Step back, breath deeply and let's look at the future

As much as I may hate to recognize the results, they are what they are. Sure, Kerry could have pulled it off in Ohio but the fact is he didn't. He did not lose by 500 votes nationally either. I don't subscribe to the "mandate" theory but that is still not going to change how the GOP governs. We're going to have our noses rubbed in it for a while until we figure out how to take on these guys. Obsessing about a story or potential corruption here or there is an exercise in futility so I not going to do it and instead am looking at what we failed to do to win and what we can change in the future. If we lost by just a few votes sure, but it wasn't just a few votes.

Here are a few issues that I think we ought to look at in the future but please add more as well as comments and strategy ideas:

* So far I've seen some out there complaining that somehow gays were a problem. Bullshit. We may need to reconsider our approach but no way this is a loser for us. In the America that I know, we all deserve the same rights. For me it's an issue of fairness and civil rights. We need to show people the impact, the end result of failing to deliver civil rights for all Americans. How does this impact all of us? How does this impact our friends and families?

* Republican spending is without a doubt, out of control. Yesterday the news started to talk about the Republicans needing to raise the debt ceiling. The GOP hammered away for years at the Dem's for spending and now they are the people who spend like a bunch of drunken sailors. They are drunk with power and spend our money. Again, how does this relate to people back home?

* Republican extremism has been not been made a wedge issue since Newt left Congress. I believe that we failed miserably to exploit the polarizing characters such as DeLay, Frist and Santorum and now we have a few new characters on board such as Coburn and Martinez who are quite far right. Are we suddenly a nation of extremists? This issue needs to be worked hard.

* How do tax cuts and increased spending relate to average Americans? Sure this is going to be a local issue but we need to make it painfully clear what the numbers are for average Americans. National tax cuts give average families chump change in their pockets but what about local tax increases? What about university costs going up? What about healthcare costs rising? What about the proposed GOP program to create tax free healthcare accounts? Sure, now those $5000 (and up) per year costs are after tax, but it still works out to be a tax on working families that did not exist ten years ago. They can give it a fancy name and spin, but that is simply a tax cut.

* Increased price to pay at the pump. This is a tax on average Americans for the failure of this GOP team to have a viable foreign policy. Gas prices will stay high because of this war of choice which has made us more isolated. It is also directly the result of a failure to be serious about conservation. Drilling in Alaska will not cure this problem of overconsumption and poor foreign policy. To repeat, how exactly does this impact regular Americans? Let's make it clear.

* Corporate curruption is still out of control and connected to the highest levels of the GOP. These sweetheart deals to the likes of Halliburton as well as other corporate welfare have a cost to average Americans. What are those costs? The GOP demonized the "welfare mothers" living off American taxpayer money (without providing any real numbers or real impact) so we need to do this with the corporate welfare recipients and talk about the costs to average Americans.

* As John mentioned (I can't remember if this was here or in person) everything we have have today is owned by the GOP. The Democrats can't be blamed for these problems because this policy has been shoved down the throats of America by the Republicans. They own the problems such as Iraq, the deficit, the division of America, etc. Obstructionism is a joke and we are fools to think otherwise. The GOP has thrown us around like a rag doll and they own the current list of problems in America. It's time to make it clear to America who owns these problems.

What else?