*sigh*

I'm gonna say it again...

GET OFF YOUR ASS.

This exhortation may seem harsh, but my challenge to you as disaffected Democrats is actually not that hard to do.

I believe the only way to retake the party from the forces of compromise is from the ground up. This is what I've been saying since early 2006. We started in 2003-2004, but the effort got bogged down when the party establishment stepped in and started dictating terms. Then came November 2006, and the Democratic Party actually retook the House and Senate. They even made inroads across the nation in what were once considered solid Republican strongholds.

Now we've got Barack Obama in the White House, which is a definite improvement over John McLame and his sidekick, Slappy the Dodo Bird. But we still have a list of demands. And if you're not satisfied with what Obama, Pelosi, and Reid and doing in terms of policy, you've gotta get off your ass. Just like I did.

I want every disaffected Democrat who is thinking of leaving the party to instead run for some sort of Democratic office within the next two years. Precinct, city, county, state, Federal, I don't give a damn. Following my own advice, I became a precinct chair and an election judge. I'm organizing a caucus in our state party. I've been writing county and state resolutions as though I was afraid of losing the ability to use my hands. Where I go from here is anyone's guess.

But I'm only here because I got off my ass.

This is where you come in. Stack your county and state party organizations with progressive grassroots activists. If you have a chance to get in the national structure, do it.

In short, I'm calling upon you to DU the Democratic Party itself.

It's not that hard to do. I promise. Check your county party HQ and learn what forms you need to officially file to run for whatever office you seek.

There is so much energy and potential here on DU. Over on "that other site," it seems like all they know how to do is bitch and complain. I know we do a lot of that, too. But I want to see DU transform into something more than just a left-wing version of "those guys." I want us to grow the next crop of Democrats who will chart our party's course from the White House to the court house to the school house to the dog house. This is doable. Take a look at how many members we have, all the energy we possess, all the passion, all the outrage, all the drive to make this nation a better place.

Who's with me? Together, we can send shockwaves through the Democratic Party establishment. We can become the party itself.

The mid-terms will be here before you know it. Get busy. Let's seal the deal once and for all and make the Republicans a permanent minority.