Democrats everywhere are estatic about what happened earlier in the week, and it was moderates and independents that brought home the impressive victory.
By an overwhelming majority, moderates voted for the Democrats in this cycle. Almost 60% of so-called centrists abandoned the Republicans because of the corruption and Iraq. Now that the victory is here, it would be ill advised to bank hard left, and not learn from history.
So far, Democrats and Bush have talked a great game, but results matter, and the American people want the president and Democratic leaders to work together to find common ground. Bush and the Republicans forgot that sticking to a very conservative agenda was going to piss off a good majority of voters.
Although the voters threw right wing extremism out the door, they certainly don’t want to go in the other direction either. Poll after poll indicated that a more moderate, mainstream approach is what they want. Failure to take the advice might just get the Democrats thrown out on their ear.
Now is the time to demostrate the words that both Democratic leaders and Bush spoke of while they were in front of the cameras at the White House weren’t just a smokescreen. Common ground can work if the two sides want it to work.
Americans gave the Democrats a golden opportunity to show what they can do in the next two years. Don’t blow it or the independents and moderates who put Democrats in power, might just as easily turn around and kick them out on their asses as well.
Poll after poll indicated that a more moderate, mainstream approach is what they want.
Got any links?
If I wasn’t so tired and preoccupied with my painting diary, I’d point out that this entire post is based on a fiction. More than any other single thing, this was a vote against Bush and his war.
(Where’s that blueneck when you need him?)
Present and accounted for b2!
Everybody else has done a great job of discrediting this troll diary, so I think I’ll take a rest on this one. 4’s for everyone!
Would you be a bit more specific? What do you think is going to happen to “blow it”? Do you think Kirsten Gillibrand is going to introduce the Mandatory Gay Marriage Act? Zack Space will announce the formation of a Workers and Peasants Soviet? The Yarmuth-Loebsack Bible Confiscation Plan? Seriously, what are the hobgoblins you fear? Because I can assure you that whatever they are, they’re the result of listening to far too much right-wing drivel from the MSM and the DLC.
I could just say “ditto” to your comment, but I want to emphasize it. I am really sick and tired of the labels people like this diarist throw around parroting the talking heads in the media. Its the lazy way out. Lets hear more specifics on what issues are behind the label.
Is it liberal/moderate/conservative to be for things like:
civil rights
balance budget
living wage
social security
actual support of our troops and veterans(not just bumperstickers)
health care for all
democracy over corporatocracy
Got any real thoughts there ECM – or are you just interested in re-hashing talking points?
you really ought to share whatever it is you’re smoking ecm.
Lets look at the only “poll” that matters, shall we..
From The NYT:
Mr. Lieberman did not pull a clean sweep of independent voters, who held the key to an overwhelming victory: Only about half of the independents voted for Mr. Lieberman. But some 30 percent of the state’s Democrats voted for Mr. Lieberman, as did about 70 percent of Republicans.
moderates my ass…
You mean moderates like the new congressman from Montana who when accused of wanting to modify the Patriot Act said “No, I want to repeal it”.
Moderates will march us to the concentration camps.
Those are for the most part progressives that were elected last Tuesday. Those candidates stated their support for progressive positions, and they plan to go carry out what they promised.
Poll after poll after poll indicates that the American people overwhelming support PROGRESSIVE positions on the issues. It’s only when people are polled about these silly labels…. Conservative, Moderate, and Progressive without any associated positions on issues that Moderates come out on top.
The American people are overwhelmingly progressive on the issues. They’re just too easily herded by the corporate media into these stupid labels to know it.
what crap.
The interesting thing about this diarist is that it’s impossible to tell if he’s a partisan Republican or a DLC flunkie. They sound just the same and operate off the same sets of talking points. And they’re wrong about everything.
Gee, CM1, couldn’t you be a little more direct in your criticism? 😀
I am not shy about my beliefs. 🙂
I believe that there are many that will chose to shift further left with the rest of us… But if it is going to happen we on the left will have to retake the middle ground of the argument. (The real middle ground, NOT the imaginary right-wing-nut one) The left cannot do this without pointing out the obviousness of diaries like this.
The fact that there was a time that many would have demanded justification for my previous statement but now they accept it as closer to mainstream on its own, or at least an acceptable position even at places like dKos, proves that the shift has already begun.
Everyone in the Left Blogosphere needs to take a HUGE jump to the left. The real middle ground will then begin to fall into its proper place.
that Booman wants a big tent here and all opinions are welcome unless they are full of rightwing talking points. Well, HELLO! This is just another example of the bullshit ecm wastes our space here on.
Now he won’t even comment so others can troll rate the idiot out of here.
You might’ve missed it, but BMT’s raison d’etre changed while you were away. Please see the updated FAQ.
Sorry I had to be the one to inform you. But this place has nothing to do with a big tent, or being a progressive, or seeing justice done to the criminals in charge. It’s about getting Dems elected. I assume GOP/DLC talking points are, therefore, welcome (as long as they’re not Bill O’Reilly -like).
Updated Faq? I can’t find anything like that here. Maybe you could link me to it?
cookting…that has always been the case but Booman is very much for progressive dems and does not like the DLC to my understanding. I think all this is besides the point. eastcoast moderateis one of two things. A rightwing talking point troll or a really creepy dem. The kind I don’t want in my party.
Indeed, a look at the wayback machine shows that the text I quoted was part of the original FAQ. I admit it was my own shortcoming to not see how that would play out over time. Its meaning has become clear as the discourse proceeded and community dynamics evolved.
Anyway, I’m honestly not trying to stir up a controversy over nothing. I’m just under the impression that talking points welcome as long as they aid the Democratic Party. So, whether the election was won by progressives or moderates is not so relevant to the site as whether framing it as a progressive win or a moderate win is beneficial to the Party.
If I may ask, where are you getting your information? What do you think the raison d’etre for the site currently is, and what do you think it used to be?
The reason I ask is because I am the guy who made the changes to the FAQ a couple of weeks ago. The changes had to do with daily diary limits, cross-posting of diaries, the Froggy Bottom Cafe, and how to post YouTube videos. This section of the FAQ has not changed since BooMan first posted it some time ago:
(Emphasis is mine other than the title of the question)
This site is about getting Democrats elected. That part is true. However, it is in no way about blindly electing Democrats just because they have a D behind their name, and BooMan has been quite critical of the DLC (among others).
Hi Omir,
I didn’t keep a copy of the FAQ as it was when I joined. In my recollection, the site’s mission at that time (idunno, about 2years ago?) was not aligned with either of the two mainstream American political parties. It was a place for progressives to share ideas, debate, and agitate for change. It was also dedicated to seeing that the current criminal administration is “frogmarched out of office”, i.e. arrested and tried for their openly admitted crimes against the US Constitution and international law.
Perhaps the phrase you’ve highlighted (the same paragraph I quoted above) wasn’t modified in the past two weeks. But, I’m fairly certain it was changed in the past 6 months. I never would’ve joined this site since I have no interest in promoting the US Democratic Party; and I no longer consider myself a “community member” – just a curmudgeonly spectator with a vestigial account.
You’ll have to ask BooMan when, or if, that paragraph changed. I didn’t keep a copy either. I don’t think it has changed since about four months after the site opened, because the only other line I changed was the first, which before the change read something like “This site has been active for four months now . . . ” and it’s been up much longer than that (about two years, I think). But I could be wrong.
BMT is pretty tolerant of posters who don’t think the way BooMan does. Madman in the Marketplace in particular has been pretty vocal about his belief that supporting the Democratic Party is the wrong thing to do. Plenty of people disagree with him, myself included, but he gets lots of recommends too. Note that as I write this one of his diaries is at the top of the recommended list. As long as he doesn’t descend into trolling, abuse or spouting empty talking points, I figure he has a right to post his opinions — same as any other poster here.
i never updated the FAQ after the four month mark and the paragraph you quote was there on day-one.
… please see the mea culpa in my reply to alohaleezy, and let me explain what I meant about my relationship to this site:
I’m very appreciative of Booman’s efforts to balance the various forces driving the site and maintain a space that’s open to a variety of opinions. While we’re on the subject, you and MM are two of my favourite writers (I don’t want to get into naming names, though, because there are many, many talented writers and caring souls here).
So, that section of the FAQ didn’t change, but the site’s direction certainly has. It wasn’t always so narrowly focused on what was good for The Party. When that change came about, I really lost my sense of common purpose with this site’s participants. Don’t get me wrong though – I haven’t lost my high esteem for all of you, and I certainly wish you the best on your quest. If I was American, I’d probably vote for Dems myself.
I just happen to think there are way more important aspects of politics than the plotline that maintains the illusion of legitimacy for the US government (i.e. red vs. blue).
Thanks for the kind words. 🙂
I can’t really speak for anyone else, but to me the Democratic Party has always been a means to an end, not an end in itself. Believe me, if I thought the Greens had a chance to mount a serious challenge to the balance of power, or starting a third party, I would get behind those solutions in a heartbeat. But they don’t, in my humble opinion, so I’ve thrown my lot in with those who want to remake the government into an instrument of all the people rather than the corporations and the wealthy, and see the Democrats as the best chance of doing that. I have never pretended it was going to be easy — in fact I don’t know if it can be achieved in my lifetime — but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a worthwhile goal. Using the already existing structure of the Democratic Party, with its structures already in place, seems much easier than starting from scratch and trying to convince 50 million of my close friends in the voting public that My Brand New Party is the way to go.
That is why I support the Democrats — but not all of them, and not all the time. I voted for a Republican for Washington’s Secretary of State, and considering the fairness with which he handled the messy recount in Washington’s governor’s race a couple of years ago, I’m glad I did. And I think that now that the Democrats are in a position to block King George’s agenda, it’s time to start looking for better alternatives to RINOs and corporatists. Last Thursday was a good time to start, but today isn’t too late.
And of course this is all my own personal political philosophy. Ask any three dozen members of the site for theirs and you’re probably going to get 42 different answers.