Several recent discussions here on MyDD have illustrated again our movement's need to develop a set of shared principles - in particular the conversations about the Third Way and George Will's latest attempt to defend conservatism against the onslaught of failures. What follows here is, I hope, a small but helpful contribution in continuing to move this discussion forward.

And ooh, there's a powerpoint (1.8Mb, click the pic to download):

[x-posted at dailykos and Speak Out CA.]

There have been a lot of main stream media stories over the past few weeks about how great the RNC get out the vote operation is doing. These stories usually include an obligatory paragraph about how disorganized the Democratic side is by comparison.

You'll be shocked to know that your sources in the corporate media may not be telling you the entire truth here - although in this case it really isn't their fault. The Voter Activation Network (VAN) is a web based voter contact database and tracking system that a number of state Democratic parties and other organizations are using to keep track of their field and direct mail operations. (Full disclosure: I'm the project director of California VoterConnect, and as of a few months ago we are a customer of theirs.)

The folks running this system have a unique perspective on how we're doing. On the flip is a letter from one of the principals of this organization (published here with his express permission) with some perhaps surprising and potentially great news...