Should Howard Dean return as Chairman?

[GarroHorus]

26. You're a hoot!

Progressives are a minority within a minority. The nation self identifies as right center when given the choice of conservative, moderate, or liberal, and have done so for decades. This, even though on an issue by issue basis the nation would be best descried as left of center.

You are not going to change a damned thing pushing an ideologically pure progressive agenda in the Democratic Party. You simply must compromise with moderates or you will never ever get anything close to what you want and will, in fact, help push the agenda to the right.

This is how politics has worked in the Democratic Party since McGovern and it won't change any time soon. It will take at least two decades of those who truly hold progressive values easing the rest of the party to where it needs to go before you will ever see a progressive majority in the Democratic Party.

You do this one piece of an issue at a time. It is a long slog and will take a long time to get there.

Demanding ideological purity, especially at a time when the demands for far rightwing ideological purity are tearing apart the GOP, will doom this nation to an even more rightwing agenda. It took a long time for liberal to become a bad word. It's taken less time to paint "progressive" negatively. Because of the negativity associated with the labels, you have to push at the policy level issue by issue on the long haul.

So it's up to progressives. You either have the patience to do it right or you simply tear it all apart in 2012. It's your choice. I've made mine. You take the fast road, but I will take the longer, less traveled road to insure my stances are eventually adopted.