I was just thinking about that statement tonight as the Mukasey confirmation was already assured, just a formality. As usual, Bush gets his way.
But when your Senate leader says something like this, you know your party has serious problems.
Senator Reid said that he welcomed the new "emphasis on recognizing the diversity of the party." He added, "We have had a lot of pro-life Democrats, but the pro-choice folk haven't reached out to them and haven't protected them."
He acknowledged some complaints from abortion rights groups about the party's shifting rhetoric. "They have to keep their folks geared up, just like people who work for more highways," Mr. Reid said. "That is what they do, just like the pro-life groups."
Are we reaching out enough now, Senator Reid? I hear you guys continued funding for abstinence only education, and actually added a lot more money for it than before. Guess that made the religious right happy. I hear a bill was passed, the one offered by the Democrats for Life....that it reduced abortions by 98%. Who gets to decide?
SO...Harry, we who want our rights to make our medical decisions with our doctors are like people who work for more highways?
Thanks so much for your sensitivity and caring. Thanks for comparing us to activists who push for more highways. Such insight.
This article from 2005 was shocking when I reread it this week. I had forgotten how all at once after the 2004 election, they all decided to put the rights of women and gays on the table for discussion with right wing religious groups. It was the new tactic.
Guess what else was said.
In contrast, the younger Mr. Casey said that Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, chairman of the party's senatorial campaign committee, had encouraged him to run as an opponent of abortion rights.
"He was very welcoming and very candid about the party's need to speak for a broad section of Americans," Mr. Casey said in an interview.
In fact at a fundraiser in GA Schumer said they ouuld not worry about a whole lot of issues anymore.
We can't insist that every democrat check off 18 different issues"I said, those days are over Ed. Yes I'm pro-choice, but we need the best candidate. We can't insist that every democrat check off 18 different issues before they get (unintelligible) we could do that, we can't anymore. And so, we persuaded, Harry using his very...Harry has amazing insights into people...and we together persuaded Bob Casey to run. A poll yesterday...national...all the polls they did...Casey 51 Santorum 40. You should see Santorum nervous and walkin on the floor."
Did the Peru trade bill pass? I think I heard it was going to a vote today. I knew it would pass when the DLC said it would, and said there was no opposition to it.
Trouble is, there was a whole lot of opposition.
Columbia University: Peru Deal's Labor Provisions "Worse Than Existing Law"In a stunning new report on the eve of the congressional vote on the Peru Free Trade Agreement, a Columbia University legal expert shows the pact may weaken the United States' ability to enforce basic labor standards in trade agreements. The report by Columbia Law professor Mark Barenberg finds that the much-touted labor protections in the Peru deal are "even worse than existing law" and "in no respect do the Agreement’s labor provisions mark a significant improvement."
I guess it is a good thing the party leaders are on message. The trouble is there is nothing for us in the message. They seem to be in denial about the wishes of the people in the Democratic party.
They don't seem to get off message, even to say something real and meaningful. Wasserman Schultz today was so much on message that Schultz clobbered her. Tomorrow Governor Dean will be spouting those talking points on the show with that Norman guy. He will not vary either from the talking points.
I guess that is how they plan to win. Staying on message at the risk of losing people in the party, at the risk of letting this administration attack Iran.
I want to believe they have a plan. I most likely will do what I always do and vote for the Democrats in the end because the alternative is so much worse.
But we have never been to a place like this in our country. Not like this. We have done tragic horrible things, and no one says anything about it in public.
We don't need platitudes, we don't need talking points....we need someone real who is not afraid to get off message. Not afraid to get off message and really honestly just talk to the base of the party. Not to Bush's base, to us, to those of us they seem to look down upon for being activist.