Decius wrote:
] The left didn't vote for Kerry. They voted against Bush. They
] need to actually produce a candidate they want to vote for. [ Without question. ...] ] They need to forget the issues and focus on the man. [... in this, however, i disagree. The left certainly needs to stop discussing the issues in terms of policies and logical analysis, but to put forth a candidate who is all style and no substance will be every bit as ineffectual as the inverse situation we find ourselves in now. What the left needs is a coherent vision. A framework in which to couch it's rhetoric so that people see a group with a solid, consistent message. And I don't mean an agenda, or a plan, or a series of talking points. There's been much bandying about for the past weeks about the left needing to be more about religion or less about gays or that they need to move to the center in some abstract way. I think that's all bullshit. The democratic platform has a great deal to offer most people in this country. But it's mired in the outmoded viewpoint that reasoning with people and presenting policy papers will sway people. It doesn't. Instead, the focus should be on anchoring that platform with a core philosophy and training ourselves to discuss matters in those terms. I like Lakoff, but i don't think he has the monopoly on good ideas in this regard... i'm not at all sure what the best option is, but i think that's where the discussion needs to move. Once the vision is established, finding a good candidate is a little easier, because they will have something to articulate that is already familiar to people and which presents the values of the left instead of a series of policy positions. -k] RE: Pandering To HypocrisyPandering To HypocrisyPandering to Hypocrisy | 
