Okay, so my two cents here in Canada may be worth a little less than the US two cents, but I offer it up anyway.
I have calmed down a little bit since yesterday. I have read just about every diary on here about the state of the Democratic Party. Vent has helped, a lot. So has an article that I read from the January 18 edition of The Nation . The article is An Alternative State of the Union. The article highlights the ideas of 20 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus – people like Dennis Kuchinich, John Conyers, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Bernie Sanders. All of these representatives, except Sanders, are Democrats.
These ideas address many of the concerns that we here talk about on a daily basis. For example, Jesse Jackson, Jr. proposes an amendment (HJR 28) that actually guarantees Americans withs a right to vote. It would also give Congress the authority to create a uniform voting system. As he says in the article
We have fifty states, 3141 counties, and 7,800 different local election jurisdictions. All separate and unequal.
I don’t know about you, but these ideas resonate with my principles; they fill me with hope that yes, there are Democrats that “get it.”
Only 64 percent of registered voters bothered to cast a ballot in November of 2004, and that is an increase, Clearly, neither party is making an impression on a huge number of citizens. Many of these people must be looking for something that they are not finding in either of the corporate run parties.
In my eyes, it is the corporate wing of the Democratic Party that is destroying the party and any chance of creating any real opposition to the criminals in the WH right now. It is the corporate wing that must be the focus of our laser like vision. It must be excised from the Democratic Party if there is any hope to salvage it.
When the extreme right-wingers of America decide it wanted to take over, for the most part, it did not go create a viable third party – it took over the Republican Party. Slowly but surely, like the parasites they are, they devoured their host body and transformed it into the Republican Party of Darth Cheney, Tom Delay, James Dobson, and Karl Rove. These men are power hungry monsters without souls.
The Democratic Party, in its current state, is ripe for the picking, and thus a transformation. It will not be easy, but the power behind the Internet could ease this process. I humbly submit this three step process
Step 1 – Actively support the plans of the Progressive Democrats as outlined in
the article in The Nation . I know that MoveOn.org does a lot of this, but we bloggers have the tenacity to push these issues with our writing. I suggest that progressive blogs work together to eventually submit an on-line petition demanding(? too strong?) that the Democrats actively pursue these plans.Step 2 – Create a Progressive Blog PAC. Sadly, in our political system, money talks. I don’t want to pull an Abramoff, but there needs to be a way to direct money to those candidates (both national and local) who are willing to adhere to our platform, be they Democrats, Greens, or even the odd-ball Republican. The MSM is wholly unwilling to cover progressives candidates, so we must be willing to support them financially.
Step 3 – Finally, let’s start running. No, I don’t mean for the Canadian border (though you are free to visit). We bloggers are sophisticated, passionate, and well-read. For my brothers and sisters living in the U.S. of A., what is stopping you from running? School Board? City Council? Zoning Commission? Once people see that Progressives are not only human, but are competent and patriotic. But, they need to see us in action. I know that if my family’s immigration status wasn’t so complicated (it’s funny as hell to cross into Detroit and the immigration officer asks for our citizenships – US, Canadian, and Chinese. Eyes usually just roll.) I would move back and run for something. Activism is necessary and crucial, but meaningless if we are unable to elect people willing to listen o the activists.
I submit this to my Froggy brothers and sisters for their honest take on my two cents. I figure it’s easier to take over an existing party than to try to recreate that structure from scratch.