We lost. We can blame the Republicans, the right-wing press, the religious right, whomever; but unless we take a hard, long look at ourselves, at our own party, then we will lose more seats in 2006 and the presidency yet again in 2008.

So how do we move forward? How do we rebuild this party? And make no mistake: rebuild we must. We are, as a friend recently put it, “an empty shell of a party”. I would propose three ways we can begin to retake the hearts and minds of the American voter:

1)    Get mean. Newt Gingrich declared war in 1994 and we responded essentially by saying, “gee, can’t we all just get along?” The answer is that no, we can’t! Our let’s-play-nicely-together philosophy allows them to roll right over us while we watch our base dwindle and the remaining core become demoralized. We have become the party of wimps. Now we have to start playing as down and dirty as they do. That means taking back religion by saying that America is not about Old Testament values of retribution and condemnation, but about New Testament values of the Good Samaritan and charity. And it means calling them on hypocrisy by showing that the values of the Republicans are best seen in the ledger books of Enron, not in the Bible.

2)    Get creative. We can’t just keep saying ‘no’ to their ideas. We have to find creative ways to excite America about the prospect of Democratic leadership and in some cases that means taking Republican ideas and making them saner and sounder for average /Americans. They want a flat tax? We propose a fairer but equally simple two-tier (27%/10%) tax system, combined with a national sales tax only on luxury goods. We become the party of the 1040 that takes 10 minutes! They want trading of pollution rights? We one-up them by proposing not only sales of pollution rights but making this a way to finance tax-cuts on non-polluting industry and to reduce emissions! They want all-private healthcare? We outflank them by proposing that even Medicare and Medicaid disappear on the condition that all uninsured Americans at every age have access to government-negotiated, private insurance programs that are equal to or better than Medicare. They want to privatize Social Security? We propose something with which Americans might feel more comfortable: instead of PSAs and other such risky, budget-busting schemes, we propose having the SSA itself invest a third of SS in US equities markets for the benefit of all Americans. What's the trend in these ideas? It is that principles matter more than labels, that results that uphold our goal for a more just society are more important than out-dated slogans and mere nay-saying. If we find ways to get things done for the lower- and middle-classes, we will regain their trust and with it the power to make an even better America. And to do that, we must have a new, truly visionary platform!

3)    Get local. The main reason we keep losing seats in the House is that the Republicans are controlling the state legislatures and have therefore gerrymandered their way to a guaranteed majority. We need to focus on winning back legislatures by working locally to recruit the best and brightest, not as Congressmen but as State Representatives and Senators. Start getting some dynamic young talent in the states and the Congress will take care of itself later. To that end, we should start a 100 Counties in 100 Weeks campaign, targeting 100 swing counties (see below) in 12 key states in three regions: the Great Lakes (Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin); the South (Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia), where an offensive to take back the region is long overdue; and the Mid-West (Iowa and Missouri). (See tables below.) These counties should be the swing-state epicenters of constant, ongoing campaigns that run every day of every year, engaging in everything from scouting new talent to run for offices to organizing community activism and outreach to co-ordinating charity work to benefit the underprivileged. This requires that we redefine what a party means and the role that politics plays in people’s everyday lives. In short, we should be building a party by making it part of the community, and that is not something you do in the single year leading up to a presidential campaign.

Michigan: Calhoun, Isabella, Kalamazoo, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, Saginaw

Minnesota: Anoka, Beltrami, Blue Earth, Dakota, Nicollet, Olmsted, Washington

Ohio: Clark, Columbiana, Franklin, Hamilton, Lake, Montgomery, Ottawa, Perry, Pike, Scioto, Stark

Pennsylvania: Beaver, Berks, Bucks, Cambria, Centre, Chester, Dauphin, Erie, Lawrence, Lehigh, Luzerne, Mercer, Monroe, Northampton, Washington

Wisconsin: Barron, Columbia, Grant, Lincoln, Oneida, Pierce, Polk, Racine, Winnebago

Arkansas: Conway, Craighead, Garland, Greene, Hot Spring, Ouachita

Florida: Flagler, Hernando, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Orange, Osceola, Pinellas, Sarasota, St. Lucie

North Carolina: Buncombe, Chatham, Columbus, Cumberland, Forsyth, Guilford, Mecklenberg, Pitt, Robeson, Sampson, Wake, Watauga, Wilson

Tennessee: Davidson, Dickson, Franklin, Gibson, Madison, Warren

Virginia: Albemarle, Danville, Fairfax, Henrico, Lynchburg, Montgomery

Iowa: Jasper, Polk, Scott, Woodbury

Missouri: Boone, Buchanan, Clay, Jefferson, St. Francois, St. Louis

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                                                               THE 2008 GAME

I can't believe how much buzz there already is about 2008! Personally, I think we should focus on the 16 vulnerable Republican House seats and on not getting our asses handed to us again in the Senate. But OK, I will play along....

First of all, I implore Senator Clinton not to run. I respect her a great deal and hope she wins re-election to her Senate seat in '06, but she has zero chance at the big chair, which means we have zero chance at it if she is our nominee. I am not terribly worried, though: she will never win the nomination. As much as I also respect former Senator and VP Gore and Sen. Kerry, I think it best if they stay out, too. They had their chances and it's time for us all to move on.

OK, those are the ones I don't want. So whom would I favor? Well, first of all, let me confess that I am lousy at this. I think I supported Tsongas in 1992 and backed Wesley Clark this time 'round! And it's too early to talk about firm support for anyone. Four years is an eternity in politics. Names no one is considering could take us by storm. Ones we see as gimmes could fade from the scene. But enough caveats....

As I have said before, I think we need someone from a larger state, preferably but not necessarily a swing state, but definitely NOT a New England state. Names like Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida and Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia come to mind. Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana is a thought, but I doubt he could carry his own very red state and we need every vote. Second-tier people who might run just to get the nod for veep: Dick Durbin of Illinois, Bill Richardson of New Mexico or Phil Bredesen of Tennessee. None is terribly exciting, but veeps don't have to be.

2006 HOUSE HIT-LIST of POTENTIALLY VULNERABLE SEATS: Colorado: Musgrave; Connecticut: Shays and Simmons; Florida: Harris; Indiana: Chocola, Hostettler and Sodrel; Kentucky: Davis; Minnesota: Kennedy; North Carolina: Hayes and Taylor; Nebraska: Fortenberry; New Mexico: Wilson; Pennsylvania: Gerlach; Virginia: Drake; Washington: Reichert.