Introduction

Have you ever witnessed a car wreck?

Not one in which you were involved, but maybe you’re just walking down the street and you see two cars on a collision course.

You’re powerless to stop it, but you see it coming long before the driver of either car seems to.

If just one of them could see what you see, the whole thing could easily be avoided. But they don’t. Maybe they’re fiddling with their radio or iPod. Maybe they’re just lost in thought about something that’s going on at work. Or maybe they just can’t see the other car from their angle.

Whatever the reason, they’re obviously not paying attention and the collision quickly becomes inevitable.

CRASH!!!

Well, that’s what being a liberal in Redstate-istan feels like. Instead of paying attention to the road, the Democratic leaders are fiddling with consultants and lost in thought about God-knows-what.

Collision after heart-wrenching collision, they still don’t seem interested in paying attention to their driving. And you feel just powerless to do anything about it.

Look at 2004. Republicans knew Howard Dean was the guy who could beat them. Thousands of us in the grassroots and netroots knew Howard Dean was our best chance of tossing out Bush. It seems everybody knew it but the Democratic Party establishment. And they’re driving the car.

They pushed the idea of John Kerry’s “electibility.” Somehow they thought an obscenely wealthy New England aristocrat was the winning ticket that would resonate with American voters.

So we had John Kerry as our candidate.

CRASH!!!

We saw that wreck coming. We shouted and waved our arms furiously, but the driver just wasn’t paying attention. Some would argue that John Kerry actually did win the election, but I would argue Dean would have won by enough that shenanigans in Ohio wouldn’t have mattered.

But this book isn’t about Howard Dean or John Kerry.

Go back four more years. Al Gore was the sitting Vice President during a time of relative peace and prosperity. He had a strong record on the environment, which was actually popular at the time. He was a veteran, who served in Vietnam. And he was from the South. It should have been a shoe-in.

Enter Joe Lieberman, an ultra-rightwing, pro-business Senator from Connecticut. I’m not sure exactly what they were thinking with that choice for running mate.

And then there was the campaign. All the inside-the-beltway consultants got on board and told Gore exactly how to run a “winning” campaign.

Here in the hinterlands, it was as if we were watching in slow-motion and hi-def.

CRASH!!!!

The aftermath was like an old cartoon. The sirens. The flashing lights. Then the cartoon paramedics come along and scoop up the wreckage of the car, leaving the body there on the road.

All the talking heads on TV were analyzing the big wreck.

“Well, the problem obviously was they just weren’t fiddling with the radio enough.”

“Things would have gone better if we had just been lost deeper in thought.”

Everything was suggested except actually watching the freaking road!

So now it’s 2008 and we’re still in that handbasket on the express lane. The wind is blowing in our hair. Exit signs whiz by so fast we can’t read them. There are lot’s of opportunities to change course, but we’re flying right along toward you know where.

Hop on the Hillary Express!

CRASH!!!!!

Can we please avoid this one? Can somebody start watching the road?

I’m not claiming to be some political guru. I don’t have impressive connections or an advanced degree from an Ivy League School. I’m just a rank-and-file Democrat out here on the front lines. I’ve got a little different perspective here in Indiana than all those high-paid consultants hovering inside the Washington, D.C. beltway.

And maybe a fresh perspective is what’s needed. So let me just share a little bit about how things look from here.