The Dem IM

To:	Us
X	The Dem IM: What are we doing here anyways?

I'll make this quick and simple. I think we all want to see:
a. a Democratically controlled Congress and White House

b. progessive policies enacted, and all politicians, whether they be liberal or conservative, held accountable for their actions

However, often these goals come into conflict. Are those of us who are pro-choice OK with supporting pro-life Democrats? Are we OK with simply being an echo chamber for Democratic Party talking points if those talking points are effective? On the other hand, are we willing to support policies that we will know will lead to Democratic defeat at the polls?

It seems that there is a continuum of liberal bloggers that moves from pragmatically driven to policy/movement driven. Most of the arguments on liberal blogs seem to come between bloggers who are expressing views on opposite poles of this continuum. How many times have we seen a liberal activist focused on transforming government and its policies argue with a strategist (like myself) who is willing to sell his soul and beliefs for Democratic votes. How important is winning elections to us and what is the liberal blogosphere willing to do to contribute?

So my question to the liberal blogosphere is do we want to be a...

• Echo Chamber? - Repeat talking points and attacks on Republicans until they are picked up by the Traditional Media
  
  
• Electoral Strategy Center? - Forum on How-to market Democrats to be elected by any means neccessary
  
  
• Policy Strategy Center? - Forum on how to Get Policies We Want to See Enacted
  
  
• Liberal Forum? - Honest debate on the issues from a liberal perspective
  
  
• Town Hall? - Honest, "fair and balanced" discourse (but not in the Faux news way)

We have to know where we want to go before we figure out how we're going to get there.

TAGS: Blogosphere