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Jan 9, 2004 Have you ever gone to the drive-thru of a restaurant with a faulty speaker? It was hard to discern the mumbles and squeaks emanating from the metal box, wasn’t it? Well, that’s what my party is reminding me of: A damaged Democrat drive-thru speaker. My fellow Democrats have forgotten the age-old political paradigm of presenting a clear, concise and compelling message in a consistent fashion. It is my hope that they will find themselves revisiting PoliSci 101 to relearn the lesson. A clear message comes from a coherent leadership. We don’t have that in our party. Algore should have been the DNC leader, yet he abdicated to the Clintons. One can only imagine what will happen when one of the nine candidates actually wins the party nomination. I mean, it’s like choosing your favorite shade of green, isn’t it? There’s the loud lime green, screaming out at you; there’s the Army OD green; there’s the French-looking chartreuse; there’s a couple of shades of darker green, and so on. A Democrat in the trenches can only hope that after Boston, some clear leadership emerges that can coalesce the party into some semblance of order. But in order to do that, a concise agenda has to be evident. More than 30-second sound bites, but less than the tomes that have been published by almost all of the candidates, including Gore. (Oh, yes, I consider Gore to be making his second bid at being Number Two. I mean, after all, how many times did Robert Wagner play Number Two?) We can’t be the party of, “I support the troops, but…” We can be more than that. Being a Democrat doesn’t mean every position we hold has to be the polar opposite of conservatives. I can only speak for myself, but I go to church and believe in God and Jesus Christ. I oppose the Death Penalty. I believe in smaller government. Does that make me conservative or (GASP!) a moderate? Not at all. I choose not to ascribe to corporations’ sway over government nor do I agree with the anti-labor sentiment I perceive conservatives to have. But a concise agenda needs to be articulated for our party, one that reflects the values of the Democratic Party without compromising our beloved country. Yes, I love my country. I fought for it, and still proudly wear the uniform as a Reservist. The most compelling message that could come from our party is simply that—I love America. Each and every single card-carrying Democrat should be screaming that from the top of their lungs. I mean, what other country would tolerate our gaffes and goofs with words and not weapons? I know some hard right-wing folks would love to round liberals up and reactivate Alcatraz as an incarceration point for the left (after all, that IS the Left Coast, right?), but we should be celebrating our freedoms and doing all we can to support efforts to protect those freedoms in any way, shape or form. We aren’t doing that, as a party, in my opinion. We waffle with flatulent phrases that offer simpering support for the war on terrorism, or security on our borders. I understand a compassionate hand should be at the helm when we prosecute a war or any defensive actions, but for cryin’ out loud, the most compelling message we can adhere to is that we love our country, irregardless of what may come. My party, my party. I have two sons, and I love them dearly. I don’t favor one over the other when one disappoints me with his actions. I love them and stick by both of them. I will do the same with my party. I won’t jump ship merely because conservatives are splashing water in my face and telling me we’re sinking. I have faith that true leadership will emerge to give us a clear, concise and compelling message to rally ‘round. I am loyal. You may call it stupidity, but were thousands of fans that packed Wrigley Field last season stupid, or loyal? So, I will continue to order my politics from the broken speaker of the Democrat party, and I will do all I can to learn the skills to repair it so that it can once again speak loudly and clearly. ------------ About the author: Chuck Tyler is a freelance writer and journalist based in South Bend, Indiana. His credits include coverage for the South Bend Tribune (www.SouthBendTribune.com) of a triple homicide trial and a town hall meeting of concerned citizens and local officials for the Herald-Palladium (www.HeraldPalladium.com) following 9/11. Email him at: tyler_1420@yahoo.com Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
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