I voted "other" in the poll.
I think the biggest factor influencing the Democratic
Party is the internet. The groundswell of populist Democrats organizing via the internet is an amazing testiment to the power of the people. The
people of the Democratic party are ahead of the leadership on a lot of issues, and the party is transforming from the bottom up, rather than the top down. We are finally starting to reverse the trend of top down politics the Dem's took under the DLC leadership.
As for Kennedy - he is still the number one role model for many Dems. When we voted for Clinton, rightly or wrongly, we saw some of that Kennedy magic in him. We see some of that same charisma and leadership abilities in Obama today.
As for taxes - Dems would revamp the tax system starting with
payroll taxes. Cutting that tax would help 70% of Americans - we would also put the tax rate for the top 1% back to 2000 levels.
The middle class has not received any real tax relief under Bush - it's more like crumbs that fall off the table, yet the GOP buys the plan hook line and sinker while our country goes 2,000 million dollars more in debt
every day.