Chickens and Eggs. The GOP is powerful because the Democratic Party continually weakens itself

[Armstead]

The big bad all-powerful GOP. The ever-present menace that stands like a Cyclops in the path of progress. the monsters who make it Impossible to be Liberal.

The Democrats CAN'T DO anything, except a few little tweaks the GOP and all those conservative hordes out there will allow.

They've taken over Congress. They have the power to block anything the Democrats might try.

Therefore all the Democrats can do is hold the line, "hold your nose" and try to keep them from grabbing EVERYTHING. That's reality Bub. forget those Unicorns.

That's the message again this year. There are elements of truth in it. But it ignores a more basic reality. A real "reality."

The whine that "ohhhh a Democratic President can't do anything because the Republicans will stop it" is only a reality because Democrats allow that reality to happen. It is the cumulative result of a self-fulfilling prophecy that gets trotted out every election.

The GOP is powerful because for at least 35 years the Democrats have not fought back in any meaningful way. The RW and their Corporate sponsors have been Pro-active in pushing CONservatism. The Democrats have been reactive -- failing to fight for meaningful liberalism , and even helping to defeat it.

We forget the context of the Reagan Revolution. That was not a pre-ordained act of nature. Reagan was originally dismissed by many within his own party. Too fringe. Too extreme. Too many Conservative unicorns. But Reagan resonated with the mood of the country, and ultimately won. And then pushed the pendulum far to the right in a fundamental way.

Unfortunately, since then the Democrats either failed to fight to push it in the other direction or, worse, aided and abetted that by joining in the push to the right.

And we're still paying the price.

Maybe it's time for a little bit of strategic -- AND MORAL -- rethinking about that.

[TIME TO PANIC]

1. Compromise is no longer an option!

[Armstead]

2. Well, at the very least surrender is no longer an option

[TIME TO PANIC]

4. True, that's a better way to phrase it.

they've turned the word 'compromise' into a euphemism for surrender.

[Armstead]

6. Yeah I know....

I think most progressives are open to compromise, but are sick of surrender

[wildeyed]

3. The GOP is powerful

because Democrats don't vote consistently. And also because they GOP sells fear and that is easy to sell. We should stop buying that one.

[Armstead]

5. The GOP has principles and an ideology that they SELL and FIGHT FOR

Of course the ideology is awful, and they use lies as part of their sales pitch. But they are committed and they do fight and push, and they don't preemptively surrender. In fact, even when they lose they don't surrender.

The Democrats too often offer Meh and the reactive "hold your nose" argument. Which is not going to inspire either non-affiliated moderates, or committed progressives.

[wildeyed]

10. I disagree.

The powerful manipulate the masses with divisive messages of fear so they can keep stuffing money from the public coffers into their own pockets and no one will notice. What have they actually succeeded at, for the standpoint of the racist and homophobic base? They are doing gangbusters on the abortion front, but other than that, not much.

They sell fear of change. Fear of gays. Fear of blacks. Fear of immigrants. Easy. And it is waaaaay easier to sell the idea of "low taxes" of keeping what is "yours", than it is to sell the idea of paying much more, but getting a better return later.

But demographics are changing. They will not matter nearly as much soon. The Dems are not the greatest on messaging, but they are better than they used to be. Really, it is just a math problem. Too many conservative whites. Trust me, they are not open to the liberal message either, at least not like blue state liberals want to believe.

[Armstead]

12. That has been going along for decades.

You are correct, they appeal to fear and selfishness. It's propaganda. They sell that in a nice glossy illusion that what's good for the wealthy is automatically good for you. And you should defend the rich because you too might be rich someday. And they sell fear of "others" who want to take it from you.

The problem is there has not been any real counter narrative or defense of liberalism from the Democratic party for an equally long time. Just echoes of the GOP message, except in a few selected issues (and sometimes even then kicking and screaming, such as LGBT marriage).

Those of us who actually believe in the principles of progressive liberalism have long been frustrated by that. We ought to believe that outr principles are true and can be successfully "sold" too. You are seeing that playing out in the current primary. Unfortunately the Democratic Establishment seems intent on stifling pro-active liberalism yet again.

[Vinca]

7. I agree.

For decades the Democratic Party has been creeping to the right as politicians try to reel in voters from the other side. For the most part, it hasn't worked and now the party doesn't know what the hell its message is. This election we're trying to bring it kicking and screaming back to its roots, but it's almost too broken to fix. My husband thinks we should have a parliamentary system in this country and I'm starting to agree with him.

[Armstead]

11. The message is "Don't try anything more than holding actions."

[nc4bo]

8. Our party almost seems like it wants to emulate the GOP but lacks the intestinal fortitude.

So we're stuck with a fence straddling party of cowards and GOP wannabes.

Sucks for those of us wanting to jettison the lot of them off into the abyss.

[liberal_at_heart]

9. K&R

[pdsimdars]

13. Obama kept offering Social Security as a bargaining chip remember that?

That is NOT a progressive or liberal act.

[Armstead]

14. Just one of a long string over the years, decades