Walter Cronkite - Idea for Democrats: Midterm Convention

In New York Times' Letters to the Editor (Friday, October 14, 2005), the inestimable Walter Cronkite has an idea for the Dems, if they want to achieve a 2006 Congressional victory:

Idea for Democrats: Midterm Convention

To the Editor:
Re "Democrats See Dream of '06 Victory Taking Form" (front page, Oct. 13):

The key to a Democratic success in next year's Congressional election is clearly in the party leadership's coming up with a campaign that does not concentrate on the Bush administration's failures but offers alternative programs to fix what it believes is wrong with the Republican agenda.

A suggestion by which the Democratic Party could command the greatest public attention for its positive agenda: It could within weeks call an extraordinary midterm convention to draw up its platform.

The convention would not need to be expensive. The delegates could be those who attended the 2004 convention. Their meeting would be open to the public and of course the press.

In sharp contrast to the secrecy of the Bush administration, it would let the public, if only remotely, share in the construction of the Democratic platform.

Although local issues might cause some candidates in next year's Congressional election to veer from the platform on comparatively minor issues, the basic principles of the party would be clearly apparent.

The voting population would for the first time in many years have an unobstructed view of those principles that differentiate the Democratic Party from those of the Republican Party.

Walter Cronkite
New York, Oct. 13, 2005

I like the cut of your jib, Walter. And that's the way it is.

(Tip o' the hat to Michael Jay for this bit o' news.)