Do the Dem's Want to Win?

The next presidential election in 2008 is dawning very quickly upon us. Howard Dean is right in stating that the Democrats need to wage a 'national campaign'. “Instead of each candidate running on local issues within his or her district, Dean said, all Democrats should stress such issues as “honesty and openness in government.”

Rather than exhibiting the usual fractiousness and discord that has become commonplace, the party must unite, it truly needs to shed well worn ways and faces. An honest appraisal of what is needed to win the next election will be excruciatingly painful for the current crop of party leaders, but it will clearly present the ultimate test of whether the Democrats can live up to their words of doing what “is best for America.” Will the egos and self gratifying aspirations for glory and power cause another loss, or can they make the necessary personal sacrifices that they ask of others?

There is a lot of tiredness in the party, we continually view the same old faces, same old behind the scene power brokers, same old consultants. No one denies their depths of commitment and good intentions, but they reliably provide the same old result – they lose. Bob Schrum, Donna Brazille, John Kerry, Joe Biden, Al From, Susan Estrich, James Carville, Harry Reid, members of the disastrous Democratic Leadership Council...... the needs of America have passed them by - it's time to fade into history.

Hillary Clinton is a wonderful person, well respected, and she seems to truly care for the welfare of her constituents and America. The problem is she cannot win the election, she carries far too much baggage, and is an embarrassingly easy target for Rethuglican slime. Her greatest value to America would be in using her formidable organizing and cajoling skills to cement the chances for those candidates who can offer Americans new faces, ideas, and hopes that they desperately need. She needs to give up her quest for making history as our first female president - the time is not right.

Russ Feingold, Barack O'Bama, Wesley Clark, Eliot Spitzer. These are some of the new faces needed if the democrats want to win. Will the old, tired guard give way? Will they honor their high minded, noble words about serving the greater good, about taking back America for Americans? Or, will the needs of their countrymen be sacrificed to fulfilling petty personal insecurities? Time will tell.
Posted on The Human Stain