The Democrats need to make it picture clear that they are not for abortion, but for abortion rights. We also need to stop being fake about what we try to do. Kerry is not an openly religous guy. I'd rather see him not discuss it all then do it in the phony way he did. We do pander too much to the African-American community, but do we have a choice? Could we win PA, MI, OH (theoretically), MN, FL, WA without large Black Democratic turnout in Philadelphia, Detriot, Cleveland, The Twin Cities, Miami/Jacksonville, and Seattle?
Well said Akno. I share a lot fo what you just said. I too feel the Democratic party panders to African Americans too much, but hey what are we going to do? The Democratic party in the Philadelphia is factionalized into the following: African Americans, suburban/Center City progressives, and Northeast/South Philly union members. If you were to put these groups into a room together, there would be massive chaos. Example: the black and NE/South Philly Dems are relatively socially conservative and may not like gay marriage and abortion, but for the suburban/CC Dems, it's their core issues. The pandering to the NAACP would not bode well to the suburban or union Dems but to North and West Philly, it's fine. And on the economic issues, the Philly Dems would be on board, but to the progressives, it may not be such a big deal. This is why the Democratic party is disorganized.
We have the challenge of explaining our complex positions. Our problem is our positions are not black and white. Simple minded people like simple minded positions such as "pro-life" and "tax cuts."
