Julie with a B

Wednesday, February 16, 2005
 
The Fighting Moderates
Paul Krugman from Tuesday:
The Republicans know the America they want, and they are not afraid to use any means to get there," Howard Dean said in accepting the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee. "But there is something that this administration and the Republican Party are very afraid of. It is that we may actually begin fighting for what we believe."
Those words tell us what the selection of Mr. Dean means. It doesn't represent a turn to the left: Mr. Dean is squarely in the center of his party on issues like health care and national defense. Instead, Mr. Dean's political rejuvenation reflects the new ascendancy within the party of fighting moderates, the Democrats who believe that they must defend their principles aggressively against the right-wing radicals who have taken over Congress and the White House.
...
We'll never know whether Democrats would have done better over the past four years if they had taken a stronger stand against the right. But it's clear that the time for that sort of caution is past.
...
By standing firm against Mr. Bush's attempt to stampede the country into dismantling its most important social insurance program, Democrats like Mr. Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durbin and Barbara Boxer have, at a minimum, broken the administration's momentum, and quite possibly doomed its plan. The more time the news media spend examining the details of privatization, the worse it looks. And those Democrats have also given their party a demonstration of what it means to be an effective opposition.
...

I had a difficult time excerpting Krugman's article, it's worth reading the entire piece. This is not about who we like or dislike, it's standing up for the ideals that we believe in.
I'm fine here if you want to discuss what exactly it is that the Democratic Party should support. I am NOT interesting in any discussion that includes the word "hate" for anyone or anthing. So don't go there. Tell me what you believe in.

- posted by JulieB @ 8:50 AM
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