Tim Kaine, appointed by Obama, is anti-choice, anti-gay rights, and anti-stem cell research. You have to put the pressure where it matters. It’s not “the Dems”. It’s the leader of the Democratic party who’s already walked back repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and DOMA and appointed Kaine as DNC chair. Not to mention all his other failures on gay rights. Railing against “the Dems” is crap. Go after the man who matters, the one who’s setting the agenda. That’s Obama.

I think the loud republican talk radio and fox assholes make the democrats think the country is more right than it is. So that just means, like Naomi Klein says, we have to get as loud and obnoxious as possible to move the center back to the left.

Loud and obnoxious just drives civil people out of politics, increases acrimony, and leads to policy being made by the most aggressive voices in the room. Loud and obnoxious also pushes a very narrow, very two party system because you need “enemies” to fight against; it fosters an us vs. them mentality that makes dissent and discussion and act of betrayal. Also, lets be realistic, the Democratic party has a history of throwing minority groups of all stripes under the bus the very second it becomes politically expedient, after all, who else are they going to vote for? I’m not at all confident that a more obnoxious left is going to care as much about civil rights as a lot of people would like to hope.

It is, to my mind, more likely that they’ll lean right to try to poach the more fertile center-populist vote and all the sound and fury will just serve to silence people who threaten the acquisition of more power. Cheerleaders will question the loyalty of anyone who dares to question the platform, discussion and careful consideration will be seen as signs of weakness, and the most influential voices in the movement will never be the most intelligent but always the meanest and most base. Complicated ideas will fall to the wayside because they’re too difficult to turn into a snidely catchy slogan. Eventually, twenty or thirty years down the road, a past-their-prime presidential candidate will play to a generation weaned on the kind of speech that only appeals to decerebrated apes and offer the VP position to someone who represents everything wrong with their movement. Then they’ll lose power.

At least, thats what happened with the GOP.

I wish the Democrats would figure that out!

I think they are too petrified to act because of what happened to Clinton when he tried to do too much too fast and ended up with the horrific “don’t ask don’t tell” policy.

I think the loud republican talk radio and fox assholes make the democrats think the country is more right than it is. So that just means, like Naomi Klein says, we have to get as loud and obnoxious as possible to move the center back to the left.

Wait for a busy news cycle when Obama is already doing something else thats getting a lot press, reverse the current ban with a presidential directive late on a Friday, let the storm die down, and then a few months later sneak a legislative provision into an omnibus bill at the 11th hour. If the Dems are really worried about members from more conservative districts, let those members show some token opposition. Haven’t they learned anything from 8 years of bush and 6 years of Contract With America?