What The Democrats Must Do To Win Back The White House

I was speaking to a Democrat today and I told her something most of my readers already know. Here's how it went:

At first, I let her talk without any static, but when she said she liked Howard Dean, I just had to say something. After she said it, I asked her point blank, "Do you ever want to win another election?". Now keep in mind that this was not a contentious conversation, but I just had to know and it took about a half of a nanosecond to see the sad frustration in her eyes.

But before she could say anything, I said, "Here is what your party must do: Stop campaigning AGAINST something and campaign FOR something. And, get rid of Dean.".

I pretty much let it go after that, but to continue the thought line, here is what else Dems must do to ever have a shot of controlling anything, ever again:

Don't just tell us the President, House Speaker, and/or Senate Majority Leader are inept, tell us where. And if you tell us where, tell us why. But most importantly, do not (whatever you do) fail to tell us how you would do it differently. Negativity lost the election and to continue a prosecutorial indictment of Bush, will only lead to more defeats. To do this the Dems will have to reinvent themselves. There is no other logical way.

A lot of people are beginning to believe the idea that Dr. Dean is where he is, because the mainstream power base wants to look more moderate. Let him loose and the Dems have an opportunity to sell the American electorate, a new and improved, kinder and gentler Democratic party. But if this is true, to do this is running a major risk and it may already be too late.

Dean may be well on the way to dividing the party.

Now that the Dems have him in such a prominent role, they may never get him out. When polls start showing that Dean is driving away the electorate, they will have to remove him in a political coup. This may (in turn) create a backlash the size of Alaska, in the form of Dean and his "no real job" anarchist following, leaving the party and taking a lot of votes with it.

The only choices left to the Dems would be to move towards the center, capture some of the support of moderate Republicans that may become disenchanted if the GOP moves more to the right, stay the course in the War On Terror, and deal with the border situation (and fast). And that won't be easy with the current Democratic leadership.

(And by the way, nominating Hillary is NOT a good idea. She has always been a leftist and to make her look moderate now, would only insult the average, free-thinking American's intelligence.)

Now I know most Democrats that read this don't and won't, believe a word I have just said. They will most likely continue in their MoveOn.Org approach to politics, with it being business as usual. But rest assured that if something doesn't change soon, the Dems will lose more and more. And they are just going to continue to get angrier and angrier, making their politics more and more personal, as times passes.

So just keep it up. Let Howard Dean divide your party and lose some more, if you wish. It's all up to you. President Gingrich may thank you.