Yeah. We know all about their "principles" don't we?
Posted on 10/23/2006 6:55:57 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Former U.S. Sen. Gary Hart has challenged the Democratic Party to redefine its soul, but said he has no plans to be the party's messiah in the 2008 elections.
The two-time presidential hopeful spoke to a capacity crowd on Sunday at the Overture Center's Promenade Hall, promoting a return to principles as outlined in his new book, "The Courage of our Convictions: A Manifesto for Democrats." The talk was part of the closing day of the Wisconsin Book Festival.
Lauding the Democratic Party's stand on civil and equal rights in the 1960s and 1970s, Hart exhorted Democrats to delineate the soul of the party in order to capture the hearts of voters in the upcoming elections.
"Before you seek the leadership of a major party in this country, and certainly the leadership of our country, you ought to be able to state as directly and simply as possible what your basic principles are," he said.
"New issues in the 21st century don't change our principles. Principles define one's soul and the soul...of the political party."
Audience member Mary Boyd of Madison said she is "dismayed" that "Democrats have knuckled under to the Bush administration for the most part, and have not spoken about issues that are important to individual citizens any more than the Republicans have.
"They have knuckled under under the guise of patriotism, and that is not patriotic, in my mind," she added.
Hart suggested that Democrats lack backbone more than heart.
"I don't think it's a lack of principle," he said. "There is a lack of courage because the courage aspect is standing by those principles when they may not be popular. It's a classic human dilemma...of people who sold their souls for power."
Some in the audience may have found it ironic to hear a speech on principles by a man whose second bid for the presidency was sunk by scandal.
Hart, who came in second to Walter Mondale in the 1984 Democratic presidential primary, was the leading contender in the 1988 primary before his campaign was derailed by scandal.
Shortly after he announced his presidential candidacy in the spring of 1987, the former Colorado senator was plagued with rumors of an extramarital affair and challenged the press to "follow me around."
The subsequent publication of photos of then-29-year-old model Donna Rice seated on Hart's lap aboard the "Monkey Business" yacht led to Hart dropping out of the presidential race.
Southern-born Kathleen Montgomery has lived in Madison for the past 50 years and hopes Hart "will take a very active part in politics now (because) we need people like him."
Montgomery was dismayed by the divisive bitterness of the recent Democratic primary for Wisconsin attorney general between incumbent Peg Lautenschlager and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk.
"This is the kind of thing that happens that separates the Democrats in the party," she said. "We need to pull our wagons together. This is the most critical time that I have ever seen in my life in this country."
Attorney Fred Wade is active in the Democratic Party and said he believes that regime change begins at home.
"Democrats ought to support Russ Feingold's censure resolution, they ought to support impeachment, and they ought to use the power of the purse to limit what Bush has been doing," he said.
Isthmus News Editor Bill Lueders said he enjoyed Hart's talk but found nothing new in the "mainstream" message.
"The Democratic Party can burn in hell for all I care," he said. "I think the Democratic Party is the enemy of democracy in America, and that no good can come realistically from within the Democratic Party. I certainly didn't hear anything in Gary Hart's talk that suggested that the party was aggressively moving in bold new directions."
Hart, who ruled out future campaign bids of his own, suggested that the salvation of the Democratic Party will lie in a united party rather than in one dynamic leader.
"In an age of ego, celebrity and personality, there has been an overpowering search for a leader on a white horse, an exciting new candidate who will lead the Democratic Party out of the wilderness," he read from his book.
"Twenty-first-century Democrats cling to the hope of a messiah in the vacant centrist venue where messiahs never appear."
Hart warned against the political tendency to espouse centrist views in order to win votes at the ballot box.
"If it leads a candidate and a party to avoid standing on principle, or showing conviction, or demonstrating courage when it must be shown, then that party risks losing its soul," he said.
They don't have any values.
He declared himself in in 1988 - but his campaign lasted about a week.
i hope he can do some good because the rats (most of then) are sick, very sick
"Sure, abortion on demand regardless of age. Higher taxes. Caving in to terrorists. More taxes. More entitlements. Of course, more taxes"
but it's all for "the common good". you just don't understand.
Is joke.
Yes?
It isn't. The game works this way - "I'm for justice because liberals are for justice; he's a conservative, therefore he's against justice." That is not a philosophical position or even a political statement, it's a marketing ploy, and a second-rate one at that.
Actually, that is a pretty good description.
If conservatives are going to stay at home for this election then they personally will have blood on their hands. Taking a stand means taking a stand....not when it is easy or convenient. We all hate some of the things that this administration has done but exactly what it would have been like under Gore of Kerry is unfathimable.
RISE UP STRONG CONSERVATIVES!! This is the place to draw a line in the sand. This is the place to fight. If we waiver or if we are tired or timid, the forces of retreat and defeat will catch us.
RISE UP.....VOTE TOMORROW!!!!! DRAG YOUR MOM/DAD/FRIEND/et al to the early voting places.
Principles? Gary Hartpence? I can't stop smiling!!
Do-Goodery is not a principal its a failed mind set. Leave us alone. Its our money, its my gun, its my family and I will raise them. We do not want to be controlled by political correctness. Because of YOU..My boy cannot play Dodge Ball, the boy scouts must defend themselves, I have to press one for English. The liberal mind has destroyed this country and for that we hold you responsible and all the lies and deceit you throw at us only emboldens us to commit to your demise as a party and a thought process.
For four years they've been publicly arguing in abstraction about what abstractions they should embrace, or are about, or should return to.
Once they've solved that they will turn to what issues they should embrace, then later what their positions should be on those issues, but I think they'll fall back to arguing about abstractions.
The entire dem party is infested with people having Hart's prnciples.
That's what's funny about Democrats. They don't have principles. They keep them locked away to revisit them from time-to-time. They may take them out once in a while to show people they really have one or two, but then squirrel them away for the next election season.
The only way you can RE-VISIT them - you needed to have them to begin with. Sadly .. the dems don't qualify.
And .. Gary's a fine one to be talking about principles.
It's been so long, I almost forgot that (beef) nugget.
"Dems Should Revisit Their Principles."
Well, I guess their principles should share some of the blame.
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