Thank you for your response.  I will keep paying attention to his campaign.

One issue with his financial security plan is an issue I have with all those who use the promotion of savings as a means to security.  Yes, we need to save but, one can not save what one does not have.  401K's are nice, but are not pensions which were part of the compensation.  401's allowed the lowering of benefits and thus the lowering of pay to employee's.  The same issue currently exists with all the health care plans presented.  Even Kucinich's.  Who will reap the savings?  Forcing people to buy insurance with no increase in pay is not just shifting the load, but down streaming the load.

Again, thank you.

I like Biden.  My impression is that I am seeing the real him.  Not a handled candidate.

But, I don't see what I consider major issues as being rankable.  Foreign policy is not a first or last.  It just "is" for me.  As is the constitution abuse, the lack of an energy policy (relates to foreign policy), an outrageous military budget (why do we talk about how our health care cost are dragging down our economic competitiveness, but not about the fact that we are supplementing our world partners economies with our military budget such that they don't have to spend as much?), the change in focus to money from money as an economy (a rise from 8.6% of the nations income for the top 1% in 1976 to just under 23% by 2005) which is tied to health care affordability and NAFTA/trade and corporate rule (which is running our trade policy which is tied to our foreign policy).  We have NAFTA as part of the "domestic" issues group via immigration which is also foreign policy.  Do you understand what I'm saying.  I need to see someone out of this group that understands all of this is tied together...or at least gets some of the relationships.

And then there is his pushing the bankruptcy changes that unleashed the credit card companies.  That goes right to the issue of corporate dominance vs "New Deal" thinking.  Even one of my own senators from here in RI land voted for that one.

I wonder how much of the shift is the results of simple thinking.  The war is the biggest testament to the republican's thinking on everything.  I think we are seeing these people reading the opposition to the war and projecting that sentement as being the overall position on the rest of the major issues.  

They are not stupid.  They are primal in that they want to survive politically.  Such projection allows the preservation of their neocon, religious principles while serving the will of the people.

We also need to watch the MSM over the next 1/2 to year.  As much as the repubs were the big boses party of favor, the big boses also want to sell news.  With such a shift by the public, the normal "capitalist" move would be a transition to service the new direction of public opinion.  If they do change this way, then we know that sales are more important than their political desires and we can control them via consumer action.  If they don't, then we know they have to be always suspected and fought.

I don't see it as an ethic's issue.  It is a citizenship issue.  They, as other's see them self as a global company.  As a global company, there is no community connection to the nation or any nation.  Being global means being free of any sovereign nation's ideals (as apllied means laws).  Being a global citizen trumps any rule by nation.  In simple terms, you can't tell us what to do, you're not our keepers.

Now, I have no problem with that.  Let them be global.  But, if they want to then do business within our house, it is by our rules.  If not, they always have the other global citizens which is selling to nothing because the global nation has no consumers, just sellers.

The progressive word for infrastructure when referring to people has always been and still should be "community".  It is our word.  It is a word that also implies connotations of the right when they refer to "culture war" items.  Only the right never gets beyond the individual.

Damn, did the white house get trashed again?

No doubt that the repubs are going to lie and accuse.  Every "punch" the dems take is nothing more than an accusation followed by a more righteous than thou lecture.  Notice, that they are not mentioning any real policy.  None.  Only accusations followed by lecturing on what the dem's should have done, or should have acted like.  And then the dem's respond: But, but, but we did x, and we know we should have done a bigger X.  They then defend their policy or critique their policy.  The repubs never have to say a word about policy.  Get it?

Of course, when the repubs do speak about them self it is always in terms of glory. We're going to stay the course, win the war, spread democracy, give you god and all the righteousness entailed, follow us to the moral mountain top.
That is what they are going to do.  Lie about the opponent (dems) and glorify themselves.

That is how it is going to be.  Dem's being hit hard should be numb by now.  They should not be feeling it. It should not be phasing us. And, most of all, we should not be caring one bit about them or what they have to say other than to catalog it.  

What we should be doing is getting the leadership of the repubs pissed off!  Get them mad, and I mean yelling, fist pounding, red in the face mad.  Play with their heads.  Forget about policy, programs, etc. for now.  Right now, we should be spending the time flicking their ear, spit balling the back of their heads, giving nuggies, and anything else that can be done to tease, harass and aggravate.  Push them.  

There is one leader, that should be evident to most, who is ready to break.  Concentrate on that.  Cause a melt down.  Make them have to rally to protect that persons public persona, to have to ultimately use all their effort to prop that person up.  

The blog community is one of the best tools for this.  The public is not stupid.  They are seeing the fallacy of the neocon's self perception.  But the public has not had their assessment confirmed.  Let confirm it for them.

Most of all.  If we fear loosing, then we will always make the decision that Rove want's us to make.  Thus,the dem candidate needs to do 2 things.

1. When dealing directly with the opposition they play with them.  High five, go low.  Shake hand, pull it away.  Have fun.
   
2. Only talk sincerely when talking to the public.  Going on talk shows is not talking to the public.

I agree that a theme needs to be the start.  The repubs got in because the hammered the theme since Reagan that

1. government was bad.
   
2. Because it was liberal and secular: anti god, big taxes, weak on security (remember first was tough on crime, second is this national thing requiring war to solve), giving with no accountability, telling you what to do (no freedom), etc
   
3. It was the Dems fault
   
4. We are going to change it for YOU!

So, now we have a catch 22 of sorts.  The public has decided that they are for giving, being helpful, sharing, that protection goes beyond just stopping a "killer with a bomb" that to protect life you need to protect the environment, economy and liberty.  But, they have the fabricated bad taste about dems that they were the first problem.  So, they are loosing it with the repubs, but can't fathom the idea of dems.

Thus, until what ever solution being suggest by the dems is also a solution identified with a theme of what government is, we will always only be half way there.

I suggest we return to the concept that government is us, by us (empowering).  That we are good as people, thus government is good.  That taxes are the means by which we get to have those things that allow us to live secure in our life and ideals that we could not get on our own (hidden message, only the rich benefit from low or no taxes and no social identity).

I use the example of team work.  We have the athletic team or the old community ethic of barn raising.  It is the barn raising team that people are wanting but don't know how to frame it inorder to speak about it.  It is the barn raising idea of team that works when more than one person is involved with living.  But it is the message that life is taught in sports that they have been receiving and living.  But they are not winning...anything.

We can not be dems and progressive until we help the public understand that government is not bad.