Beto O’Rourke, first to reject invitation from right wing religious group
Pete Buttigieg has joined Beto O’Rourke and Cory Booker on the growing list of Democratic presidential candidates who have turned down invitations from right wing religious group The Family Leader to speak at their September 2019 summit in Iowa. Booker released a statement explaining his rejection of the invitation:
I welcome any opportunity to talk about how faith guides me, but I cannot—in good conscience—attend an event put on by an organization that preaches bigotry and sows hate against the LGBTQ community. That's why I am declining an invitation to the Family Leader's July 12 summit.
The 2014 elections are less than three weeks away. Earlier this year, we called for the Democratic Party to come up with a positive unifying theme for the elections, and suggested “We Have Your Back.” The Democrats never came up with such a theme, although the Democratic Party’s list of accomplishments and values is impressive. Moreover, 2014 is not a presidential election year, and there is no transformative or historical figure running on the Democratic ticket to get Democrats excited. For example, Elizabeth Warren, perhaps the Democratic Party’s biggest star, isn’t up for re-election for years, and you have to live in Kentucky or Texas to vote for Alison Lundergan Grimes or Wendy Davis, respectively.
Are you one of those Progressives who is disappointed in your Democratic leaders? Think they’re the same as the Republicans? Thinking of staying home this Election Day? Think again! Here’s but a brief list of things the Republicans routinely do, try to do, or stand for, in contrast to the Democrats:
The 1970 movie “Patton” is best remembered for its opening speech by George C. Scott as General George S. Patton, standing in front of a giant American flag (see audio above). The speech, primarily written by Francis Ford Coppola and based largely on snippets by Patton himself, could serve as an inspiration to Democrats for the upcoming 2014 election:
If you’re a progressive and you follow the mainstream media, you might think that all you’re supposed to do lately is play weak defense against the attacks on implementation of the Affordable Care Act. That’s exactly what Republicans want — for progressives and Democrats to cower under the Republican agenda (which includes destroying the ACA), like a boxer pinned in the corner. But Messaging Maxim #1 is Go On Offense. That means to come out of the corner swinging, by pushing the progressive agenda. Here are some items on the progressive agenda, in case you’ve been following mainstream media “news” and have forgotten:
During the 2009-2010 debate over the Affordable Care Act, Messaging Matters called for the Obama administration and the Democrats in Congress to put forth a procession of people who could tell their personal stories about being denied healthcare insurance or coverage. That did not happen, at least until very late in the process, and the ACA’s reputation never quite recovered from unanswered or poorly answered Republican attacks. What we were calling for can now be termed Messaging Maxim #5: Make it Personal.
While it’s easy to get caught up in the mainstream media’s focus on the latest small shiny object, Democrats should take a deep breath and ask themselves, “What do we stand for?” In our Messaging Manifestofor Democrats published over two years ago, we provided a possible answer in just two words. Here’s how Democrats can get back to basics and promote fundamental Democratic Party values in the current political and media climate:
Republicans seem to be enjoying this week of small shiny “scandals.” They’d better celebrate while they can, because there are three realities that, if unaddressed, could effectively kill the Republican Party’s national success:
