Speaking only for myself: my gut reaction to Democrats right now is that they are the party of hate. (I know those words are provocative, but I did say it was my gut, and guts tend not to be polite.) Dems hate what’s currently going on in politics, and want it to stop. What is “it”? It’s a bunch of things. But they hate ‘em, and they wanna stop ‘em.

Putting my gut aside, I can be more precise. The problem that irritates me most with the Democrats right now is that they can’t get away from the negative, even when it ought to be easy. Gay rights ought to be a positive thing, right? But I keep hearing it trumpeted as a way to tell Christians to stick it.

Now, to be fair, I would have to contrast this with the Republicans. If my irritations were full-tilt against Dems, then I would have to see the Reps as able to present every issue – social security reform, abortion, immigration, foreign policy – without going negative. Well, that’s not true, either. Exhibit A: Karl Rove. “Nothing more needs to be said about the motives of liberals.” That’s prime grade-A red meat for a red-state believer, but frankly, in context, it wasn’t entirely true. (It’s true if we only count the kooks, but that’s a null argument.)

Maybe it’s my upbringing that makes me innately more capable of spotting the positive argument in a conservative screed. I’m more familiar with conservative sacred cows; the underlying assumptions; the heroic figures of the conservative pantheon. I’m less so with liberals. This touches on that comment I made here a while back, in which I asked liberals to tell me their story, and to sell it. I’m still looking for that grand theme, that fire.

There’s got to be a core of great parables, stories, myths, fables, what have you, that are universally (well, nationally) known, universally appealing and positive, and bear that liberal flavor. Maybe that’s what Dems need, among other things; their speechwriters need to re-read the literature that inspires them, and tailor the message with that in mind, instead of some Lakoff-enstein’s monster. Again, however, this is all my personal feeling.

Print this and hand it out: JOHN KERRY IS NOT A LEADER. ALL PREVIOUS REFERENCES TO KERRY AS A LEADER SHOULD BE DISREGARDED.

While Democrats aren’t leading the way on policy, they also don’t control a single branch of government. Kinda hard to lead when you don’t have say over legislation.

Also, if you look at where the parties come down on the issues, I think you’ll see which party is looking forward and which wants to go backward: stem cell research, cleaner energy policy, responsible fiscal policy, etc.

One party is in power, the other is not. One party holds the megaphone, the other does not. That does not mean, however, that the minority party lacks vision. It simply means it lacks voice.

But that could very well change. Check out the fundraising numbers for the 2006 senate races. The Dems are blowing the GOP out of the water right now.

(Oh, and I would hardly consider Mehlman’s apology for the GOP’s racist “Southern Strategy” to be “outreach.”)

Show your work, goy! ;-)

Didn’t Howard Dean say something like, “If you’re not with us, you’re with the Republicans”?

I know it was something about Republicans…

;^)

This is a major reason why I left the party. But I’m not a Republican either.