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i wrote this post on November 17, 2004; just a couple of weeks after the last presidential election ... in light of the recent intra-Party divisiveness over the filibuster, i thought it was time for a rerun:
A dangerous time for the Democratic Party this election was different ... democrats rallied behind their nominee ... we were unified like never before ... we overlooked areas of disagreement ... we put a few of our "ideals" aside to take care of business ... we fought as one; we fought like hell ...
post-election, win or lose, there is no more room for business as usual ... those who were active came from all over the political spectrum ... many of us on the far left held out at least some hope that a Kerry presidency would move the party to the left after the election ... but the real issue, the essence of the battle we all joined, was not really an issue of moving left or moving to the center at all ...
We've missed this essence on DU ... we keep seeing posts about where on the political spectrum democrats need to be positioned for 2008 ... abortion, gays, Southerners, evangelicals ... the list is neverending ... but ultimately, if we look deeply into what this election was really about and if we look at the essence of those who fought so hard, we find that the soul of who we were was not so much ideological as combative ... we were anti-bush ... we were anti-neo-con ... we were anti-republican ... sure, the issues mattered ... but what brought out the fired up troops was sparked by a hatred for what the right-wing is doing to this country and to people all over the world ..
This is an extremely dangerous time for the Democratic Party ... many of us are looking to Washington, democrats in Washington that is, to show us that they are willing, ready and able to carry on our struggle ... we are tired of the appeasement ... we are tired of pretending that "we are all Americans" while the right-wing flushes the Constitution down the toilet ...
Each and every elected Democrat needs to understand that the expectations of its activist base (not just the "democratic wing of the democratic party") is at risk ... "standing shoulder to shoulder with the president" like Gephardt and Daschle did in our "nation's time of crisis" is just not going to fly anymore ...
We're mad as hell and we want to fight on each and every issue ... i'm sick and tired of hearing Democrats talking about the need to put our national interests above partisan considerations ... partisan considerations that involve stopping the neo-con agenda IS the national interest !!!
So this is a warning to the Democratic Party ... we are not talking here about a handful of disaffected left-wing Democrats who may fade away and join the Green Party ... we are talking about the entire activist base of the party ... we put our hearts and souls into the battle; we expect no less from elected Democrats for the next four years ... to do otherwise, will put the party, and the nation, at risk ...
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