The Soul of the Party

My recent post (see title link) on the Democrats' potential return to power produced a very interesting series of comments by readers. Paul pointed out the need for differentiation from the opposition, standing for something, rather than just griping about one's opponent. Ben discussed the need for a coherent foreign policy that deals effectively with multilateral interests and institutions, as well as just the use of the military. "cl" effectively discussed the more obscure (but "soul") concepts of the use of power and protest, encountering evil and suffering, and overcoming instability and fear. She ends with, "The activist says, 'Let the party begin'."

So what are effective activists to do?

1. Support your lawmakers, in your own (and the other) party. Watch their votes, laying credit and blame where it is due. Let them know what you think and want both before and after those important votes with a personal communication. Give money, if you can, but it is not essential. Making a commitment to knowing the issues, then communicating effectively, is what they need from us. That honors politics.
2. Support the law. Don't look the other way when someone in power in either party breaks the law, or behaves in clearly unethical ways. Figure out how you feel about "fuzzy mess" issues such as the separation of church and state, making war, or the value of free speech and privacy, for example. Don't leave the answers to those questions to the politicians alone. They represent us.
3. Support the common ground. Finding ways you can agree with an opponent strengthens possible compromise, or at least, further dialogue. We are polarized right now but Democrats can't stay that way and return to governing. The Center path seems to me to be the answer, though that is probably my bias. I am a Gemini, an Organizer/Analyzer type, and I drive in the inside lane on the freeway.
4. Support our most vulnerable people. Many times they ARE us, sometimes not. The biggest vulnerability is not having a voice, feeling powerless. Stand for them, speak out on their behalf, give time to a good cause, don't avert your eyes when their stories are painful. Speak to needs.

This brings me to the other side of the coin, the soul of the Republican party. What is Next Big Thing? A couple of Current Big Things are the course of war in Iraq, how to help with the enormous human suffering caused by multiple natural disasters, and how to pay the tremendous costs of all of that. Add in these, Big Fights over several messy Republican scandals, and the upcoming makeup of the Supreme Court.
Deciding how to pay for everything the government does is the job of Congress and taxpayers. The upcoming congressional budget fight in November may take an entirely new turn. It is very possible that there will be massive cuts in discretionary spending for the first time since the Republicans took over governing. And these budget cuts will inevitably affect you and I, or someone we care about, in some manner.
According to the Washington Post, there has been a rather remarkable shift in the direction of the Republican Party leadership in the U.S House of Representatives, since the indictment of their Speaker, Texas' Tom DeLay.

"In the turmoil, leaders had no choice but to firm up support with their conservative base and try to head off a leadership fight, lawmakers and leadership aides said. After several meetings, Hastert emerged from a closed Republican session the night of Oct. 6 to announce that he had gotten the message. Cuts to entitlement programs such as Medicaid, food stamps and farm supports would be raised from $35 billion to $50 billion in the massive budget bill that will be compiled in November. Republicans would push an additional across-the-board spending cut for 2006 and would try to trim programs already funded. 'We went from being in the doghouse to being feted as the heart and soul of the party,' Flake said jokingly."