“We should ask the American people to be patriotic about something other than war.” - John Edwards

During the dark days of World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called on the nation to step up to the challenge and work together to overcome the threat of global fascism. Americans, many of whom who had so recently “went without” out of necessity during the great depression, agreed to go without again because that was what was required to meet the great challenge of the age. The sacrifice of “the greatest generation” is our legacy as Americans, and sets an example that we must live up to in facing today's great global challenges: widespread poverty and the global warming crisis.

Cross-posted at www.mydd.com
The Iraq War is solidifying as one of the defining issues of the 2006 election. Democrats are slowly coming around to this reality, but remain divided on how to handle the issue. Some Democratic strategists, including Simon Rosenberg of the New Democrat Network, think that Democrats should agree to disagree on Iraq. However, Democratic Party leaders are discovering that they do agree on basic elements of an Iraq policy that can be contrasted with the Republicans’ agenda of “more of the same” in November, as a recent vote in the Senate demonstrated. In that vote, thirty-nine Democratic Senators voted in favor of initiating a gradual troop withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2006. How to transform this developing unity on Iraq into a winning strategy for the 2006 congressional elections? That’s where Oregon’s Ron Wyden comes in.