I got an email from the Democrats asking for a debrief on the election. Question 7 asked what I would reccomend the party do differently. Guys, glad you asked. Here's what I wrote; I hope someone actually reads this. If you've been folowing the blog recently these ideas won't be new to you.

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It is time to take the lesson of this-- and the 2002-- election to heart and realize that the party is ideologically bankrupt. Sure, there is a base in NY, LA, Chicago and San Francisco. But as far as the rest of the country is concerned, "Anybody but Bush!" is not a base. It is time for new party leadership. It is time to re-define what it means to be a Democrat, what it means to be a liberal, what it means to be on the left. Until "liberal" has ceased to be a political insult, you have failed. So many people have told me over the past week, "I didn't leave the Democrats; the Democrats left me." The fact that turnout was so high, and that this HURT Kerry, is unfathomable, unconscionable, and proves conclusively that there is an irreparable disconnect between the party and America. Are we going to rise to the challenge-- or will we fall back on politics as usual (obviously a bad idea-- politics as usual today means lots of red states.)

Where is the religious left? We need to be able to walk into any church in America, make the case for Democrats and liberalism to the faith-based community, and have the congregation say, "You know, that city feller makes some sense."

It would also be nice if for once the Democrats weren't outgunned on the airwaves. Kerry chose to make Viet Nam an issue, and the Swift Boat Vets made sure that the man who served with distinction lost the "what I did during the war" issue to the guy who dodged Viet Nam and went AWOL from his cushy no-risk gig. Can we honestly look in the mirror and blame anyone but ourselves for this?

Is the Democratic Party going to hear this clarion call-- or will you drift away to the margins of history? Because the choice is that stark. Your destiny is in your own hands, and I pray (and I'm not a religious man) that you have what it takes to do the hard work to get back to a place where you have a message, an ideology, a set of values that resonates with Americans.

It is essential that you do not simply plant Edwards and Obama in party leadership roles and wait for them to ripen and for the pendulum to swing back. Because it won't be swinging back. There is no pendulum anymore, just a train, and it has left the station without you. No, you must wholly recast the very essence of the party. People get ready, there's a train a-comin.' Don't miss the next one.

Labels: The politics