Want change?  Don't we all.  Each of the Democratic Presidential candidates has plans for change, with varying ideas on how they'd go about it.  For the most part, the top three candidates use similar rhetoric, with Barack Obama presenting the most inspirational picture, Hillary Clinton suggesting notions based on her extensive experience, and John Edwards detailing the most explicit plans for recovering from the Bush legacy.  

We want change, that's a given.  But if Democrats, Independents & progressives want to win the 2008 presidency and, more importantly, achieve a landslide takeover of Congress, Democrats need a candidate that can beat anyone the GOP comes up.  In addition to being able to win, our candidate needs to be one who won't stir up the vindictive passions of conservatives.  Why?  Because conservatives are in the minority, yet they continually out-vote progressives when they're angry, fearful or spiteful.  Even with the ongoing Iraq quagmire and recent lying, cheating and stealing firmly tied to the Bush Administration and its policies (CIA outing, war profiteering and record oil profits), the Democrats' showing at the polls is dismal.  The left simply doesn't use its majority political clout to ensure the country is run the way we want it to be run.

Next year there is more at stake than just the presidency.  We have a potentially historic opportunity to take back the Senate.  The conservative movement is faltering.  We need to be careful not to reinvigorate it with a bad choice in the Democratic primary.  Remember Barry Goldwater?  The people who voted for his losing presidential bid did so as if it were some kind of badge of honor.  At least two of our current candidates in the Democratic pool could inspire that type of spiteful, negative voting again next fall, which would result in a lost opportunity to elect new Democrats in Congress as well.  If progressives want to enact real change in Congress and take our government back, we need to face up to reality before our wishful thinking sets us up for failure next fall.

Hillary Clinton is the GOP's best Get Out The Vote strategy in 2008.  Obama's a close second.

We can get mad about what elected Republicans have done to our country in the past six years and vote in the Democratic Primary for any candidate who says they'll do things differently.  Or, we could proactively determine how the election is likely to go next year if our candidate is easily portrayed to "Middle America" as the worse thing that could happen to our country.  

Want change?  Don't we all.  Each of the Democratic Presidential candidates has plans for change, with varying ideas on how they'd go about it.  For the most part, the top three candidates use similar rhetoric, with Barack Obama presenting the most inspirational picture, Hillary Clinton suggesting notions based on her extensive experience, and John Edwards detailing the most explicit plans for recovering from the Bush legacy.  

We want change, that's a given.  But if Democrats, Independents & progressives want to win the 2008 presidency and, more importantly, achieve a landslide takeover of Congress, Democrats need a candidate that can beat anyone the GOP comes up.  In addition to being able to win, our candidate needs to be one who won't stir up the vindictive passions of conservatives.  Why?  Because conservatives are in the minority, yet they continually out-vote progressives when they're angry, fearful or spiteful.  Even with the ongoing Iraq quagmire and recent lying, cheating and stealing firmly tied to the Bush Administration and its policies (CIA outing, war profiteering and record oil profits), the Democrats' showing at the polls is dismal.  The left simply doesn't use its majority political clout to ensure the country is run the way we want it to be run.
Next year there is more at stake than just the presidency.  We have a potentially historic opportunity to take back the Senate.  The conservative movement is faltering.  We need to be careful not to reinvigorate it with a bad choice in the Democratic primary.  Remember Barry Goldwater?  The people who voted for his losing presidential bid did so as if it were some kind of badge of honor.  At least two of our current candidates in the Democratic pool could inspire that type of spiteful, negative voting again next fall, which would result in a lost opportunity to elect new Democrats in Congress as well.  If progressives want to enact real change in Congress and take our government back, we need to face up to reality before our wishful thinking sets us up for failure next fall.

Hillary Clinton is the GOP's best Get Out The Vote strategy in 2008.  Obama's a close second.

We can get mad about what elected Republicans have done to our country in the past seven years and vote in the Democratic Primary for any candidate who says they'll do things differently.  Or, we could proactively determine how the election is likely to go next year if our candidate is easily portrayed to "Middle America" as the worse thing that could happen to our country.