Dean Says Dems Must Speak From the Heart

[Frodo]

Dean Says Party Should Speak From Heart

By WILL LESTER
The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 23, 2005; 11:15 PM

WASHINGTON - Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean came back from his tour of conservative states like Kansas, Mississippi and Tennessee with new strategies to win over their voters but the same basic message from his presidential campaign.

"We have to speak to our hearts and convictions," Dean told a crowd at a waterfront restaurant Wednesday night. "We are never going to win by being a pale copy of the Republican Party."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61861-2005Mar23.html

[J.R. Brown]

YES!! I am sick to death of Democrats taking cues from what the Republicans say. I wish we would just stick to our convictions and stop submitting to the conservatives. We are the moderate and liberal party and we need to express our beliefs.

We need to make liberal a good word.

We need to show the American people that the conservatives want to stick with old outdated policies and liberals want changes that will benefit the people of this country, at the same time we need to stress, and I mean STRESS that we do not want to destroy the family and bring down Christian values. We want to help the working man and woman and make policies that will help every American, not just the ultra rich.

We need to stay away from issues like gun control, abortion, and other issues of that nature. We need to stress the economy and helping the working man and the poor. We should also try to explain our views on gay marriage. Our leaders should stay away from what their personal beliefs are and try to show the American people that its a matter for the church to decide not the federal govenment.

We need to show them that civil unions are just that, government approved unions not sactified by the church, I think a lot of people have hard time differentiating the two and think that these judges are some how imposing new religious law. It's not its state law that is not recognized under God and will not tear down the Christian church.

We also need to show them that these so called Christian Conservatives only care about two things: stopping abortion and stropping homosexuals from getting married. They don't care that the poor in this country are being stompted out by their rich supporters and contributors or that the leniant gun laws they promote are the reasons the illegal gun market has flourished and so many innocent lives have been lost.

They just don't care about the middle class or the working class. They say they do, but I don't see Bush giving his salary to the poor like JFK did. He has enough resources outside of the presidency to support himself. If he is doing that than that's my mistake and I'm sorry, but there is no reason that he cannot give his salary to the poor and live off of his daddy's fortune.

[Notre Dame rules!]

Run Howie, Run!

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Speak from the heart???

So in other words, Dean wants the Dems to be mute?

[Moooooo]

Speak from the heart???

So in other words, Dean wants the Dems to be mute?

You got your parties mixed up buddy. 

[dazzleman]

at the same time we need to stress, and I mean STRESS that we do not want to destroy the family and bring down Christian values.

The problem is that this is exactly what the left wing of the party has in mind...

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

at the same time we need to stress, and I mean STRESS that we do not want to destroy the family and bring down Christian values.

The problem is that this is exactly what the left wing of the party has in mind...

You're probably one of those people who believed the ad that said the Democrats want to ban bibles.

[dazzleman]

at the same time we need to stress, and I mean STRESS that we do not want to destroy the family and bring down Christian values.

The problem is that this is exactly what the left wing of the party has in mind...

You're probably one of those people who believed the ad that said the Democrats want to ban bibles.

No, I don't believe the party as a whole wants to do that.  But I wouldn't doubt that there are elements of the party that are moving in that direction.

Why do I have that impression?  That is the big question Democrats will have to answer.  The party projects an anti-Christian sensibility, a hostility to traditional values, and it's not only ignorant, stupid hicks who have picked up on it, as you seem to be suggesting.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

No, I don't believe the party as a whole wants to do that.  But I wouldn't doubt that there are elements of the party that are moving in that direction.

Why do I have that impression?  That is the big question Democrats will have to answer.  The party projects an anti-Christian sensibility, a hostility to traditional values, and it's not only ignorant, stupid hicks who have picked up on it, as you seem to be suggesting.

Name one Democrat who wants to ban bibles.
You'll find that there are far fewer Democrats who want to do that then there are Republicans who want to re-instate slavery.

[TheresNoMoney]

Have you seen some of the comments at the DailyKos?  Believe me, there is a large, vehemnently anti-religious part of the left wing.

I read DailyKos all the time, and I've never read anything blatantly anti-religious. There are many people who question the motives of the extreme Religious Right (rightfully so) but no one is anti-religion.

Do you not agree that religion is currently being exploited by many radical groups like Focus on the Family? People like James Dobson and Randall Terry who are promoting a radical theocracy need to be stopped.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Have you seen some of the comments at the DailyKos?  Believe me, there is a large, vehemnently anti-religious part of the left wing.

Where are these supposed Democrats who want to ban bibles?

[J.R. Brown]

at the same time we need to stress, and I mean STRESS that we do not want to destroy the family and bring down Christian values.

The problem is that this is exactly what the left wing of the party has in mind...

You're probably one of those people who believed the ad that said the Democrats want to ban bibles.

No, I don't believe the party as a whole wants to do that.  But I wouldn't doubt that there are elements of the party that are moving in that direction.

Why do I have that impression?  That is the big question Democrats will have to answer.  The party projects an anti-Christian sensibility, a hostility to traditional values, and it's not only ignorant, stupid hicks who have picked up on it, as you seem to be suggesting.

It's not that the Democrats have been acting anti-Christians, its just that the Republicans have been exploiting the beliefs of the Christian community by bringing up issues that have no business being debated, like gay marriage, which I believe an amendment establishing a Christian definition of marriage would be unconstitutional. Civil Unions won't be recognized by any church. So what's the big deal? Afraid some liberal church might decide to marry a homosexual couple. The government would be violateing the first amendment if they intervened. Thus a marriage amendment would be violating the first amendment.

The Democrats are just simply trying to keep their personal beliefs on God out of their politics and the Republicans overly express their beliefs in their politics. I don't believe God should be mixed with such an evil, deceitful thing as politics.

I would just like to ask some Republican leaders why they find it neccessary to mention how they prayed about an issue. Most of the time it sounds like they are trying to impress someone.

[TheresNoMoney]

No, I don't agree.  And I don't see how these groups are radical.

Then I don't know what to tell you.

Terrorizing judges, terrorizing peopel who believe in a woman's right to choose, death threats, etc. These groups want a theocracy in this country. Yet they don't say a word about the approximately 18,000 people each year who die because they dont' have health insurance.

These people want a radical theocracy, and if you don't see that I don't know what to tell you. These people are way out there.

[J.R. Brown]

No, I don't agree.  And I don't see how these groups are radical.

Then I don't know what to tell you.

Terrorizing judges, terrorizing peopel who believe in a woman's right to choose, death threats, etc. These groups want a theocracy in this country. Yet they don't say a word about the approximately 18,000 people each year who die because they dont' have health insurance.

These people want a radical theocracy, and if you don't see that I don't know what to tell you. These people are way out there.

Focus on the Family doesn't personnally terrorize those people, disillusioned lunatics do that. But the intolerance that some of those groups, like Focus on the Family, creates some of that hatred that we see on the news every week.