Why Republicans Win

It's not because of fraud. It's because they have out organized the left and liberals. They have issues that they aticulate, war, tax cuts, antigay, etc... Can you name 3 issues Kerry stood for? When Roosevelt and Truman started to alienate the solid (racist) southern Democrats the ball began to roll. The 1964 election saw the first electoral fissure and by the time 1968 rolled around Nixon's boys, including Kevin Philips, figured out a southern strategy that is still paying benefits today. Reagan's addition was the rightward political mobilization of evangelical christians and catholics and the Democrats contribution to the rightward shift has been the embrace of Wall Street and Market Populism. This brings us to the question of why Bush and the Republicans are now in the majority in all branches of the Federal government, control most state houses and lots of governorships. It's the same reason the Democrats Lost Kansas.

What is to be done?

*We need to take on imperialism to show that it makes us less safe and that it kills and impoverishes billions including us.

*We need to talk about values so that people do not see more secular folks as the devil. Health care, day care, wages, pensions, principled democratic positions, principled positions on crime and punishment all could be spoken about in the terms of values even if we disagree on abortion or gay rights.

* Gay rights need to be discussed in terms of democratic rights. The marriage debate we will lose. Let anyone who wants to get married wherever they want but the state should only be dealing in civil relationships in legal matters, terms of benefits, visitation, etc...

*The role of government needs to be discussed with more clarity. Health care is a winner in this respect. VA hospitals are run cheaper and better in many respects than private institutions. Medicare and Medicaid are subsidies to corporations that need to be scrapped. They actually are part of the reason costs are so high. They just feed the never satisfied appetite of the beast.

*Social Security needs to become a national pension system. I think even employers would get behind this idea.

This is a program for victory. The Democrats after 2004 will probably go in exactly the opposite direction.