Sorry Howard, No Money This Year
Yesterday I received a letter from Howard Dean asking me to renew my commitment to the Democratic Party. Apparently they never got my letter of resignation.
Dean’s letter is a pretty flat bit of writing but what’s interesting is the war is mentioned only once and only at the very end. Instead, the letter attacks Republicans for being corrupt, for being dishonest, for being money-grubbing, poor-people-hating, rich-get-richer, dark-hearted ninnies (I’m paraphrasing).
In general, it’s probably a great idea for the Democrats to focus on all the scandals engulfing the Republicans. When your opponent is weak, a kick to the knee can bring him down. But then what? Dean assures me that the Democrats “are building a permanent, grassroots-based Democratic Party that will win elections.” And, as laid out in three bullet points, they’re also recruiting strong candidates, providing financial support to Democrats and conducting effective voter outreach.
Wow. I’m moved.
To be fair, this is a letter that only went out to identified supporters who already know what the Democrats stand for. But do they really know? Non-supporters certainly don’t. I mean, outside of promising less corruption and a nudge-nudge, wink-wink reference to the ending the “ill-conceived war,” this letter leaves me with nothing.
Newt Gingrich promised to end corruption too. He then followed up with the Contract For America. Where’s the contract, Howard? You can’t just say you’re going to lead the country in a new direction. What’s that mean? Higher taxes? An abandonment of Iraq? More money thrown into the same old welfare programs? All done with less corruption?
Nope, sorry Howard, that’s not enough. This country could indeed use a reform movement and I certainly have no great infatuation with the Republicans--but until you can articulate something substantive, something that makes me stop and say “now that’s a good idea," I’m giving my money to charities where people really are working to make America and the world better.
Dean’s letter is a pretty flat bit of writing but what’s interesting is the war is mentioned only once and only at the very end. Instead, the letter attacks Republicans for being corrupt, for being dishonest, for being money-grubbing, poor-people-hating, rich-get-richer, dark-hearted ninnies (I’m paraphrasing).
In general, it’s probably a great idea for the Democrats to focus on all the scandals engulfing the Republicans. When your opponent is weak, a kick to the knee can bring him down. But then what? Dean assures me that the Democrats “are building a permanent, grassroots-based Democratic Party that will win elections.” And, as laid out in three bullet points, they’re also recruiting strong candidates, providing financial support to Democrats and conducting effective voter outreach.
Wow. I’m moved.
To be fair, this is a letter that only went out to identified supporters who already know what the Democrats stand for. But do they really know? Non-supporters certainly don’t. I mean, outside of promising less corruption and a nudge-nudge, wink-wink reference to the ending the “ill-conceived war,” this letter leaves me with nothing.
Newt Gingrich promised to end corruption too. He then followed up with the Contract For America. Where’s the contract, Howard? You can’t just say you’re going to lead the country in a new direction. What’s that mean? Higher taxes? An abandonment of Iraq? More money thrown into the same old welfare programs? All done with less corruption?
Nope, sorry Howard, that’s not enough. This country could indeed use a reform movement and I certainly have no great infatuation with the Republicans--but until you can articulate something substantive, something that makes me stop and say “now that’s a good idea," I’m giving my money to charities where people really are working to make America and the world better.
posted by Alan Stewart Carl at 11:41 AM
2 Comments:
Alan,
Welcome back. I look forward to hearing more from you. I hope you never considered me one of those who "parrot" what others say. I always liked to think of my blog as being a little different. By the way, I think you're off to a great start.
"To be fair, this is a letter that only went out to identified supporters who already know what the Democrats stand for."
Alan - so, I see you're still assuming that Dean and the Dem leadership actually know what they, themselves stand for.
It's been clear in the last two elections that the party doesn't have a clue about what the Democrats should stand for today.... all they say is "we're not Republicans."
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