What Dems are actually making bread-and-butter econ issues their priority?

[brentspeak]

Precisely which Democrats are actually behaving like traditional Democrats, and raising holy hell over issues like job offshoring and workers' declining wages? I know Dean was talking a lot about them when he was a presidential candidate, but that was before. I don't want to hear Hillary Clinton wasting time on flag-burning, or Barak Obama trying to get down with God, or the Berkeley city council canonizing some obscure 19th century women's rights figure. What about honest-to-goodness, lunch-bucket issues that FDR, Truman, Hubert Humphrey, "Scoop" Jackson, and LBJ wouldn't have hesitated to address?

[iconoclastNYC]

1. Here are some.....

They aren't elected officials but they are having a big impact on our party:

1. David Sirota -- You'd love his new book

2. Thomas Hartman

3. Randy Rhodes

4. Molly Ivins

[Warpy]

2. Edwards is the top tier Democrat with a chance of running in 2008

Kennedy has always made such issues a priority.

A handful of others have worked without the media attention paid to Kennedy and Edwards.

Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana campaigned as an economic populist on bread and butter issues and won one of the reddest states in the country.

The vote against the minimum wage hike and against adjourning Congress until a hike was considered on its own merits was right down party lines. Democrats know it needs to rise and vote for it. Pubbies know it needs to rise and will fight against it tooth and nail.

By and large, though, the economic issues favored by the party inside the beltway are yuppie issues, relevant to people at their income level but largely irrelevant to people who have JOBS and barely make ends meet every month, falling behind and farther into debt every year.

They are united on the minimum wage, though.

[brentspeak]

3. It's those yuppie, latte liberals who have hurt the Democratic party

The Democrats' main constinunecy has always been the average working Joe and Jane, but the DLC-types (with the exception of Kerry, and a few others) only want to appeal to the upper-middle class, socially liberal, Ivy League-track-kindergarten families, ie. their crowd.

[Warpy]

5. I'm afraid it's not that simple

because most of them are as culturally and socially isolated as the folks on the bottom are, kept out of the walled suburbs the way the yuppie crowd is kept in. They are utterly clueless about the economic disaster that business as usual has been for the party's rank and file. I don't think they're heartless. I think they're clueless.

If the party doesn't manage to reconnect with its base, once Stupid's reign of error is over, we'll be back to one party, GOP rule again. It's as simple as that.

[OzarkDem]

4. Sherrod Brown - big focus of his campaign

Fair Trade policies, end to outsourcing,

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/14910769.htm

[catD]

6. Here's an Overview of All of Clark's Policies from his website

Restore American Leadership Abroad

Lay out a concrete success strategy for Iraq; win the war on terror.



Combat global threats by fostering global cooperation and maintaining
moral stature abroad.



Create Jobs in America

Invest in strenghtening America's homeland security, provide relief
for state and local governments, and provide targeted tax credits for
job creation.



Revitalize America's manufacturing and technology sector by bringing jobs back to the United States.



Repeal Bush's tax giveaways for the wealthy and use the money to
create jobs.





Promote Long-Term Growth

Reduce the deficit so that we are not passing an enormous debt on to our children.



Cut government waste, end corporate welfare, internationalize the Iraq
effort, and repeal Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans -- those
making more than $200,000 annually.


Universal Access to Health Insurance

All Americans deserve excellent, affordable health care.



Provide tax credits for health insurance premiums.



Increase the value of health spending by employing the latest research
and technology to increase quality while reducing costs.


Invest in Education

Establish universal preschool for all 4-year-olds so that all children
enter kindergarten prepared to learn.



Invest more in our schools and our teachers; provide Universal College
Grants that allow most students to attend their first two years of college.


Protect Civil Liberties

Strive to protect ourselves from terrorism without compromising the
liberties that define our nation.

Review the Patriot Act and eliminate provisions that compromise the
rights of law-abiding Americans.


Protect Civil Rights

Support affirmative action.



Defend a woman's right to choose.



Strengthen the rights of workers to unionize.


Promote a Healthy Environment and Energy Security

Reverse the Bush Administration's gutting of the Clean Air and Clean
Water Act.



Promote energy policies that make us less reliant on foreign oil;
conservation and the use of clean renewable sources of energy.



Preserve our nation's wild places for future generations.



Confront the threat of global warming by reducing our greenhouse gas
emissions.