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In politics as in poker, the only way to win is to seize the initiative. The Democrats need to make bold wagers or risk being rolled over again.
By David Mamet
ONE NEEDS TO know but three words to play poker: call, raise or fold.
Fold means keep the money, I'm out of the hand; call means to match your opponents' bet. That leaves raise, which is the only way to win at poker. The raiser puts his opponent on the defensive, seizing the initiative. Initiative is only important if one wants to win.
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Full column from the
Los Angeles Times
Discussion on DailyKos, a liberal/Democrat site.
Full disclosure: I hang out on DKos a lot, but i'm actually conservative (and galled by the Republican Party, which is in no way conservative except in the activist pro-corporate, pro-social-legislation sense -- let's call it Santorumism). My comments (mostly an introduction to the term "calling station" for the poker-illiterate) are there under my nickname EqualOpportunityCynic.
That said, Mamet pretty much has it right. The Ds are tepid and in no way show any spine. The only reason corrupt Republicans with nominal leaders of questionable competence continue to hold office is because most see the Democrats as such a ghastly alternative. I don't -- at this point, any cure would be worse than the disease -- but i certainly don't agree with the either the D's strategy or their ideology. I probably also disagree with Mamet's ideology, but he's got a better grasp of strategy than the D leadership.