Harm? Lies ... Psychosis

In an AP story today (7/25/07) called Democratic hopefuls snub party moderates, party insiders explain in such a matter of fact way the process of candidates "playing" to the base during primaries and then "moving to the center" for the general election ... as though doing so was nothing less than lying.

AP writer, Ron Fournier, asks: "How do they win their parties' nomination without appearing hostage to the kind of base politics that turns off swing voters?"

He continues: "The DLC would like to help the Democratic candidates, but none are listening. While no Democratic presidential hopeful wants to be associated with the centrist group, most of the candidates will be in Chicago on Aug. 4 to attend a convention of liberal bloggers." The DLC (Democratic Leadership Council) is an offshoot of Democrats working against the natural polarizing direction of their party, the natural direction of party (to the extreme).

DLC founder Al From is quoted in the article: "It's sort of like you play on one end of field to win the nomination, but if you want to win the game, you've got to play on both ends."

"Candidates have their own interests. I don't blame them in a sense" for blowing off the DLC meeting, From said. "They have to get the nomination, and we're not one of the interest groups parading out there in Iowa and New Hampshire ."

If Democratic politicians and activists (Republican ones as well) were small-d democrats, they would put forward their beliefs, straightforward and truthfully. And then they would accept the results of the election on the merits of the campaign. But they don't really believe in democracy, in the marketplace of ideas. They obviously don't have enough confidence in their ideology to be honest to all potential voters, primary and general election ones. I can understand that ... because their ideologies are each representative of such a small sliver of the electorate.

So, instead, they lie. The question arises: Are they lying to the primary or the general election crowd. By their actions, it is clear they lie to the general election voters because, after the election, they lurch to the left or right to please their base ... since, of course, they were elected with a mandate to carry out their message, right?

Right ...

The same article exposed another psychosis suffered by partisans.

According to Fournier, From "said Bush's low approval ratings give Democrats a chance to build a lasting majority in the 2008 election..."

Interesting ... didn't the Republicans say that in 1994 when they took control of Congress and then again when they ridded themselves of the troublesome Clinton and put Republican GWB in the White House? Wasn't the RNC periphery, like Rush Limbaugh, talking about sticking the knife in deeper and eliminating the Dems forever?

They just don't get it. A majority of Americans really don't want either of them, but since we as a working majority haven't figured out how to take control and bring about change, we vote one of them into control and, when the excesses build up, we elect the other.

As long as we allow them both, neither will go away. But there is a way that we can rid ourselves of both of them -- at least from operational control of our elections and government function:

RUN FOR OFFICE AS AN INDEPENDENT !
ELECT YOURSELVES !
THINK !