it's my party (and i'll agitate if i want to)

because george bush won the election and will be coronated tomorrow, and because the dems lost ground in congress, many progressives are feeling angry, hurt, and resentful -- towards the democratic party. there is a wide-spread belief that kerry blew an election that should have been his in a walk-over. and for former dean supporters, the loss is even more galling, given how their candidate was undermined by the leadership of the democratic party; in particular terry mcauliffe and al from. these people are not happy democrats.

and yet on the same day kerry booted the presidency, democrats across this country made extraordinary gains. montana and colorado, both so-called red states, voted for democrats in such a manner as to turn them a rich bluish-purple. our own state, oregon, had a few glitches, but with an 85% turnout the voters in this state declared themselves to be democrats.

i've been writing for some time, both in local blogs and in letters to people around the country, that there are now two democratic parties. not right-left parties, but national and local. the national party is the gop's butt monkey, wondering just how far to the right they'll have to move to not lose more than another 5 or 6 senate seats and every house seat below the mason-dixon line. these dems have lost all touch with reality; only barbara boxer, barney frank, and peter defazio seem to have any understanding of how tenuous is the gop's grip on political power. they are fighting back while many alleged leaders of the party worry that, oh no, howard dean might become dnc chair (in an open and democratic vote!) and golly, we'll never win the nascar dads and security moms.

the local democratic party is the one that deals with real people, real issues, and real campaigns. benton county is an exemplar of this party, mobilizing thousands of volunteers and winning almost every vote that matters. the national party has almost no clue about what's going on in benton county, much less linn county, where dozens of excited dems are busy recreating their party and setting the groundwork for future success (may i introduce andy olson, lame duck?).

there's no need to bail on the democratic, no matter who wins the dnc chair, no matter what the senate or house does. that's not the real party. we are the real party, and if we keep the faith and stay the course, we will force our beliefs and our goals upward. already, we see ted kulongski growing what looks like it might be a backbone. who knows? maybe ron wyden will decide to become a democrat again. and if not, there are many great local democrats who will work to bring about progressive and democratic change to local government, state government, and the national. we have become the real party of Lincoln: of, by, and for the people. as long as we keep working towards the great goals and standards of our party, we will move our country towards a better place.

but the day we cut and run, we admit defeat. this is our party.