I'M SICK AND TIRED OF HEARING.........

[Proud Liberal Dem]

that the Democrats do not have any good ideas, are irrelevant, and basically not doing anything other than being "obstructionist" and frustrating the GOP's efforts to ram through their policies (which of course, as we all know but stubbornly refuse to accept, are SO much better than anything that we Dems have done for the country over the past century). This seems to have become the standard GOP talking point and it is something that I think we need to attack with all available force because, unfortunately, it seems to be on the minds of the general public (at least among those that care). What people may not understand even though it should be painfully obvious is:

1.)The MSM does not report any initiatives that the Dems ARE working on like election reform or health care for children. If their ideas don't get reported by the MSM, then of course people are going to think Dems don't have them. Of course, election reform and health care for children just isn't as "exciting" as the MJ trial, Paris Hilton, and the so-called "runaway bride."
2.)Democrats cannot get anything their ideas passed into law because the GOP controls both houses of Congress and the Presidency and in the House and to some extent the Senate they have been shut out of most of the lawmaking process. Unfortunately, unless the Dems retake the Senate and/or the House, they will pretty much continue to be shut out/ignored by the GOP who have absolutely NO interest in bipartisanship.
3.)It is the job, nay the DUTY of the party currently not in power to represent their constituents and their party NOT to simply let the majority party ram anything and everything through. If the Dems let the GOP ram whatever what they want through without fighting it or at least trying to alter some of the worst aspects of it, then what's the point of having somebody represent us? I know the GOP would love to completely crush the Dems once and for all and they LIKE to pretend that since they have a majority in both houses that the majority of people in this country support their goals and policies but there is obviously still a large chunk of people out there who don't support most of what the GOP is trying to do even among some conservatives who have traditionally supported the GOP. Oh, and does the MSM ever mention how "obstructionist" the GOP was during the Clinton years? The GOP effectively "obstructed" health care reform ensuring that the system remained broken and that (now) millions of Americans don't have health insurance or can barely pay for it if at all. The GOP didn't even promote any alternative ideas or try to work with Clinton and the Dems to try to fix it. They just shouted it down every chance they got and eventually helped kill it and instead of being punished, they were richly rewarded for their "obstructionism" with the 1994 GOP takeover and continued GOP electoral wins.
4.)A bad idea is still a bad idea. If the GOP would stop proposing and promoting harmful, hateful, and probably unconstitutional legislation (and if the Dems would STOP going along with some of the truly awful stuff!), maybe the Dems might be willing to really work with the GOP on some issues to but, unfortunately, it WON'T happen because the current GOP is intent on mercilessly ramming through their agenda no matter what the cost even if it means rule changes, shutting Dems out, twisting arms, bribes, phony numbers, propoganda, and the rest of their bag of dirty tricks. There are almost no reasonable Republicans for the Dems left to work with anymore. Does the public REALLY believe that just because somebody doesn't support a given policy that they are somehow not justified in their refusal to support it?

Does anybody else out there have any ideas how we can help fight this image of Dems?

[Warpy]

1. We're stuck with it while the DLC is still running things

because they're the ones shifting the party over to GOP-lite policies that favor the well to do, the yuppies and wealthier suburbanites, over the traditional working class base of the party. They seem like they don't have any new ideas because they don't, just the same tired old ideas that have lost the party all three branches of government.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

3. Good point

That's another thing we NEED to do: Stop "pretending" to be GOP! Doing so only alienates the people we NEED to have voting for us (the poor, working class, minorities, gays & lesbians) and does NOTHING for trying to get members of the religious right, NRA, etc. to vote for us. They already have a party, the GOP, who promotes their agenda. Do we REALLY want to support/promote THEIR policies just to win? If we win, what have won? Any victory via this strategy would be phyrriac at best. We could end up being as beholden to them as the GOP is (but doesn't know it yet) to them? Do we want to win (but won't) so bad that we want to give groups like Focus on the Family, Operation Rescue a HELPING HAND in promoting their anti-choice, anti-gay, anti-liberal anything agenda? Is this really WHAT we aspire to? If so, then what's the point of even being a Democrat anymore? We should just change our voter registration to GOP and be done with it!

[AntiCoup2K4]

2. Well, obviously, they should stop voting FOR the fascist bullshit.

The pukes can't call it "obstructionist" when they control both houses and all the committees. Democrats should vote in solidarity against EVERYTHING proposed by these fascists. If it's so repulsive that not even the Republicans will vote lock step in favor of it, then it deserves to be voted down. Instead, we have so called Democrats voting to allow credit card comapnies to financially rape Americans. We have so called Democrats voting to promote FAILURES WHO HAVE HARMED THIS COUNTRY like Rice and Gonzales. And in the most sickening turn of events, just three turncoat "Democrats" enabled oil corporate greedy bastards to destroy one of the last true unspoiled wilderness areas on this planet. And for what? 6 months worth of oil, 10 years down the road, which will probably be shipped to fucking China??

WHY?!?

Why did one single fucking Democrat vote to approve any one of these horrible things (and there are plenty of others)

To avoid being called obstructionists? No, as I pointed out, that's already impossible, except for filibusters (and we all know what's going on with that)

It's because so many of them - most notably those affiliated with the DLC - are part of the problem.

And if you are part of the problem, you cannot be part of the solution.