Kos Folds Up the Big Tent

[BlueStreak]

53. That is EXACTLY the thinking that got us the blue dogs in the first place

In the big picture, we are better off losing some of those battles. When we have a couple dozen people that give us a nominal majority, but thwart every attempt at the kind of progress that will wind strong FDR-style support of the public, that is a death spiral. The public says "Look, you guys have the majority, but what good have you done for me?"

Kos is right. We can never have an effective party with dozens of those snakes, and we have made great strides in replacing the worst of them with people of greater conviction -- the sort of conviction that will take the country forward.

I don't deny that there are some realities along the way where certain issues just are too poisonous for certain states at certain times. Yes, we must be pragmatic about those things. But that isn't the problem with people like Evan Bayh, Max Baucus and the others. They simply were never on the team. They undercut us hundreds of times where it never would have been an issue at all for their constituents. They prevented Democratic governance from doing the things that would be both effective and popular.

When a person does that frequently at the moments of truth, we truly are better off if those seats are Republican. At least there is an opportunity to accurately place the blame in that case.

Beyond that, part of this is leadership. People like Tom Harkin, Al Franken, Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown, Tom Udall, Kirsten Gildebrand, Elizabeth Warren and many others are not just voting. They are also actively EDUCATING the public. Some of this will take a generation of education. When did you ever hear one of the Dogs trying to nudge their state forward? Never.