I know there is so much discussion here at DU about what the "real" base is.
That is what has puzzled me so much. We have a huge and diverse base in the Democratic party, and we should be proud of it. Instead our leaders are running from the anti-war people in the party, from the women in the party who want the right to make their own choices on health care, from the gay community which wants equal rights.
Some Democrats are running faster than others. I have seen some handle the reaching out to the evangelicals, formerly known as Bush's base, in an intelligent and thoughtful way without forgetting the rest of us.
Some feel it absolutely necessary to put those of us in our places who believe pre-emptive war is sinful, women's rights are sacred, and gays should not be used as scapegoats.
To make it clear, our party is going for Bush's base and leaving a lot of us behind. They tend to make it sound as though we are not very knowledgeable about how politics work, that we are not very bright, and that we are just way too loud.
They have turned someone like me who was raised in a Southern Baptist environment, a Christian home, a community with strong conservative standards......they have through the last 6 years turned me into a very angry person toward parties who take us to war for no good reason.
Harold Ford has just sent a caution to those of us who question how Iraq happened, and I was still reeling from that.
Harold Ford: "I caution anybody who continues to talk about the past" in IraqIt worries me that we are talking about Iran the same way we talked about Iraq, but he was saying not to revisit the past though we are already reliving it.
But I digress from my point, which is this article today that sort of throws us to the wind while seeking to find more common ground with the religious community than they do with us who have been lifelong Democrats.
I read this article today at The Ideas Primary, which was started when Harold Ford became chairman. It hit me wrong, it made me angry.
This paragraph especially disturbed me. He admits the right may be wrong, but note the way he mentions separation of church and state.
Building a Bridge to the Faith CommunityThe irony is that as wrong as the right may be, the left may have trouble gaining ground within the religious community, in that some have already vowed fidelity to gay marriage, and other adhere to the most stringent application of the separation of church. These positions signal loudly to many of us - including those whose religious views inform our perspectives on public life - that some on the left don’t think that we are right.
I do adhere to the most stringent application of separation of church and state. So I guess I guilty on that. He is right, I don't think they are right to concentrate on this base to the extent they are doing.
This author makes a lot of good points. But too much of it is fear that we won't win that group over. There is no especial concern about those of us on the left.
If the Democratic Party is to make inroads into the faith community, it must be willing to put all issues and options on the table that. Building an agenda around “quality of life” issues, also known as the social gospel, has proven successful.
Now in full Election ‘08 mode, with the right being wrong, and some on the left standing mute, the religious community continues to raise the question of the candidates that John asked Jesus “are you the one or should we look for another?”
A party can not be all things to all people. Unfortunately they are appearing to consider the relgious community and its agenda more important than the rest of us.
You can not win by having "all issues and options on the table."
You have to take stands on something. We could try taking stands against pre-emptive war. We could take a stand on preserving Social Security. We could fix that bankruptcy bill so the elderly and ill could preserve their homes during bankruptcy proceedings. We could say that woman and doctors should make medical decisions, and that congress should stay out of it. There will be many on the religious right, no matter how much we pander to them, who will take the question the author asks:
....raise the question of the candidates that John asked Jesus “are you the one or should we look for another?”
And after we have given up all the things Democrats traditionally stand for, many in that religous community will say they will look for another...that we did not give up enough of our beliefs to suit them.