One more post on Alito and the Democrats and then I am out the door. From DHinMI at DailyKos We should look for inspiration from our heroes. But tonight, we should also look beyond the examples of our heroes, and the difficulties they had to face to prevail. Tonight, also look at the example of our adversaries.
And we should remember, the conservatives NEVER give up.
Most of you will know this answer, but it's still important to ask the question:
What is generally considered the most important galvanizing event for the modern conservative movement?
The crushing defeat, in 1964, of Barry Goldwater.
Did the conservatives give up after what should have been a humiliating defeat in 1964? Of course not. They never gave up, not once. They organized in just about every precinct in America. They put out legions of volunteers. They created organizations, and think tanks, and press operations, and trained and developed and nurtured young political operatives. They raised money. And throughout it all, they pursued a two-pronged approach:
1. They did whatever they could to create Republican majorities.
2. They did whatever they could to take control of the Republican party, and where possible nominate and elect conservative fellow travelers to office.
Note that never have they divorced one from the other. They almost all always fight to do what they can to install and maintain majorities. Then, over time, they became a majority of the majority party. In the overall body politic, the movement conservatives are a minority, and certainly not even a plurality when you divide up the electorate into regional and ideological segments. But they control the Republican party, and in the persons of George W. Bush and Karl Rove, they have tools and fellow conspirators.
[...]
But remember those two points above. We need to take over the party. But we also need Democratic majorities. So abandoning the fight for the Democratic party now is to the detriment of the country your friends, and all who will follow you. There are only two games in town, folks, the Republicans and the Democrats. Regardless of what some may wish, we're in a winner-take-all system, so your choices are the following:
1. Actively help change the Democratic party into the party you want.
2. Actively help change the Republican party into the party you want.
3. Do nothing within the parties, and be a passive consumer of what the parties present to you.
There really aren't any other choices. It's up to you. But if you're really a fighter, you'll recognize where the fight is. You'll recognize that it's not going to be won overnight; it took the conservatives almost 40 years to fully take over the Repub party and instill conservative ideologues in control of our national government. You'll remember that the sociologist Max Weber described politics as
a strong and slow boring of hard boards. It takes both passion and perspective. Certainly all historical experience confirms the truth--that man would not have attained the possible unless time and again he had reached out for the impossible. But to do that a man must be a leader, and not only a leader but a hero as well, in a very sober sense of the word.
Be a leader. Be a fighter. Hell, why not even aspire to be a hero. But whatever you do, remember, if we want a better Democratic party, it's up to all of us to accept some responsibility for making the party what we believe we Democrats and the entire country deserve. And like Meteor Blades said, never surrender.
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