Midnight Thought on the Next American Revolution (14 May 08)

Excerpted from Burning the Midnight Oil for the Next American Revolution (14 May 08),

in the Burning the Midnight Oil blog-within-a-blog, hosted by kos,

though to the best of my knowledge he doesn’t know it.

Lets not be under any illusions about the difficulty of the coming election.

And that is: if there is any difficulty, we have made it for ourselves. We are being handed the opportunity of a generation on a silver platter. And while many of use have been distracted by the side issue of who is going to be nominated to run for the Presidency, in another week or so there will be no more excuse for getting sidetracked.

And we can turn our attention to building a House majority so large that the so-called “Blue Dogs” lose their leverage.

This the gives us two years to crack the 60-vote myth in the Senate, or else in 2010 crack the Republican hold on 41 votes to obstruct progressive legislation.

Which then means we have two short years … from now, because by this time two years from now we will be hip deep in the ramp up to the mid-term election … to build a progressive platform pushed by a progressive movement to force our elected representatives to either run to get in front of the parade, or else be run over as the parade passes them by.

So lets hear it. What are your planks? One plank per comment … give the policy, and give the members of the coalition change strategy you expect to be drawn in by and pushing for your plank. Bear in mind that the coalition so far is:

• Blue Collar
• Green
• Energy Idependence (ie, small-r, small-n republican nationalists)
• Small Business
• Farmers
• Trial Lawyers

… though of course, if you want to broaden on that coalition as you suggest how that will be broadened, feel free to add to the membership as you set forward your plank.

By The Way, that’s a Policy Plank

When I say policy plank … I mean it. “Do something about …” is not a policy plank.

“Establish a national high speed freight rail grid, combined with a high voltage electric grid and mandatory tariffs for domestically produced sustainable, renewable electricity, to allow us to move goods coast to coast without relying on imported energy.”

“This appeals to the Blue Collar portion of the coalition because the winds of the Dakota or Texas or Lake Erie cannot be outsourced … it appeals to Greens as a move toward reduced reliance on carbon-based energy … it appeals to Energy Independence advocates as a serious step toward Energy Independence … it offers the promise to small business of new markets for both goods and services … and in many cases it offers new sources of income that can help small farmers cope with the vagaries of farm commodity markets.”

That there’s a policy plank.

Bring your experience to the task … a policy plank that touches on your day to day life.

Bring your mind to the task … something you have learned over a long period, or something you are learning now.

But must of all, bring your hearts to the task … you carry in your hearts the truth of dream, and that cannot be stolen.