Abstract

Danny Goldberg

The article focuses on the Democratic Party in the United States, following its defeat in the 2004 elections. There were two campaigns that supported Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004, the official campaign and a cluster of unofficial progressive campaigns. Although Kerry would have made a fine President, he was unable to convey who he was. The unofficial campaigns, while loyal to Kerry, were driven by passion on issues, the war, civil liberties, the environment, and economic justice. If people under 30 had determined the election, Kerry would have won 375 electoral votes. The unofficial campaigns gave America, for the first time in a quarter-century, an organized, impassioned progressive voice. We need candidates who understand that part of the job description for political leadership is fluency in mass American cultural language, a language in which, for example, the word "cowboy" is a compliment, not an insult.