I spent some time today in Carlisle wth the Green Party. Over the summer, I read Paul Wellstone's "Conscience of a Liberal" and learned I was a progressive liberal. When I later read the Green Party plaftform, I realized I was a visceral Green.

The Green Party Platform, when read without prejudice, is what I believe most Democratic voters think the current Democrats are all about. Sadly, this is not the case. The Democratic Party has strayed substantially from its people-first roots. What used to be the party of working people, the unemployed, the poor, the vulnerable, and victims of gross injustices within this country, has become the second Party of big business, the people be damned.

The move to the center is a move to the right, away from the basic democratic principles of economic and social justice and equality of opportunity for all. Led by the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), the Party has shifted far to the right, embraced corporate money, and catered to moderate Republicans in an effort to gain votes.

But political expedience has never catalyzed dramatic social change, never inspired thousands of passionate Americans to demonstrate for economic justice, never led the fight against racism, never inspired marches for civil rights. But expedience has led to the demise of the moral basis of the Democratic Party as the Party of justice, human rights, civil rights, and equality. Money corrupts.

So does a "Green Democrat" abandon the morally bankrupt Democratic Party or work from the inside to get it back to its base of social responsibility and justice? Where does a progressive turn? Further, why have this country's progressives failed to band together to get behind progressives running for office so we gain a foothold in Washington so we can stand up to the monied interests? Where is Jim Hightower, Michael Moore, and others? Where are the wealthy left-wing disciples of Paul Wellstone? Where is the organization of the morally strong, principles-based liberals who so despise both Bush, the neo-cons and the neo-liberals? They're busy writing books and touring in support of their new releases. Michael Moore is flying around the country on a Time Warner corporate jet to promote his latest book. Folks, we need a revolution, and the revolutionaries are out on book tours.

I propose we create a new, national coalition around economic and social justice, designed to get progressives elected, regardless of party affiliation. We have the numbers, and in those numbers we have the money, and with that money we can fight to gain power across the country. But we must start now. With two corporate parties in a two-party system, we have a lot of work ahead of us.

In the meantime, I still don't take corporate money. But I will take yours--please contribute to the cause. You can change the world; my campaign to get us back to principles-based leadership is in your hands.