Will the Democratic Party please stand up!

Republicans know how to win elections. They play off your fears and prejudices and get you to vote. They know that while defense can keep you from losing a game, it is offense that wins it. They play to win, we play not to lose, and it has cost us. As long as we keep trying to get to the middle of the road, the Republicans are going to keep running over us. They aren’t trying to sway Democratic voters, they’re playing to their people. We should do the same.

Gore should have won Nader’s people, Kerry should have won big with female voters. They both have voting records that play to these groups, yet during the campaign they tried not to lose. They tried to seem more pro-life than pro-choice. Less environmental more “things are just fine”. We need to take a stand, because they do.

Things I know Republicans stand against.

Gay marriage
Environmental regulation
Illegal immigrants
Abortion
Gun control

We’re so afraid of losing the votes of people who agree with Republicans that we’re losing our own voters. If Gore had played up his environmental creds more (and not distanced himself from Clinton), Nader wouldn’t have been an issue. If any candidate stood up and said they are the polar opposite of the current candidate they may have stood a better chance.

Examples by me:

On Gay Marriage: I support gay marriage and will fight any amendment or bill that seeks to marginalize our law-abiding, tax paying citizens.

On Environmental Regulations: Global warming and the greenhouse effect are real. No legitimate scientist thinks otherwise. Continued denial of the effects we are having on this planet only puts us and our children at peril.

On Abortion: I hope for the day when there are almost no abortions performed. But not because we outlawed it. When we improve sex education, the numbers of abortions will go down. When we make better birth control and easier access to it, the numbers will go down. When we live in a society that does not put ALL of the burden on the woman, and none of it on the man, the numbers will go down. I cannot in good conscience tell a woman with little money and no health insurance that she must endure the physical, psychological and financial burdens that come with bringing a child into this world. It’s one thing to say a woman can’t have an abortion, it’s another entirely to say you will pay all her medical expenses and stay with her for the next 18 years to ensure they are provided for.

I know those views seem extreme, but that’s because all we have are far right and middle. On gay marriage all we heard was “NO” and “maybe civil unions” which still sounds like you don’t really like it. On the environment: “Global warming is not real” and “there’s some debate but most agree”. And finally on abortion: “HELL, NO!” and “only in the case of…” But if you stood up and said the things I wrote up there you would win the Gay and Lesbian vote, the Environmental vote and a good portion of the women’s vote. Add speaking Spanish and not sounding like a Gringo and you’d have an election landslide.
j.r.