I sometimes avoid Dkos on particularly bad days as I don't need to get more disheartened about the state of the nation. On occasion, I have been quite harsh with my own state reps
(o.k. overly harsh), but I try to get away from the meme that Democrats have no message and look for rays of hope in an otherwise blood red world.
And my hope today? It comes from trolling over at Redstate.
DKos diarists seem to have stirred the concerns over at Redstate. Not for all the usual reasons, but over
what we have been blogging about recently.
For all their faults, the Kossacks have focused on the 2006 races like a laser beam. Their '06 diaries often feature detailed and finely grained analysis of the key races, and among the posts in this analysis include a detailed rundown of every Congressional district in North Carolina, consultant dirt from Ohio, a profile of Arnold's campaign manager, and an update from a County Clerk race in Coles County, Illinois.
This says to me that we know exactly what to focus on... the elections. We DO know what is important. And if we know that the elections are important, surely we know what our message is. And our message is being articulated in the nooks and crannies of this and other blogs and in Democratic strategy sessions all over the country. Why fall victim to the "smoke `em out" strategy of the right? Why blast our message now? Will ANY voter remember it come election day?
So please, a call to stop repeating the right wing meme about the Democrats not having a message. For once alerted to an issue, we all know how lock-step, no-think the right gets. So, beware of resting on our collective laurels:
We can certainly argue about whether the Left's use of blogs as an activist tool or the Right's tendency to embrace them as a sword and shield against media bias represent a return to the halcyon days of talk radio, but this much is clear. The left must not be not allowed to gain a toehold in any new institution, anywhere -- especially that's growing as explosively as the Internet. Our strategy: when they're down, keep kicking.
They're watching, listening and trolling. I suspect that the rash of "we" Democrats have no message is sabotage from Redstate and LGF. Stop and think before you post. Ask yourself if you want to contribute to the rhetoric of the right. Likewise, if you see a rash of uber-pro-Hillary diaries, stop and think before you respond.
The diarist recommends
From here on out, I'm lending my Recommend vote to any diary that makes a coherent attempt to analyze an '06 race, especially those that turn discussion into action, and I encourage fellow editors to do the same. Our main problem is that we underestimate the power we already have. Upset that the candidate you like isn't running? You can do something about it: Set up a web site with a simple sign up form collecting financial pledges and signing up volunteers before the campaign even starts. Set up your own blog analyzing your state and Congressional district, and cross post it to RedState. You'd be helping to create something that doesn't exist anywhere else in the right blogosphere, growing the community, and magnifying our influence with your participation.
I will do the same (give low rating) to diaries the generically bitch about the "lack of" a Democratic message, with no examples or solutions.
Many of you are probably aware of these issues and have formed your own ideas on how (or not to) respond, but this was my daily epiphany.