

[AmericanLiberal]

13. Here's the worst

The worst is giving billions of dollars and selling uranium to the country that harbors Al Qaeda (the Pakistani army isn't that stupid get real, they're just putting on a show to satisfy the American public), that harbors the worst nuclear proliferator in human history (now Al Qaeda says it has nukes), which gave nukes to Libya and North Korea and who knows who else. A country that is the world's second largest dictatorship. A country that started a proxy war against the world's largest democracy, a war that has killed 50,000 people. Also a country that created the Taliban. And these conservative dolts still believe Bush when he says it was Iraq, not Saudi Arabia or Pakistan or Egypt or Israel, which is creating the worst problems for the U.S. How can they be so unreal.

[Lorien]

16. The worst is ignoring Global warming,

biodiversity loss, and the poisoning of what's left of our environment. This could easily END US within our lifetimes, and is a far greater threat to every human on earth than Al-Qaeda. The Bush* regime seems eager to speed up the process, but at least with Kerry (I'm not at all wild about him, but he's who we were given) we stand a small chance of at least delaying what seems inevitable.

I feel your pain, believe me, I do.

[OneBlueSky]

6. it's not so much stupidity and incompetance as it is . . .

being totally compromised by the corporatocracy/theocracy/mediaocracy that has taken over this country during the BushCo years . . . if they, the Democratic Party, are not part of the solution -- and I have yet to see much evidence that they are -- then they're part of the problem . . . I'm not optimistic . . . mildly hopeful, but not optimistic . . .

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. Get out there and do what we old fogeys do

Talk to people one on one. Find out what is really bothering them. Relate it to one of the numerous things Bush has done-that part is easy. Then make sure they are registered to vote. People don't always believe what the idiot box says-if they are concerned about an issue, they'll talk about it-and they'll want a lot of facts. Bone up on the facts, or promise to find out about them, and get back with them.

Welcome to DU, AmericanLiberal. Don't give up hope-just take it one day at a time-but keep telling the truth on the Rethugs. They hate it, but can't do a darned thing about it!

[AmericanLiberal]

10. I will

Thank you ayeshahaqqiqa. I am not giving up hope right now. Eventually this country will get back on the right track. I don't know when though.

[patricia92243]

11. Great to see young people taking an active interest to their future. When

I was 20, I'm not be sure that I knew who was president.

[AmericanLiberal]

14. the young are more active-- but still much less than 60s

A lot of young people now are becoming more political than 5 or 10 years ago; that was because of September 11. But for me it was even earlier, I have been following it to some degree for 7 years.

[MonicaR]

22. If more of them did..

The RepubliKKKans would be back to minority party status.

[Lexingtonian]

17. politics isn't therapy

It's how people deal with people they don't like short of using bricks and two by fours.

Politics is generally the opposite of cool. It's all about the morons and incompetents and the ugly sides of life and unresolved traumas, immaturity and abuses and theft.

It's a little sad that you are still a bit too unaware of what happened before you became aware of this arena and the game in it, and at what price what we have there now really came. In 1993 and 1994 most of us were violently upset with the Democrats on Capitol Hill for their sheer cowardice and incompetence and senility and in many cases, personal conservatism. The only thing worse than watching the opposition party running the country into the ground is your own party in a paralyzed majority, unwilling to do anything to save it. The defeat of 1994 was terrible but also the beginning of renewal. We probably have twice as many liberal Senators now than we did then and what our side of the House is willing to stand up for now is also a world apart.

Most of us have had to watch and go through a lot more than you have, and I don't mean this to be patronizing. The Bork nomination to the Supreme Court really changed the tone in Congress and by 1990 Gingrich really had changed the cozy competition there into everything just short of warfare. We've been through fourteen or sixteen years of this level of vile incivility and abuse- and things were slimy and moderately crooked and illiberal long before them.

Contrary to what you think, in some ways now is as good as things have been in a long time. Racism and gay bashing and male chauvinism are at far lower levels than when I was your age. Roe v. Wade looked likely to get overturned. The Parties are distinctive in ways other than displayed kinds of provincialism. Religious dogmatism is out in the open. There are people who aren't poisoned by ideologies. There are no more 'respectable' conservative intellectuals pretending to be something other than political propagandists.

I think you have a good amount to learn about your fellow Americans yet. This may be the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, but few of them live that way- especially so-called conservatives.

As for your stated pessimism/resentments, why don't you look at the popular vote percentages of Democrats in the last three Presidential elections. You will be seeing a Democratic majority in this country for the first time in forty years in November and taking over Congress in '07. As for your bitching about Kerry, I hope you have the decency to apologize when you catch on to how and why he wins all the crucial battles.

None of us created the world, and most of us got dispensed a significantly more difficult and imperfect one than you have. Someday you might be a little more grateful and aware of how many lives went into making it work to the extent it does, even if no one sane thinks it anywhere near the potential it has. Good luck doing your part when you put your shoulder to the wheel.

[flaminbats]

20. sick of being a democrat, or just sick of losing?

If you're sick of losing, giving up on the Democratic Party is not the solution. If you're tired of freedom and democracy, then W is your candidate. If you're tired because of 9/11 and terrorism, then don't reward the failed policies of those in power during this disaster with a vote. If you're sick of losing in the suburbs, don't vote for Republicans who have seen this traditional base being slowly eroded in recent years. If you're sick of seeing people like Zell switch parties, vote against them in favor of someone who will not. If you're sick of not being taken seriously on politics, try having a reason for voting other than winning....one cannot win votes without reason, but one must provide reasons to win voters.

All party members feel the same when in the minority, Republicans used to whine about this nonstop before 1994.

[dryan]

21. Amen Corner

The way to change things is to quit bitching and get in there and fight.