by Gov Howard Dean MD
I want to hear from you. What do our shared values mean to you? What should be our priorities for the coming year? How will we work together to move America forward in 2011? Our movement is best when it's a conversation. You just heard from me and I want to hear from you. Please take a moment to a let us know your thoughts at
DemocracyforAmerica.com or join me right here on Daily Kos at 9PM for a live chat. I'll answer questions and discuss with you what you care about most and your ideas on how to move forward on our shared values.
We've come a long way together over the years. We've had many victories and our share of setbacks. The next few years aren't going to be easy either. It's going to be a fight to stop right-wing Republicans from rolling back progress and forcing gridlock in Congress. We'll need to work harder than ever to accomplish real change and reelect President Obama in 2012. But we've never been afraid of hard work.
We've never sat back and hoped for change, we've always done what it takes to make it happen.
Which is why, it's time to discuss the State of our Progressive Movement. How we can move forward to unite our country for a better future and take stock in how far we've come. We must decide together where we go from here.
moreSample Dean's responses to comments:
The 50 state strategy is still very much alive, it's just up to us to execute it. A lot of progressives in pretty red states are still making efforts in every country. We need to keep that up. We also need to watch the roll calls in the House and Senate. Now that I'm not DNC chair anymore, I've suddenly come to realize that primaries can be a wonderful thing.
I think that extending the middle class tax cuts will create jobs because that money will be spent in the economy. The high-end tax cuts do nothing to help the economy, and they make the deficit worse.
The Beckian nutwings are an ever-shrinking minority, demographically. The more they shrink, the louder they shriek. We need to keep our eye on our ideals and work to make them happen. If we can't do it nationally, we should take a cue from the younger generation and do it locally, which will then lead to national change.
From a political point of view, even though the tax policy isn't so great, the president was a political winner in the lame duck session. That makes it easier for Democrats to win. I don't think we need to defend policies that we don't like or that are bad for the country, but I do think we're in a pitched battle with forces that would like to the United States back to the 1850s and have a right-wing bureaucrat hiding in every closet in America. I obviously don't mind fighting among ourselves, but in the end it's more important to have a stronger, more progressive America than to take each other out over differences in opinion on tax policy.
...As you may remember, at the time I said that "You have the power" to change things, not me. Any of us by ourselves can only complain, but by taking action together we can make a difference.
This is a time of unwarranted pessimism and some loss of perspective among progressives. When I speak to LGBT groups, I remind them that when George Bush took office in 2001, there was one state in the country (Vermont) with marriage equality. When Bush left office in 2009, after eight of the most conservative years under any president, I think there were nine states with marriage equality. That is a testament to the power of the American LGBT community and their supporters who believe strongly in social justice. We are making progress and we make progress everyday. We have to have a long-term perspective. Over the long-term, we will outwork the forces of regression and hate in this country. 44 years ago, when I started college, many of you know that I had two African-American roommates, both of whom had gone to segregated schools in the south. All three of us are amazed today to be living in a time when we have an African-American president. Progress is being made every day; we often can't see it. We are making progress every day on climate change and small amounts add up to big amounts over decades. We are making significant progress on women's rights, although the forces of hate and misogyny on the right are deeply threatened by this and we need to keep fighting. It's important never to be satisfied, but it's also important not to paralyze ourselves with fear that we might fail.
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