Others may disagree with me, but I am relieved that Nancy Pelosi has decided to step aside. Not that she hasn't been brilliant as Speaker of the House (and minority leader when that was her role). As a tactician, there is probably none better. I am in AWE of her skills...and yet...she is representative of the Democratic Party of the past. With Nancy and the rest of the Democratic House leadership out of the picture, perhaps the Democrats will begin to take a more proactive stance to drive the country to address the racism, misogyny, anti-LGBTQ atrocities--and even just the coarseness that now pervades. When it is documented that life expectancy is lower in red states than in blue ones, that health outcomes are worse in red states than in blue ones, that educational achievement is lower in red states than in blue ones--and on and on--(see Thom Hartmann's article https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/11/21/if-you-want-help-rich-and-die-sooner-vote-republican?utm_source=daily_newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter_op for the specifics), why aren't the Democrats shouting this from the hilltops? It's because, sadly, they are so used to playing defense (with good reason, and often good results) that they seem to have forgotten how to go on the offense to stake out the territory. It is long past time for THEM to step up to the real battles we face. It will also take our collective efforts, and maybe those collective efforts will help them recognize that it's time for a different playbook, a more aggressive playbook if we are going to save our democracy.
Evelyn - I love everything about this comment. Your last few sentences are exactly what we intend to help catalyze and foment with this Shift the Country work... with indeed a more aggressive playbook. I think we can also help with coaching, encouraging, cheerleading, pleading, or whatever it will end up taking to cajole and *strongly encourage* elected officials for how to fight differently and more aggressively, too. Thank you again. Yeah we appear to be on the same page on for sure on some of this. -Vanessa
Others may disagree with me, but I am relieved that Nancy Pelosi has decided to step aside. Not that she hasn't been brilliant as Speaker of the House (and minority leader when that was her role). As a tactician, there is probably none better. I am in AWE of her skills...and yet...she is representative of the Democratic Party of the past. With Nancy and the rest of the Democratic House leadership out of the picture, perhaps the Democrats will begin to take a more proactive stance to drive the country to address the racism, misogyny, anti-LGBTQ atrocities--and even just the coarseness that now pervades. When it is documented that life expectancy is lower in red states than in blue ones, that health outcomes are worse in red states than in blue ones, that educational achievement is lower in red states than in blue ones--and on and on--(see Thom Hartmann's article https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/11/21/if-you-want-help-rich-and-die-sooner-vote-republican?utm_source=daily_newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter_op for the specifics), why aren't the Democrats shouting this from the hilltops? It's because, sadly, they are so used to playing defense (with good reason, and often good results) that they seem to have forgotten how to go on the offense to stake out the territory. It is long past time for THEM to step up to the real battles we face. It will also take our collective efforts, and maybe those collective efforts will help them recognize that it's time for a different playbook, a more aggressive playbook if we are going to save our democracy.
Evelyn - I love everything about this comment. Your last few sentences are exactly what we intend to help catalyze and foment with this Shift the Country work... with indeed a more aggressive playbook. I think we can also help with coaching, encouraging, cheerleading, pleading, or whatever it will end up taking to cajole and *strongly encourage* elected officials for how to fight differently and more aggressively, too. Thank you again. Yeah we appear to be on the same page on for sure on some of this. -Vanessa