I believe we win many elections, yet accomplish very little, because we are weaklings. I grew up in the 1950s--a time of many union strikes and social progress. I went to college in the 1960s--a time of many strikes and social progress. In addition to strikes, there were racial riots--which were bad--but did accomplish forcing DC to pay more money--and more attention to--problems in the ghettos.
During this era, I was more interested in the candidate than his party affiliation. Rockefeller was a good governor--Javits a great senator. Many Dems were good--but many others were gung ho for the Vietnam War--which I saw as a no win proposition--people you bomb never greet you with roses.
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Today, the Democrats have not gotten better, it's just that the Republicans have gone childish and hateful. They are the bad kids in the class that the teacher can't control. The remedies are available, but our side refuses to fight fire with fire.
One example is voter id and gun control--seemingly 2 different issues. Yet, I believe all the states trying to restrict voting do allow gun permits to be used for id. Why aren't we asking our allies to get permits for the tired, the poor, the huddled masses? Old white men will get quite upset when Mexicans and African-Americans show up en masse to get permits. To use terminology they would understand--this kills 2 birds with one stone.
Another example is worker power. Unions dropped the ball during Reagan's reign. Instead of respecting picket lines (PATCO), they became self centered and selfish. If they weren't attacked, they laid low. My background demands I see similarities with this and the rise of Hitler's anti-semitism. Neighbors allowed Jews to be rounded up because the victims were not them-- and when they became "them," no one was left for protection. (paraphrased a great explanation)
There still are unions--they still can have power, but signing petitions and marching won't get results. Teachers in my new home state of North Carolina need to go on strike until budget cuts are eliminated and salaries are raised. States avoiding Obamacare need to have doctors and hospitals to act. Right now--they too benefit from this program, but feel attached to their former Republican allies. Somewhere along the line, they need to remember an oath they took.
In politics, we need to punish the "moderate" Dems, if you compromise with the enemy, we're better off, in the long run, without you. Moderate Rs were pushed to the right, moderate Dems need to be pushed to the left.
Sites like this can be a focal point for the reemergence of Liberal power, or they can become sounding boards to let off steam--and accomplish very little. We're in a war--our enemy thinks lowered taxes for them are more important than the condition of the 99%. BTW--"Occupy.." didn't accomplish much because it was leaderless and ambiguous.
We live in a big money--big business--small world. The US no longer has a trade, natural resource, banking, or geopolitical advantage. Play it cool and we'll get burned. We need to coerce--we need zealots--political martyrs--union leaders willing to go to jail. We need it now--okay--we needed it yesterday.