Which Gets Vetted More Thoroughly?

Sadly, it's going to happen -- not because Obama/Biden are unqualified, not because the Rethugs have all the answers or even SOME of the answers; it's going to happen because Democrats simply don't appeal to non-urban, everyday Missourians. I spend a lot of time outside the cities, in small towns and rural areas, and after people chide me for being a Libertarian because we can't win elections, I sit and listen. I listen the electrical worker or the auto worker or the steel worker -- cars and trucks emblazoned with UNION stickers, as they talk about voting Republican (again). I listen to the small business man and woman who work hard and get hammered with taxes and frankly don't believe that Obama's plans to DO so much will cost them nothing. I listen to farmers who balk at the "urban elite" and their plans to take tax dollars to give to people who are dumb and lazy, who won't work. I listen to the police officers and deputy sheriffs whose stomachs turn at the thought of liberal lawyers spending more time and money defending the rights of horrific criminals instead of defending the rights of crime victims. I listen to military members and veterans talk about not trusting an untested first-term Senator from Illinois at the same time they mention Palin's pretty good "executive" experience. The message of Democratic change isn't changing hearts and minds in middle America, in small town Missouri -- and railing about VP vetting processes or the inconsistent and hypocritical Rethuglican ways are NOT getting any votes, and it won't play in November. If the last two presidential elections haven't shown Democrats how to win, at least it should them how not-to-lose -- but you can't play with a not-to-lose mindset, else you don't win. So, what are the Democrats to do? As someone whose job it is to inform, educate, and provide knowledge to people on certain topics, the power is not in the information which I would like to think SHOULD change behavior; the power is in making the message meaningful, making the connection with their hearts, being open and honest about consequences, and being ready to be thought a fool of at times. Democrats simply fail, miserably, in making that connection with people -- information and knowledge without that connection makes Democrats sound shrill and out-of-touch. Trotting out the ultra-liberals in the party to campaign in Missouri is at once a mistake (if Democrats do it) and a stroke of genius (when Rethugs do it). Win in the cities, lose in small town and rural Missouri -- and lose the November election (again). For a party of pretty bright souls, you just don't get it.

I would say no. Republics are the party of elections, Democrats the party of governing.