[quote]Special Report
Dem blues
Can the Democrats find the lyrics to regain the White House?
By Roger Simon

How bad off is the Democratic Party? Well, the Democrats don't have the presidency, they don't have the Senate, and they don't have the House. And while a few men have been elbowing one another to get elected Democratic chairman on Saturday, that is largely a fundraising job. Just what the heart, soul--and future--of the party is seems very much an open question.

"I think we are in for a difficult period," says Bill Daley, Al Gore's campaign chairman in 2000. "Can we win in '08? Tell me what the economy will be like or what the war in Iraq will be like. I don't know. Do I see that the Democrats are on some grand march with programs and ideas that will motivate people? No."

"It is depressing losing elections, especially one in which so many things went well," says Anita Dunn, a Democratic strategist. "We didn't get outspent; we did an extraordinary job organizing voters and increasing turnout. Fundamentally, the question Democrats face is: 'OK, if so many things were in place, why did we lose?' That is a tough question for a political party."

Says David Axelrod, a Democratic strategist who worked for John Edwards in the last presidential primary campaign, "The impression is that [the Republicans] have ideas and energy and we are trying to maintain the status quo. It was not clear in the last election what our vision was."

Source: U.S. News & World Report
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/050214/...ems.htm[/color]

When everything did go right and everything was in place and all the exit polls showed our candidates winning......one has to ask the question why? with great concern and wonder if the Republican favored voting machines will be a factor in the future......Im guessing they wont, a lesson learned is exactly that...a lesson learned. John Reid Edwards is the only candidate for president that could possibly heal such a terribale wound to our nation and allow us to trust the system once again.

I hope all the Republicans listening last night or read JRE's speech now know we indeed know what to do and where to go. We never lost it in my opinion. John Edwards is what the Dems need in 2008 and I can't imagine anyone not knowing this. John will take us all to a better and fairer America and will most certainly improve relations abroad.

[quote=JRote]I hope all the Republicans listening last night or read JRE's speech now know we indeed know what to do and where to go. We never lost it in my opinion. John Edwards is what the Dems need in 2008 and I can't imagine anyone not knowing this. John will take us all to a better and fairer America and will most certainly improve relations abroad.[/quote]

Well, I hope a lot of ordinary Republicans who might be persuaded to cross over heard John's speech last night. I hope the Republican strategists somehow missed it. I'd love it if we took them by surprise on this, putting our clear vision before the American people when the Repubs aren't prepared to counter it.

We never lost the vision. Those of us who were listening to Edwards knew it was there all along. We just have to put the right people in the positions of power in our party, that's all.

about JRE. But if you read some of the other blogs, JRE is not beloved as he is in our hearts. I've seen some Clarkies who despise JRE, have called JRE milqtoast (another way of saying milk toast), doesn't have a global vision, or lacks experience. They are still mad at Kerry for choosing JRE, and thinks that JRE didn't do anything to help the ticket.

I hope Dean will help `shake-up` some of these `nay-sayers` in the Democratic Party. I haven't seen any great ideas from the former candidates except Dean and Edwards.

I've often wondered if the Party needed a name change to represent change. My DH thinks it ought to be renamed the "Freedom" party to steal thunder from the rethugs, but I know that would swim like a boulder in water.