And don't forget the RSNC's latest effort, FancyFord.com, a website, which attacks Senate candidate Rep. Harold Ford of Tennessee.

Well I guess Liddy Dole knows a little something about pushing voters' buttons about race. Too bad she's going for the lowest common denominator in a effort to keep Ford out of the Senate.

"A party that once stood for respectable conservative principles has become a mere parody of itself. The party that once stood for fiscal sanity has run up the largest deficits in American history. The party that once campaigned on a strong national defense has weakened our security because of complete ineptitude in their prosecution of the war in Iraq, and was willing to hand the keys to our ports over to a foreign, state-owned company with ties to Al-Qaeda. The party that once stood for minimal government intrusion is protecting a full-scale domestic spying program and increasingly looks to take up residence in the bedrooms and doctor's offices of Americans across the country."

-------------------------------------------------
Tim,
This is what the Democratic candidates should say from today until the November 2006 elections! This statement should be included in every speech, every debate, every interview. This is how the Democratic Party should 'frame' our message!!!!

Now, The Republican Public are saying they don't trust any of their Republicans to govern on a conserative theme! Even when one of their Candidates sayes he is a Conserative they don't trust them to actually Govern conserative?

This is because George Bush ran as a Compassionate Conserative and he lied.

They sold their soul to the devil.

Greed, corruption, watching out for the lobbyists and their clients instead of the people they are suppose to represent, polluting the environment, kicking the poor and sick, ignoring their reponsibilities under the Constitution by not offerin ANY oversight of the executive branch, threatening and underfunding the judical branch, running up the national debt with welfare for the rich and corporations, passing laws that ignore the Bill of Rights...

What have they done right? Why would anyone by the semi-comatose vote for any of them?

I don't believe all these DIRTY TRICK that the Republicans are famous for will win out!

The reason is they have used it too many times, successfully, now the public is in the know!

maybe the few that have been too busy to hear:
"There You Go Again spewing out venom,"

The Democrats will put our volunteers in a truck with a sign and loud speaker telling them.

So the Republican party's coming apart at the seams. It seems to me that there are too many Republi-lites in the Democrat party who are going along with business as usual because they feel that they will get re-elected merely because they aren't Republicans.
Now is the time to clean house in the Democrat Caucus.
We need to get involved in the primary campaigns and support those candidates who will do us a good jobs and fight against the Republi-lite incumbents.
It will do this country no good if the Democrats win the majority only to continue the downward slide into a mega-corporate oligarchy.
Hoooah!!!

If the Dems can't re-capture congress this go round, I don't know what to think. I'm glad we went to Iraq but about Iran? Thank Heaven the DP World deal has fallen through but what does it say about W and GOP that they supported such a thing? Have we become so naive about the extremists that we think we can be their friends or negotiate with them? Show me a moderate Middle Eastern Regime and I'll show you a whore with her cherry intact! We went to Iraq on the suspicion of WMD and didn't find any. Thank God! Now, what are the Dems going to say to W about his Iran policy? It's okay to do Iraq but we need to attack Iran before they get their Islamo-fascist, caliphate-pushing hands on some nukes. Do it now, not later. Hold W accountable for this! Make sure the "soft on terrorism" jerks vacate 1600 Pennsylvania Ave in 08 and Congress in 06! Go Democrat Hawks Go!!!

All of us who believe Hillary is NOT the right candidate for 2008, UNITE!

Let the DNC know that we can --and MUST--have a winnable Democratic candidate who has universal appeal and truly reflects the ideals and passions of Democrats.

Let's not let the DNC select Clinton without US.
Barrage them with postive suggestions for better candidates.

Thank you.

We all know what the Republicans claimed to stand for when they were out of power in the Congress.

Their spending priorities after taking control of the government is nothing short of criminal and stupid.

In addition, the Evangelical Christian Right, which is in control of the Republican Party, has a very scary agenda that needs to be thwarted.

So...the Democratic Party has a big job ahead as it seeks to educate voters once again that it is ok to be mindful of your faith, but not a good ideal to make it public policy and that it is also ok to pay a few taxes, so that our roads, schools, public safety and medical needs can be managed in a reasonable manner.

Go get 'em!

laurasview,

It is not the DNC who has control over who the candidates are. It is the DSCC and the DCCC.

If you do not want Hillary as a candidate, then write to Schumer at the DSCC and let your voice be heard. Right now, she is the leading Democratic candidate for the position, so they will tend to lean towards whomever is polling high.

info@dscc.org

The "Christian" Right is only in control of lesser issues with the Republicans. Their true base are the mega-rich and their multi-national (read don't care what happens to the Armerican people) corporations.
The big problem is that the Republi-lites in the Democrat party go right along with the money and not the interests of their true base.
The Democrats need to have a spring cleaning. We need to support challengers, to the Republi-lites and be sure to vote the primaries against these sell-outs. Campaign for the challengers, talk to our friends, family, and ever our cousin's yellow dog, get as many people as possible involved.
That will send a most definite message to the DNC, DLC,DSCC, DCC, and whoever else. It will also put a lot of true Democrats into positions where they will be listened to.
If a grass-roots rebellion is the only thing they will listen to, so be it. Hoooah!!!

Brian111, Did you not read the article at the top of these comments?

Why do you insist on promoting a lie? Read the plan above and praise it or shut up?

Democrats have a full table of plans! Get someone to read it to you. The platform and the current changes and additions will be posted under this sight by clicking, Platform!

The democratic party needs to establish right now what the message is and beat the drum relentlessly as the republicans do so well at. Keep it simple, and stay focused without diverging from the strategy. I agree with lavnderblue, sounds like you are getting close to honing in on a strategy. Good grief if we can't leverage this culumination of folly and assist with the implosion republican strategy, we shouldn't be leading the people!

As of late, the news for us Dems has been so good that it’s scary. Dems, however, still need to hammer out a coherent message to present to the American people. And, in addition to that, progressive and Moderate Dems need to mend fences. It seems to me that both of these are critical if we are going to be successful this fall. The factors are shaping up in our favor;it's up to us, then, to capitalize on it.

New Dem

If you are "IN THE KNOW" your comments are appreciated. If you are trying to create Helter Skelter with the Democrats your words are falling on deaf ears.

Go to the DNC sight and read the heading Articles and then tell me Democrats don't have a plan?

What would cause a person to speak before they read, "THE PLAN?"

READ ALL THE ARTICLES IN THE DNC SIGHT AND ALL THE ARTICLES IN THE DNC BLOG AND YOU WILL KNOW?

The Presidental Candidates haven't declared themselves as Candidates yet!

Wait until after the '06 election and then they will come out swinging!

The main attention now is putting Democrats in the majority in House of Rep. and Senate!

We are busy promothing Democrats in the House and Senate to educate you.

The overaching topic to breathe life into the 1-5 list above is the economy and the budget. The republicans cannot continue to have it both ways, talk about spending on domestic issues while cutting taxes for the highest income class, sending us deep into debt for a war and general chaos we created in Iraq.
Not to mention the complete lack of a real strategy to decrease our dependence on foreign oil, such as providing economic incentive to do anything else rather than drill for resources that will soon be depleted. They have given us almost too much fodder to pick from!Dems need to be on point, consistent, and focused.

The thing that is wrong with America is GREED and the TWO PARTY SYSTEM. That is why their is low voter turnout during the elections because people are fed up with career politians telling lies to them all the time. NONE of them care for the little man who is the backbone of this country.
We need to follow an example of the first President who desided two terms was enough. George Washington.
If you can't get something done in 8 years that is fair to everybody and not just half the nation, then you don't belong in office.

Just voting Democrat and not asking questions will make things a bit better, but not really great.
The only way to really improve this country and the Democrat party is to vote out the incumbent Republi-lite legislators who are kissing up to the Republican special interests.
The only way to send a message to Democrat leadership that they will listen to is going to be by working for the Democrats who oppose the sell-out incumbents and by voting in the primaries.
If we can fire enough Republi-lite incumbents, then there will be enough politicians who value their true base to make the positive changes in the Democrat leadership and the changes this country needs to halt this slide into being an oligarchial dictatorship by big business interests.

The BBC this morning had an article about the economic recovery in Argentina. It is boasting a rising employment and a growing economy.
It also has an unprecedented number of beggars, especially the aged, the infirm, and children.
The children of the poor don't go to school, instead they suppliment the family income by selling small items on the city streets. People pick through garbage to gind edibles and recyclables that they can sell.
It sounds like stories my mother and grandmother told about Mexico prior to their Revolution.
It makes me think about the people I know who have lost their jobs to outsourcing, and who have had to take lower paying jobs. Families whose parents have to work three or four jobs to keep the family in housing and groceries. Families whose budgets are destroyed by a necessary medical expense or car repair. These people are not lazy or stupid. If they weren't they wouldn't survive as well as they do. Some of these people are former middle-class who found their college educations no longer got them jobs.
Are we going to keep going downhill in this direction. Or is the Democrat party going to stand up for its true base, the working American people and halt this slide, draw a line on the erosion that the very expensive "free trade" is causing, not just our economy, but the world economy.
The Democrat incumbents either need to come out for the American people, or get fired, and replaced by candidates who gove a damn.
We need to start by taking back the Congress, and then impeaching the Bush administration.
Otherwise, read the BBC article about Argentina and look at our future.

To get to the crux of "the corporatization" of our government the democrats need to have as the first item on their agenda campaign finance reform, followed by real legislation to sunset organized lobbying. Not sure if it is possible for the party to do this because of it's own degree of institutionalization of corporate influence,involvement, and greed. Which is the sad and scary thing to me, without these changes we will lose the voice we have left.

First and foremost, Impeach Bush. The subsequent investigation will bring a lot of dirty laundry out in the open, bring down a large part of the administration and corrupt Republican legislators, possibly even a supreme court justice, and will be a wake up call to the manipulation of the government that has been done by the mega-corporations and their big money lobbyists. It will also start to go a long way toward mending our horribly damaged credibility with the rest of the world.
Second, repeal the tax cuts for the rich, which more than anything except Bush's war in Iraq is responsible for our out of control national debt.
Third, find a solution for Iraq which will get us out of this mess with as much honor intact as possible, and not leave the Iraqis in the lurch either. We are only being a catalyst for terrorist recruitment at this point. I would say bring in the UN, and/or a coalition of Muslim nations to fill the power vacuum until the Iraqi government gets straightened out.
Fourth, try to correct the damage which has been done to the military. End the cold-war contracts for no-longer needed technology, and investigate and correct the abuses the war-profiteers are perpertrating in the Iraq war. Then use that money, which is currently being wasted, to give lower enlisted people a living wage and get their families off food stamps, and restore the cuts in the Veteran's Administration in the areas of veteran's services and research that would benefit disabled veterans.
That's a start, we could go on from there.
This government needs to get back to looking out for the best interests of the Armerican people and not the uber-rich and their parasitical multi-national corporations.
And don't twist my words, not all corporations are parasitical, but the ones that are need to be brought up on very short leash.

I hope the people didn't miss the plan Fiengold has for Bush to be censored? That is probably as much as we can do until we get in the majority? If the people would protest enough the Republicans would have somekind of hearing?

It all depends on the public protesting or supporting a person or action to get anything done.

We The People, are the only ones that can get a Candidate elected or lose an election.

That is why now is the time to rally around our Democrats, all of them, say only postive and good things about all Democrats.

You don't want to be marked as the reason a Democrat lost, do you?

Hello freeforall,
Your last question smacks of the same tactic as Republican's threat that if you don't agree with the leadership you are not patriotic!
It is foolish align yourself with a party instead of the party's solutions to issues and because of the quality of, and actions of, individual candidates.
If the democrats lose it will be because people followed in blind faith not because of thoughtful solutions and platforms driven by public discourse.

The "vote for a Democrat right or wrong" attitude is totally bogus. It will loose us another election just like it has in the past.
Stop and count the number of times a Republi-lite has sold out the party and voted with the Republicans on important measures that would help the American people. One of the problems the Democrat party has is that a lot of voters don't see much difference between the Republicans and the Democrats because of these sell-outs. The only way voters seem to be able to distinguish between parites is on single-issue-voter issues. This needs to come to a screeching halt.
The Democrat party needs a House-cleaning. We need to identify and work against the incumbent Republi-lites in the primaries. We need to get quality candidates who will work for the American people and NOT for the mega-rich big business interests who have been destroying our economy.
We need to get as many people involved as possible, friends, family, and our cousin's yellow dog.
We need to make this party grow a backbone, and stand for something. It won't happen while the old DINOS are deeply entrenched in the party.
We need to clean house now because 2008 will be too late.

My progressive liberal heart bleeds for the fractures within the Republican party...WAAAAAAAAAA!

My concern is that this Democratic Party may not act in a manner in which they take the lead in defining who they are, what their ideas and solutions are and present to the electorate a party built on a foundation of Honesty, Integrity,Competence and Leadership; let alone common sense.

My other concern is the talk of a Hillary Clinton presidential run. Not that she should not run, but it is almost a certain death knell if she should win the primaries! She carries too much negitive baggage.
Better see her serving in a new Democrat adminstration rather than its standard bearer.

Illegal immigration is an issue the Democratic Party must face in 2006; polls show that Americans overwhelmingly want it stopped. America is a nation of emigrants, an also a nation of laws. We as Americans should say come one come all to America, but stand in line and wait your turn.

CMitch

Fall is still a long way off and articals like this may make some FEEL GOOD but the truth is the Republican party is still looked at as being more together than the Democratic party. The Democrtic party can not sit back and SEE if the republican party continues to shot it's self in the foot (or face if your the vice pres) and hope to ride that into power this fall. The public gets more than any of the "polititions" give them credit for but the fastest way to loose them again is to support candidates that don't LEAD. There are to many elected officials that will not support the big issues unless it is by popular support. I see nothing about support for the right to form unions as this party supported for so many years in the past.

Illegal immigration is a problem because NAFTA has destroyed the Mexican farm economy, and the maquiladoras are being threatened with getting closed down and the jobs sent to China if the workers demand a living wage.
There are employers who are willing to hire illegal Mexican workers, because they can pay starvation wages, and if the workers protest mistreatment or want better pay, the employer threatens to get the INS will send them back to Mexico. These employers, not the illegals are the ones who should be punished.
Most of these people wouldn't come here if there were opportunities in their home countries. If the farmers could get better prices for their crops and not be undercut by subsidized grain from the US. If there were controls on large corporation to discourage continually moving jobs to cheaper and cheaper countries.
The real solutions to the problem is not one the multi-national mega-corporations want to hear about and one which the Republicans have been fighting tooth and nail. Tougher laws and higher fences won't do it. Making big business play fair will.
We need to call a halt to the fear-mongering that the Republican spin has been dealing out and take care of the illegal immigration problem in a humane manner.

Here's a nice example of how the wingnuts are trying to win the black vote....

http://www.kpbj.com/opinioneditorial/articles/2006-03-13-EDT-02.html

Sorry, perhaps this link will work. First post, sorry!

http://www.kpbj.com/opinioneditorial/articles/2006-03-13-EDT-02.html

We need to get an ad run or a truck with a sign and a driver to tell the people:

Republicans have only one plan: "Abandon the people and sell access and influnce for $50,000. or more and you can write Bills or have access to their Leaders?

Can you think of any other plan: WEll there is an indeffinate War that could last 15 to 20 years!