Tuesday, December 02, 2003
Fearing Fear Itself
Chris Anderson of Interesting Times was kind enough to point out in a comment that I might have been over-reacting just a tad to the WaPo article featured in a Digby post I'd still recommend.
Wise words, upon which he elaborates here.
Chris was an early Dean supporter, but his blog is a template for the kind of Democratic Party communality that's going to be crucial if Bush is to be beaten next November. Always ready to question a critical response to what some other candidate might be saying, Chris never takes his eye off the prize. In addressing some dissatisfaction with a particular Democrat, or the party itself, Chris's answer is almost always a bottom up one. Which in my view is the only kind worth talking about.
I have much more to say about this, so let me content myself for now with the observation that filling blog posts or comment threads with constant references to the Democrats selling out, being cowards, or otherwise dumping on them accomplishes very little, especially now that we're less than a year away from the election. Be critical, yes, but bring that criticism to bear in some form of action that is going to change the way the Democrats are doing business.
Public expressions of dismay and/or disgust with their own side is a mistake you hardly ever see Republicans or the right make.
Chris has a pledge up at his blog that's worth taking a look at, worth signing, and most of all, worth using as a basis for rethinking how we go forward from here.
Minimizing the task ahead is a path towards defeat, but so is over-estimating it. Remember that a good part of that Post article is based on numbers coming out of the Republican camp.
They are trying the political equivalent of shock-and-awe. Why should we trust them to give accurate estimates of the number of volunteers they have at their disposal?
It won't be a cakewalk. But don't be discouraged by the braggadacio of the Republicans.
Wise words, upon which he elaborates here.
Chris was an early Dean supporter, but his blog is a template for the kind of Democratic Party communality that's going to be crucial if Bush is to be beaten next November. Always ready to question a critical response to what some other candidate might be saying, Chris never takes his eye off the prize. In addressing some dissatisfaction with a particular Democrat, or the party itself, Chris's answer is almost always a bottom up one. Which in my view is the only kind worth talking about.
I have much more to say about this, so let me content myself for now with the observation that filling blog posts or comment threads with constant references to the Democrats selling out, being cowards, or otherwise dumping on them accomplishes very little, especially now that we're less than a year away from the election. Be critical, yes, but bring that criticism to bear in some form of action that is going to change the way the Democrats are doing business.
Public expressions of dismay and/or disgust with their own side is a mistake you hardly ever see Republicans or the right make.
Chris has a pledge up at his blog that's worth taking a look at, worth signing, and most of all, worth using as a basis for rethinking how we go forward from here.
