The early-bird presidential campaign is under way among Democrats with the usual characteristics. Candidates are sucking up to big-money contributors as though fundraising prowess reflects a talent for governing. The media issue "character" assessments and debate who's ahead in the horse race. But meanwhile, what's surprising and encouraging is that the early leader in this contest seems to be a dark horse known as Substance. Despite the fog and froth, some candidates are enunciating real ideas--big ideas--and compelling their rivals to respond. That breaks with convention in a party known in recent election cycles for its lameness of thought and obsessive risk avoidance. As we suggested recently, this "vision primary"--the contest for ideas and forward-looking vision--may well be the crucial determinant in whether the Democrats have the self-confidence and muscle to oust George W. Bush next year. It's too soon to claim their recovery of voice and imagination, but the early signs are promising.
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Noted.
Kudos to Minnesota's recount process; and kudos to Van Jones, 2008 recipient of the $100,000 Puffin/Nation Prize for green economy activism.
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Stimulus Now
On Day One, Congress must present Obama with a bold stimulus plan focused on putting people to work, rebuilding infrastructure and expanding the productive capacity of the economy.
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Noted.
Kristina Rizga on harnessing young voters' energy, Stephen Duncombe on a spoof edition of the New York Times
One reliable indication that big-think substance may be gaining traction is that the corporate Democrats feel the need to attack it. The last thing the Democratic Leadership Council wants is a nominee offering meaningful reform. So its agitprop spokesmen, Al From and Bruce Reed, trot out a warning memo, deriding Gephardt's bold stroke as a dangerous symptom of the old "pander virus"--that is, telling people what they want to hear--and advising other candidates to pay no attention to those "activist elites" pushing for a bolder agenda. The DLC's preferred candidate, Senator Joe Lieberman, certainly embraces that strategy, but can you imagine Karl Rove warning Bush about offering big ideas or telling people what they want to hear?
If Democrats want to be taken seriously, candidates will commit themselves to an open convention on the party's platform--lively debates, regional hearings and floor fights that enrich the party's vision of the future, even if some planks are beyond the reach of immediate fulfillment. Former Senator Fred Harris suggests his party borrow Goldwater's old slogan--"a choice, not an echo"--and create the mechanisms to develop policy differences such as a national policy council and grassroots discussion groups ("Paul Wellstone clubs") to carry the debates forward. Many leading Dems will shrink from the prospect of open, raucous disagreements. We hope the "vision primary" will weed them out.
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