Jerry...I am afraid that if the goal is just winning, "formulating a positive blueprint....for the future" might involve stooping to some of the same tactics that we have been fighting. I think that fear mongering and distracting flag waving are very powerful forces when all we use to counter them is rationality and positive thinking. *IF* this current policy hits enough people in the pocketbook and they get scared that the current policy is endangering them MORE by creating more enemies, then perhaps they will vote the other way next time....I really doubt that just making sense will be enough.

and, of course, finding a candidate who has some special charisma that can't be easily distorted by lies and fake arguments will help...Most of those have declined to run in recent years.