Yes I am a liberal, but yes I hate the Democrats.
I have come to realize this just recently with John Kerry’s inability to position himself as a viable cantidate.
Now, I believe that Kerry is our best hope for America, but really, what the hell do Democrats stand for anyway?
I am so sick of how Democrats have been the Anti-Republican party. We need a fucking vision, folks. The Republican vision is pretty clear to me. But what do the Democrats stand for? The Republicans chastize the Dems for not being pro-business, and what do they do? They sort of mix pro-business ideas into the mix. Republicans are big on Ideology, and less so big on details. The Democrats are only about certain positions. Let me give you an example of what Democrats could be.
What is the platform? Here’s what a Democratic platform could be.
Pro-helthcare. Sure Democrats want to reform healthcare, but why? Because too many Americans lack adequate healtcare. Sure that’s a bad thing, and we all agree, but there is something lacking. What we need is an ideological reason for wanting to have this. Not because it is simply a problem that needs to be fixed. The Republicans have their ideas of how society should be, but the Democrats only want to solve problems. What they need is a fundemental ideology of what America should be that isn’t defined by what the Republicans want. Here’s an example. Democrats want healthcare fixed, because they believe that being healthy is a fundemental human right along with freedom of speech and press. I don’t know how people would react to this, but I think its true.
Poverty. Democrats want to aleviate poverty. Why do they want to do this? Because it is a problem of our society. We all know it is a problem that causes many others. Why should we want to alleviate poverty. Maybe the Democrats could state that it is their belief that the government should be responsible for maintaining a minimum standard of living for every American. They could state that they believe that if you have a normal sized family, the parents shouldn’t have to work more than 40 hours a week to lead a happy life. These general ideas are missing from the Democrat’s platform, and that’s why most people who ideologically line up with the Democrats aren’t too enthused by their efforts.
War. John Kerry was against the Iraq war, sort of, but since a lot of Americans are disatisfied with the way Iraq is going now, he has yet to capitalize. As much as I hate to say it, Tucker Carlson said something the other day that was right. This war is going to be looked at as an important part of this election. Maybe not now, but in ten years it will be so. This should be a debate of ideas of where the country is headed. John Kerry has yet to say concretely, in terms of what the common man can understand what is ideologically wrong about how the country is going about the Iraq war and how his personal beliefs would change that. Sure we know he believes in Internation cooperation, but how will he get it?
A lot of people are afraid of what the Republican vision for America is, but what is the Democratic vision. We need not only to prove that we are against GWB’s vision, but also that we have new ideas about what American life should be and what we think will be helpful
I honestly can’t blame people for not trusting Democrats with the money. Without any certain ideology to focus our efforts on we tend to spend money on pet projects with little aim. Our welfare system is a mess and we have no idea how to fix it. Why don’t we create jobs instead of giving money out? Economically it makes sense to give out money to the poor, but why not spend a little more and have things accomplished? We are a rich nation, and the 200 billion that was spent in Iraq could be used to build infrastructure, or aid in the enrichment of our education and communities.
We should have our own moralisitic ideas of where our fucking country should be! I liked that about John Edwards, because he would always talk about how hard people have it, and then he would say how it is wrong that the rich don’t have to do it. Maybe its about time that we say that the American dream is broken, and until it gets fixed, we should take care of our people. The income gap is getting bigger and the possibilities to make it through hard work and ingenuity is dimishing. Maybe its time we reevaluate whether equal opportunity instead of equality is such a good idea? I don’t know, but there are lots of big ideas that we need to face now, and the Republicans have their stance on this, and the Democrats don’t.
Let’s go back to the Democratic party of FDR, JFK, and LBJ.
FDR had some ideas. His new deal was something that resonated with Americans. It was the idea that the state should have some sort of responsibility other than creating a level playing field. The idea was that unbridled capitalism needed some tweaking.
JFK and LBJ had many other things, and I don’t want to use LBJ as a good example, but they both stood for civil rights. Against heavy opposition they said, “This is the right thing, and we should stand for it”
What do we have now? John Kerry stands for some things. He is against GWB’s many disastrous policies, as any democrat would be. He offers his own ideas. But to what end? Where is he going to take us with his ideas. If there ever was a time to have a debate on the new direction of this country, we should have it. The one area that he satisfies my desires is on the issue of energy. He starts with ideology on this. We can’t continue to rely on foreign energy. We have to invent our way out of it.
But on poverty he offers things to alleviate them, but no end-goal.
This election, if any election should be based on two visions for America. John Kerry’s only vision is simply not bush.
So yeah. There is much dissapointment in America right now, but the point of politicians is to speak for the people and even articulate ideas that they may not be able to formulate, but speak to a general feeling that they have. That’s why ideology works in politics. Let’s look at communism. There was the group that looked at it logically and said, “You know, a system like this would actually be better.” What made it so popular with the masses was the ideology. The common man wasn’t really able to articulate his dissatisfaction or what it all meant, but when someone came along and said, “This is wrong and it doesn’t have to be this way,” they thought, “you know, I sort of feel that way too. I don’t like the way things are, and I want it to change” It didn’t matter how, they just wanted a new idea of how things should be.
There are many dissatisfied Americans when it comes to the Republican vision of America, but we have no idea of what it all means. We need someone to capitalize on this feeling with new visions of what America should be. John Kerry does a little of this, but I think not nearly enough. I think the preaching of what an ideal Amerca would be works much better, than demonstrating the technicalities of how it will operate. The details are important for those that wish to scrutinize. And everyone will want some details at some point, but the driving force should be a new ideology and a goal. We are a very goal-oriented people. 20 different goals of what America should be is not what people are looking for. Our goal should be a new America that is equitable, with these other plans as merely a supporting structure.
I wish I had John Kerry’s ear… These aren’t such radical ideas. All he has to say is that America is on the wrong track. He has done that, but what is the right track? Don’t be fucking afraid to say what you think. That is the reason why he isn’t really sticking to the voters. He comes off as a good guy with good ideas, but he has no new vision of what America should be instead of shouldn’t be. Its easy for me. A redefinition of what we see as our rights as Americans. Education should be a right, and the right to live a happy, healthy life. Most Americans don’t believe they are going to live out the American dream. Sure, they may believe that it is still possible, but most just want happy lives and happy families. You offer that to them as a basic right, and they will connect. Its pretty simple.
In a way it will be good for Democrats if John Kerry looses. I think that John Edwards has many of these ideas and he can distill them into a vision for America that most people really connect with. If GWB wins, more damage will be done, and this rhetoric will connect even more with the voters. Hopefully this happens if John Kerry looses. If he wins, I am not so sure what that means for our country, and that’s the problem. Nobody really knows where we will go. We know where we won’t go, but that’s not enough. I am sure things will get better, but nobody will know what it all means, or what it is for.
Come on, John, stop talking about Vietnam, and George Bush. Bush bashing should only come into the discussion when he wants to make the point about how it is the wrong direction for America. But you can’t just say something is wrong without saying equally how something is right.