"The biggest argument against democracy is a five minute discussion with the average voter." - Winston Churchill

"As people do better, they start voting like Republicans - unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing." - Karl Rove

"When people think, Democrats win." - Bill Clinton

Recently I discussed some of the values I hold, and why these values make me a Democrat. Over the next several days I will be sharing a lot of what I believe we as grassroots progressive Democrats and as bloggers can do to build better communities, a better Party, and a better society. Join me below the fold, where I discuss what I envision for our Democratic Party. Please, add your own thoughts! After all, this is OUR party!

While student voter turnout has not been very high in the past, this year looks to be quite different. And young people appear to be leading the Democrats' surge in party identification - which can only be good news heading into the election.

But we all know what that means: The Republican machine is kicking into high gear to stymie young people's efforts to participate in the democratic process.

The Kent County Democrats and the Obama campaign participated in Kentwood's Fourth of July parade this morning. I had hoped for a good turnout, but as often happens with Obama events, things turned out better than expected.

In fact, we had about 30 people there! I would tell you how many people were in the McCain contingent at the parade, but McCain's campaign didn't even show up! Keep in mind, Bush won Kentwood 56-43% in 2004