Reply #51: Welcome to fray!

[Emillereid]

First of all I have been consistent throughout the election cycle -- back in the primaries I voiced most of these same concerns about Kerry as a candidate and have every right to be critical of him and the democratic party. We are NOT a lock-step party wherein all the members have to agree -- we have historically come together as a broad coalition of interests more or less around what might loosely be called progressive politics. It is not whining to criticize and analyze either our candidates or our party's positions. We are a contrarian bunch -- that's why I'm a democrat. If I wanted 'black - white,' no questions asked loyalty, I'd be a Republican fascist!

I worked hard for Kerry, but I was not for a moment so naive or 'party above all else' loyal not to see the deficiencies in both Kerry and the campaign he ran. If you don't learn from history, you will repeat it over and over. The democratic party has been doing that for several election cycles now -- figuring that if they move further and further to the right they'll finally win. It hasn't worked and it never will. The democratic party will simply become more and more irrelevant. I have worked for the Democratic Party for 45 years -- yes as a child I worked in the Kennedy campaign -- so I believe I've earned the right to have a point of view -- and to be treated to more respect that to be impugned with silly allegations of being 'Rovian.'

Because Kerry is a 'good man who loves his country and faught (sic) damn hard to win this election' does not immunize him against criticism of either his strength as a candidate or the strategy his campaign adopted. I personally believe that it was his campaign to lose -- I think had we had a more progressive candidate with stronger convictions who spoke unambiguously for the people needs (about 40% who didn't bother to vote) we would have won in a landslide and the Bushits would not been able to steal it. We'll never know if I am right or not -- history doesn't give us second chances unfortunately.

When I say I won't ride that donkey again -- I am obviously playing on Sharpton's convention speech metaphor and am saying that as long as the democratic party and Kerry donkey continue to go down the same losing path, I'm not going to ride. I'm taking a different road. I'm not sure what road that is just now -- it might be that progressives all across the country can form a strong coalition to take back the democratic party, or if not, we might have to form an alternate political vehicle.

By the way, I for one WOULD HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM saying what I've said to
Kerry 's face -- he's a man just like any other. I am not dazzled by celebrity! After all I'm a democrat and really BELIEVE that legitimate power belongs to the people - including me!