To: koan who wrote (69047 ) 1/31/2010 1:54:05 AM From: tejek Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 149317 To whit:Defeating Democratic defeatism by Dante Atkins Sat Jan 30, 2010 at 06:47:47 PM PST Among the many calls that Howard Dean issued to the Democratic Party in 2003 was the message to no longer be afraid to stand up and be proud of being a Democrat, because we were actually right on the issues. That's a message that many frustrated progressives took to heart in the wake of a media narrative established around that time that America was a conservative country and that the Democratic Party was out of touch with American values. It has also been said that liberals are the type of people that will take their opponent's side in an argument against themselves. And while being open-minded is good, apologizing for being a Democrat is not the way to win elected office. As evidence, let's take two recent quotes that appeared within a day of each other in local newspapers in purple exurbs of Los Angeles. Links and names are withheld, because the quotes speak for themselves. Here's one from a story that touched on fiscal accountability: I may be a Democrat, but I'm a fiscal conservative. And here's another one that appeared the next day in a different purple area of the region--this time, in a story about a local Republican who made a controversial racist remark: I'm a Democrat, but I'm not for open borders. The sources for these quotes aren't random Democrats--they're former nominees for higher office in their local areas. And yet in these quotes, they run away from the Democratic Party and reinforce its worst stereotypes to the readers. In the wake of the debacle in Massachusetts, it's more important than ever that Democrats at all levels remind voters of what Democrats stand for and embrace it rather than running from it--just like President Obama did yesterday by taking the House GOP leadership head on.dailykos.com