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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (6750)	12/13/2005 11:34:09 AM
From: epicure	Respond to of 542011

IT's the weird quirky things you do that often get the fantastic results- and it's hard to institutionalize weird and quirky :-)

To: JohnM who wrote (6750)	12/13/2005 12:35:57 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 542011

OUR OPINION: Democrats need to state their case ocala.com A pot of money and positive poll numbers, though, will not be enough if the Democrats hope to regain some of the ground they have lost over the past decade. Article published Dec 13, 2005 Florida Democrats are feeling better about their party and their prospects than they have in a long time. Contributions are on the rise, and so are poll numbers. The opposition is being dogged by embarrassing scandals and policy miscues. Gov. Jeb Bush can't run again. And there is a growing sense that many Floridians are ready for some changes in political leadership. All those factors made for a rather upbeat atmosphere this past weekend at the Florida Democratic Party convention in Orlando. Everyone from U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson to gubernatorial candidates Jim Davis and Rod Smith to new party Chairman Karen Thurman of Dunnellon was talking with optimism about the 2006 elections. Optimism, of course, has been in short supply for Florida Democrats. In fact, the party's standing and influence has steadily dwindled since 1996 when it lost power in the state House. In 1998, the GOP took the governor's seat. Two years later President Bush eked out a victory in Florida against Al Gore that decided the national election. In 2002, Jeb Bush was re-elected governor and the GOP swept the three Cabinet races. Finally, last year, Mel Martinez won the U.S. Senate seat long held by party icon Bob Graham. When Thurman took the reins of the party in May, it was virtually broke. Buoyed by growing public discontent with the war in Iraq, a lethargic national economy, the miserable response to Katrina, a ballooning federal deficit, and the scandals and special-interest favoritism that have become a hallmark of the current administration in Washington, Florida's Democrats are energized. They are also making smart, strategic decisions. The party's lineup for state offices is not overcrowded, aiming to avoid the divisive, costly and failed election efforts of the recent past. Candidates, most visibly Davis and Smith, are more politically moderate than in the past and have the resumes to back up such claims. Thurman is knocking on every door she can think of trying to raise more money to close the gap - a rather significant one - in campaign funding. All in all, the Democrats have good reason to feel good about their party and their prospects. "I don't think it's time to open the champagne, but both in terms of organization and electoral process things are looking better now than they have since 1998 when (Gov.) Bush took over," University of North Florida political science professor Matthew Corrigan told The Associated Press. A pot of money and positive poll numbers, though, will not be enough if the Democrats hope to regain some of the ground they have lost over the past decade. No, they need a message with defined and defensible positions on an array of family and social issues, from abortion to education, and health care to water. Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, who is testing the presidential waters and attended the Florida convention, offered the best advice. "We've got to be about more than just being against the president," he told conventioneers. Exactly. Florida is beset by problems and they are growing. Many of the challenges can be attributed to our state's phenomenal growth, but the absence of a diversity of ideas certainly has hamstrung progress on a number of fronts. Certainly Floridians don't think the results of our all-Republican state government are anything special. A recent statewide poll taken by the Quinnipiac (Conn.) University Polling Institute found that while nearly 60 percent of voters give Gov. Bush a favorable rating, only three in 10 believe education - his policy centerpiece - had improved under his watch. Just 30 percent said the economy was better after seven years under Gov. Bush, and only 9 percent said Bush's touted tax-cutting initiatives had had a positive impact on their tax bills. There is plenty for Florida Democrats to seize upon if they want to be part of this state's leadership. Education, the economy and immigration were listed by poll participants as their three greatest concerns and are good start. But the Democrats need a clear, concise message - on an array of issues. Polls and party war chests alone won't win over the voters. Only fresh, workable ideas that make our everyday lives better will do that.

To: JohnM who wrote (6750)	12/13/2005 1:09:08 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542011

Obama Says Republicans Practice "Social Darwinism" __________________________________________________ By Barbara Liston Reuters Sunday 11 December 2005 Republicans controlling the federal government practice Social Darwinism, a discredited philosophy that in economics and politics calls for survival of the fittest, according to a Democratic U.S. senator. Sen. Barak Obama of Illinois, a fast-rising Democratic star, told Florida party members that only a philosophy among Republicans of sink or swim explains why some Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans still live in cars while Republicans in Washington prepare next week to enact $70 billion in tax breaks. "It's called the 'Ownership society' in Washington. This isn't the first time this philosophy has appeared. It used to be called Social Darwinism," Obama said late Saturday at the Democrats meeting at Walt Disney World. "They have a philosophy they have implemented and that is doing exactly what it was designed to do. They basically don't believe in government. They have a different philosophy that says, 'We're going to dismantle government'," Obama said. Republicans running the federal government believe, "You are on your own to buy your own health care, to buy your own retirement security ... to buy your own roads and levees," Obama said, referring to flood barriers that gave way in New Orleans during Katrina last August. Obama, the only African American now in the U.S. Senate, gave the keynote address at the annual meeting of Florida Democrats. Social Darwinism applies Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection from biology to human culture. Popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the theory advocates free competition and a minimalist role for government in society. Darwin himself rejected the application of natural selection to human society. Florida's Democrats have won only a single state-wide election since 1998, when Republican Jeb Bush, the president's brother, was elected to the first of two terms. Florida law bars him from seeking a third term, a fact which has fed optimism among Democrats about 2006's state-wide elections. Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean also spoke to the group, repeating his call for a "strategic redeployment" from Iraq in which the United States brings home 50,000 National Guard and reserve soldiers in the next six months and transfers 20,000 troops to Afghanistan to root out terrorists. ------- truthout.org