Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Stare At The Sun
Simply put, I hope this is the beginging of the end for the Democrats. And I really hope the libertarians take their place.
|
I know there are a lot of Lib. on this forum but when that party runs neck and neck with Paroutka (sp?) and gets beat handily by Nader in states Nader was on the ballot.... I don't see it picking up any momentum.
What I think the Dem party needs to do and I have said this for sometime, get rid of the special interests of the party (the truly wacko left) and become a centrist party. Doesn't mean you have to change stances on issues just means you need to CHANGE THE FOCUS of what issues you want out there and to be recognized with. The Dems focus far far too much on minority issues and want to make those issues laws everyone must deal with.... the Heartland and South will never allow it, and unfortunately the minorities are too small to elect nationally.
Drop frontlining:
Gay Rights - take the stance that it is not a Federal issue that it is a states rights issue but find a way to pass a law that when in the hospital or for insurance purposes the person paying HAS THE RIGHT to have anyone see them or covered. Hey, if I have an insurance company and a gay man wants to cover himself and his SO and pay for that then it should be his right to. Not a moral or legal matter. Same with any benefits (hospital visitation, spouse discounts, etc.) as long as the person pays I don't care who he/she brings. (GOP doesn't want any of this.... giving states and the people the right to choose how they want to live AND allowing gays perhaps not marriage but at least some form of dignity and rights enjoyed by everyone else)
Abortion - it is a woman's body but again it should be a right that a state or community votes on. If Ohio doesn't want abortion we should not be forced to have it. (GOP wants to do away with Abortion all together.... advantage DEMS by giving the people and states the choice and not a federal mandate one way or the other)
gun control - Again make it a community and state issue, but do outlaw assault weapons. make legal only weapons the police department is allowed. I don't give a rat's ass what the NRA says NOONE SHOULD BE MORE ARMED OR HAVE MORE POWERFUL WEAPONS ON THE STREET THAN THE POLICE. (Advantage: Dems. there are far more people that would agree to that than a form of stricter gun control or absolutely no gun control. Plus again you give the state, the people and the communities the right to choose how the want to live. GOP would have no gun control nor have allow states the right to choose (because the NRA might see people want certain weapons taken of the streets).
Religious hate - Stop pandering to those who file lawsuits because God is mentioned somewhere on a public platform. Make sure people understand the government will not allow religious bullying but if people in government offices choose to have religious items shown than that is their right to do so. If a community wants a Christmas Parade or Tree in it's downtown and a majority have voted to allow it then so be it. (Advantage - Dems noone is forcing religion and you are allowing the true freedom of such. Some religious people the Dems have lost may come back.)
affirmitive action - make sure you give the Equal Employment Boards a way to enforce discrimination violations, but do not force companies to have %ages and quotas they don't work and they breed contempt. (Advantage - Dems you regain the section of people you lost by supporting AA and shoving it down people's throats.)
Focus heavily on:
Education - create more funding and ways to advance the technology and methods used to educate today.Yes, it may require a lot more funding but I believe people will be ok with a truly great and worldly competitive education system
rebuilding the infrastructure - offer companies incentives to build factories here, people can say we are getting away from the manufacturing industry, but that is suicde because that is what truly makes an economy move... the making of things... otherwise we rely on not so friendly governments to make items and we have nothing to trade them back with.... hence trade deficits. Require companies that do downsize and/or close to pay the worker's reeducation/training and offer paid job counselling until the worker has a new job of equal or better pay. Companies that keep over 75% of their employees for over 20 years recieve a tax credit every year that 75% retention stays there
rebuilding a government that focuses on the future as a whole not on select issues
What are the special interests that this party panders to going to do? Go GOP? Start their own party and truly lose any power they may have?
Somewhere along the line the Dems deemed it necessary to pander and sell votes to extremist groups. The GOP does it also but the Religious Right and NRA are far more powerful than all the small little groups the Dems have.
It is not that hard to see that the Dems allow too many special interest groups pull their ideas too far left for the mainstream. If the Dems focus on center and on bettering ALL PEOPLE's lives then they should be able to defeat the also heavily burdened GOP handily. There is no doubt in my mind what I have described is the road to victory. The problem is the Dems know it they just are scared to cut the special interest umilical chord.
That's why people say lesser of 2 evils both parties have lost focus on the true majority and have made it so that people are voting for one side simply because the other side's special interests scare them