Prog Blogs, Orgs & Alumni
Bank Slate
Betsy Devine
birch, finch, beech
Blue News Tribune (MA)
Democracy for NH
Live Free or Die
Mike Caulfield
Miscellany Blue
Granite State Progress
Seacoast for Change
Susan the Bruce
Tomorrow's Progressives
Politicos & Punditry
The Burt Cohen Show
John Gregg
Krauss
Landrigan
Lawson
Pindell
Primary Monitor
Primary Wire
Scala
Schoenberg
Spiliotes
Welch
Campaigns, Et Alia.
Paul Hodes
Carol Shea-Porter
Ann McLane Kuster
John Lynch
Jennifer Daler
ActBlue Hampshire
NHDP
DCCC
DSCC
DNC
National
Balloon Juice
billmon
Congress Matters
DailyKos
Digby
Hold Fast
Eschaton
FiveThirtyEight
MyDD
The Next Hurrah
Open Left
Senate Guru
Swing State Project
Talking Points Memo
50 State Blog Network
Alabama
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
A few years ago, i read what seemed like a spate of article about how the Democrats did not have a concise message to counter the Republican "smaller government, lower taxes, strong defense, and family values." I spent weeks constructing analagous catch phrases in my head, picking bits and pieces from things like:
worker safety;
clean air and water;
consumer protection;
individual privacy;
standing up for the middle class;
family values (co-opting a nice phrase that is often used for a nasty purpose);
and so on. I actually had 3 or 4 I kind of liked, that I thought summed up Democratic values pretty well. I don't remember what they were.
But turns out maybe we didn't (and don't) need a catch phrase, and I think that's kind of interesting. Maybe there are so many causes we need to stand up for that a catch phrase won't work. Maybe we're a big tent party in more ways than one.
Or maybe complexity has been brought back into the discussion of complicated problems. Everyone wants a "strong defense," after all, but that means more than invading other countries. (It means a strong economy. It means making friends. It means working with allies.)
Anyway, it's kind of funny to watch the Republicans doing their "soul-searching." I hope they come out of it a better party. And I hope their little catch phrase doesn't hold them back.
