Lead like Winners

Written by: Arshad Hasan on Aug 5, 2010 2:24 PM EDT

(Cross Posted from OpenLeft.)

We have had a quite a reaction to our email this week, “Democrats: Epic Fail.” Here are some of the emails from our members. About 25 to 1 positive responses, like this:

“I hope EVERY right-wing, corporatist Democrat in Congress loses. Since they're really Republicans, at least then we'll know where we stand and what we need to do to get REAL Democrats elected.”

“Our so called 60 seat majority in the Senate was an ILLUSION. At least 4 and up to 15 Senators are FAKE democrats.”

“I agree with you completely but if we lose the House I will slit my darn wrists if gd Boehner is Speaker, I'll definitely leave thus country and that I'm 100% serious about. ... What you're planning is something I totally agree with and will help any way I can. ...I'm active in working toward an end that will keep Progressives, strong and hardcore Progressives that will not step away from bills we need and helping those that require it.”

But some critiques, as well, like this:

“If Blanche Lincoln loses to a Republican, we've shot ourselves in the foot. We can congratulate ourselves on overthrowing a Wall Street Democrat, but what we're stuck with is a Wall Street Family values Republican. Yippee. Instead of someone who might be moved by our voices, we get someone who turns a deaf ear. Again I say, Yippee."

"Bless you for all your hard work, but this country is broken. The money continues to win big time, bigger every day. The middle class should pack up and leave, but there's not place to go.”

“I can't agree with you, I'm afraid. I, too, MUCH prefer progressive Democrats. But, even if we can't always count on the vote of the Blanche Lincolns of the world, we need every Democrat we can possibly elect -- and she's the only one running in that election.”

“Well, I love progressives too. I am one. But you're messing around with peoples’ lives . . . If republicans win they will absolutely repeal health care reform. They don't plan to pay one more tax dollar for ‘the likes of you and me.’”

There have also been a few blog posts that run the gamut:

Happy Nappy Head says,

“I'm seriously doing the research into contributing to some of these folks backed by the website, because I completely agree. Maybe we need to shake some shit up... Whatever the case, it's clear that the agenda in Washington right now is simple. It's "M.O.B.= Money Over Bitches.”

While, Karoli of Odd Time Signatures disagrees,

“From a purely political standpoint, one does not send a fundraising notice out to members based upon a REPUBLICAN failure and call it a failure on the part of Democrats. At least, not if one expects to maintain a coalition that will win and move toward progress.”

We listen to our members and we pay close attention the the netroots. But here, I respectfully disagree with Karoli and our other critics, for this reason: We have learned that we can’t let Democrats use Republican obstruction or false bi-partisanship as an excuse anymore. If we don’t call them out on it, they will continue to make the same mistake over and over again. I get it. The Republicans wanted a vote on their racist immigration amendment, and Democratic Leadership moved to prevent amendments, raising the threshold for passage. But what do we have now? Republicans have ammunition for their campaigns and we didn’t get an important bill that people really needed. Democrats couldn’t see that coming? What are they doing down there? Playing Farmville? Well, we’re losing the farm.

I’ve been told by members of Congress and their staff to settle down. I’ve been told that we don’t understand the legislative process.

Here’s what some of these folks in DC might not understand. Blaming Republicans for the failure to pass popular legislation might have worked when Dems were in the minority. But it doesn’t work with large majorities in both Houses and the Presidency. This is not the time to tell us to sit down, be quiet, never criticize, but just send the email that raises us lots of money.

With every cynical compromise or cave-in to the “Party of No” tactics, we lose another voter who gets fed up, another donor unwilling to part with their earnings. It’s time to start acting like winners. It’s time to lead. We don’t want Republicans to win. We want Democrats to lead.

That’s why we called out Democrats failure to make something happen that should have happened. We didn’t say it because we want to create controversy or stir the pot – the pot is already boiling over, and frankly we are just giving voice to something we have been hearing from our membership for months now. Our members don’t want to hear excuses, they want real results. Here’s the kicker, it’s not just our members. It’s every American. Americans want real progress.

Instead we get: Wah, Wah, the Republicans attached an amendment. Boo, hoo, it’s too hard to get to 60 votes in the Senate for a weak climate change bill. Woe is me, the insurance industry doesn’t want choice and competition. Democrats are in the majority! We worked our asses off to make sure of it! Now, we are told that we are not patient enough and that we don’t understand how to legislate. Really? Tell that to the 9/11 clean-up crews that now won’t get the healthcare they need because Democrats can’t figure out how to pass real reform even with huge majorities in Congress and a democrat in the White House. It seems that DC insiders forgot about the actual lives of the 9/11 clean-up crews. Most of the coverage was about the political wrangling and not about what their lives are like. In fact the DC chatter rarely even mentions any American who lives paycheck to paycheck after their savings was wiped out by Wall Street, or who have no access to good healthcare, or who are about to lose their homes to foreclosure.

The enthusiasm gap is not about progressives needing an attitude adjustment. The enthusiasm gap is about DC insiders making bad decisions that lead to failure or reward their cronies. How could we ever be enthusiastic about that? We are realists fully aware of the reality of people’s lives outside of the DC bubble. Listen, there’s enthusiasm and energy out there. Plenty of it. I saw it on the Halter campaign in Arkansas, the Sestak campaign in Pennsylvania, and the Marshall campaign in North Carolina. DFA candidates have competed in 21 Primary elections so far, and we’ve won 15. That’s a 71% win rate. Keep in mind that these are Primary elections. Keep in mind that we don’t shy away from difficult fights. We will keep fighting for the champions who stand up for our progressive values just as we have been doing all year.

And here’s the good news, the action item, and the path forward: There are good progressive Democrats out there. I look for fighters and truth-tellers. I’m not interested in who can be the most liberal, I’m interested in the people who can be standard-bearers. And I know it isn’t just me sitting up here in Vermont. We get a barrage of appeals and responses from our million-plus members, and we’re successful at what we do because we listen.

In just the last few months, DFA has already raised and donated over $350,000 to progressive Democrats like Alan Grayson and Elaine Marshall, both winners in Red states who have never been afraid to stand up and lead. We’re just getting started. We stand up for the Democrats who stand up for Americans. We will never stop demanding that all Democrats stand up. It’s not rocket science. When Democrats lead, we stand together and when we stand together, we win. All Americans like winners, even independents and Republicans.

If you want to help us get better Democrats elected this November, click here.

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