My experience working in state and congressional campaign politics has been that most Democrats think in 6 month, or even 3 month increments. (Some readers may find that statement harsh, but if you look at the condition of Democratic politics across the country, I see very little evidence to the contrary.)

This is skirmish thinking: it may (or more likely may not) win the battle, but it doesn't win the war.

I'd like to offer one point as a supplement to Ian's article Movement and Parties: Plan for Long Term Victory

It is public record that the Republicans got where they are today with a 30 year plan. It was a simple plan, that consists of three main points:

• build a farm team of candidates, in down-ballot races, to ensure a future team of experienced candidates with a large voter and donor support base to run at the top of the ticket;
• strengthen and build up local political organizations so create the means to build ground wars and run GOTV operations;
• don't abandon your ground to run towards the electorate; engage in a culture war to transform the national culture and move the voters away from the middle and shift them over to your own position.

I have to admit, I have little patience with many of the cries about running primary candidates against sitting Democrats -- because we have no one to run. Winning candidates don't come out of thin air -- you also have to have the experience to run and win a tough contested race (as Howard Dean and Wes Clark can attest from their experiences in 2004). At the same time, looking to the likely candidates at hand for a primary isn't good enough in many cases either -- primaries right now are too often about damage control, about removing the most awful candidate from the field. But a primary that presents a choice between the lesser of two evils doesn't solve the problem of electing good leaders -- it does however waste a lot of money and resources that the party can ill spare.

If Americans want to get your country back, get your constitution back, address the threat of global terror which this misadministration has accellerated, you HAVE to stop thinking one election at a time. Going from skirmish to skirmish won't win, and it can't compete against the long-term strategic plans of the neocons who have hijacked the Republican party.

Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, stand up and reclaim your party. This call goes out to Republicans as much as Democrats because the issue here is not the historic Republican party, it is the war-mongering, military-industrial complex funded, neo-conservative elements that have hijacked the Republican party that are the real threat to America -- but only Republicans can get their own party back. (The same request, by the same token, goes out to the members of the many churches in American that have also been hijacked.) Get involved in your local party committee, get involved in elections to your state steering committee, roll up your sleeves and get involved in the day to day operations of your party and make a difference.

If you're a Democrat, get involved in LOCAL politics. Make sure your area is running a full slate of qualified candidates for town council, commonwealth attorney, school board. Help recruit candidates that you believe in, get them elected, and support them throughout their careers.

As your groom and develop your candidates, start running them in primaries against deadwood sitting Democrats, once your people have the skills, experience and support to win -- and not before.

[I realize I haven't addressed building political machines or (re)winning the culture war here -- big topics that I have addressed and will continue to address, but outside the scope of what I want in this article.]

Think in terms of a long term plan for victory. By all means, fight like hell to get the best available candidates elected in the short term, but at the same time do the foundational work so we won't be choosing the best of a bad lot in 2012, 2016, and 2020.

What does it take to win a plan like this: commitment, effort and long-range thinking. It doesn't actually take a lot of money, or at least it doesn't have to, but it does require a lot of people and a lot of passion.

That's a tall order in a society designed around comfort, instant gratification, learned helplessness, and a variety of social opiates.

Most of all, it takes rolling up your sleeve and doing it yourself, not waiting for someone else to take the initiative for you. The Greeks had a cool term for that: it translates as "government by the people."

America, your country is waiting for you. You're the only ones who can take it back. So do it.