Thank you...and take care of yourself out there!!

Our spirits fluctuate. Don't despair (except occasionally!)
Best wishes.

are you in CA? I'm from CA and i wish i was back home!! reliably blue CA!

In fact I'm just now trying to figure out the road closures to avoid for Sunday's Saint Patrick Day Marathon.
It's running from Dodger Stadium to Century City!

raised in Torrance.

I've been in NC for over 16 years now but CA is still home, and I'm still homesick. Still have my 310 phone, too!

I was there 32 yrs and it seemed 90% of my co-workers were from Torrance.
I've taken pictures there. That's been my hobby, takings pics of the Los Angeles area as Basic LA on Flickr.

We may know some of the same people; i never worked at Hughes but 2 of my best friends did.

I married a S.G. Valley girl from Arcadia and we lived in Alhambra awhile. Good to hear from you.

was named aerojet village as many of the families worked there including my late dad.

group or that group.

In case folks haven't noticed there is only ONE PARTY that has people from 'this group or that group' woven into the very FABRIC of the party !

I like to tell people that I'm a Democrat because I care about everyone.

and it's fucking 2024 already.

Some else tried to tell me I wasn’t doing enough. They are blocked. I am also junking all out of state requests for money since I consider out of state funding of campaigns interference.
I got a total of nearly $300 worth of texted requests just yesterday. I wish it was illegal to share any data with other organizations, campaigns, charities, etc.

i block and delete them all now. Some of them i probably would have responded to, like the one that asked if I planned to vote for Biden. I am over the texts. Candidates i never heard of. Causes I never signed up for. I wish I had the money to give to all the good causes but I don't. I ran out of work last year and am on the poverty train at the moment. that's just a fact.

for the lesser of 2 perceived "evils". They find Biden to be imperfect, but Trump to be evil so they don't vote for either. Unfortunately, when they withhold their votes from Biden that only helps Trump since our presidential elections are binary.

In over 50 years of voting I've voted exclusively for Democrats and voted because I consider it to be my civic duty, my job which I do because it's the right thing to do. It's like working to support your family--you just do it without the need to be excited or motivated all the time but because it's the right thing to do. For me, voting is that way. If we could all vote with that philosophy, Trump would not just lose, he would be crushed at the polls.
It's our duty to vote and people have died and sacrificed for that right. It is precious.

where typically i voted in the primaries and the general elections. Since i moved to NC, I vote in every single election. In CA you can be fairly certain, as a Democrat, that you will get the outcome you want even if you don't vote. Not here. Here, I've learned really well how to lose. I don't like it one bit. But that vote is what I have. Out of 3 sons, I've only taught the youngest well enough that he votes consistently. The eldest is still in CA and will vote in November. The middle one, pretty much the same; he'll vote in the general election. where did i go wrong...

The gop just loves their celebrities to run for political office.
Sadly, it usually works.

I hope Schiff kicks his ass.

I vote the issues. For me, it's a no brainer.

that i loathe republicans so much i will never vote for one. if there's a non partisan race and I can't determine what party the candidates are, I don't vote in the race. I figure even if a republican says something I agree with, the person's probably lying and will do the opposite once in office. it's that bad.

i would love to see the party disintegrate and a viable 2nd party rise up. but don't see it happening in my life unfortunately.

...to the nonsensical rallying cries that we often get here on DU to "stop worrying, stop complaining, and GOTV!"

As if that stops the worry! And as if putting out all that effort doesn't make it hurt all the more when you lose!

i mean, I want to be optimistic. I wish I didn't carry the family worry gene, but I do. And, I'm a fish out of water in this state. in 2008 NC went for Obama. it's been downhill ever since. Karl Rove's wet dream. ALEC's model state. aargh

One thing keeping me sane is the Meidas Touch. I stopped watching pretty much all tv news some time ago due to frustration. MTN is run by lawyers who are pro-democracy and they tell it the way it is without fucking around with any both sides bullshit.

It’s awfully easy to get depressed and disillusioned these days. I know how that feels and I battle it, too. But the better angels in me won’t let go, and for that, I’m grateful!

And btw, it’s a smart move - what you did here. VERY smart, shrewd, and strategic. You posted here about it, where you’re surrounded by others of like mind. Just KNOW that we are all here and we’re behind you and we will lift you up like the “Morale Army” we are. You don’t stand alone.

You are NOT alone.

free group therapy! lol

i love DU. thank you calimary!

I lived in NC for ten years - a job transfer from the north to the south. I actively campaigned for Harvey Gantt when he tried to unseat Jesse Helms. It was a gut punch when he lost to that bigot! I found that many people hated Democrats with a fiery passion but they could never state why (as if I didn't know the real reason why).

It is frustrating. I appreciate your honesty and hang in there. We can only do what we can at any given time. I really wish NC would see the light like Virginia did. Some day maybe.

We cannot know the outcome ahead of time, and so there is the emotional up and down of anticipation. In the meantime, we just "keep our nose to the grindstone." In Nancy Pelosi's great wisdom: "Don't agonize, organize."

Here's hoping for the best for us all....

Here, too, and I feel your angst. People say contact your representatives…yah, nope.😂

Hear it all the time Dems need to get out the vote. Okay. I’m more than willing to help IF the DNC and the Texas Democrats would recruit some young people. I never see Democrats at local functions but, boy howdy, the Republicans are there - with cool freebies, too.

As to the spam texts, me too. Worst mistake I ever made was donating to the DNC and Vote Blue. I really do not need spam texts from Jamie Raskin and some random guy from up North.

Beto lit up this state. He was energetic and went to the small towns and cities that no politician of either party ever visits. Old school Dems weren’t happy. “Why can’t he just be Bob or Robert.” “Well, El Paso isn’t really Texas. Heck, they aren’t even in OUR time zone,”

Frustrating.

but why not? i'm in NC! we're in a race to BE Alabama FFS

Texas is hot, dusty, humid, and beautiful, too. Lots of weirdos, church ladies, MAGA, and some really nice folks. 😉

many of the people are wonderful. it's been good for my 2 sons and I, changed our lives. but then again, it sucks. republicans have a vise like grip, racism is rampant, priorities are entirely skewed.

my life is so full of irony. one of those ironies is that i had to move to NC to make enough money to live in LA.

Believe me, I know all about becoming even more reclusive since COVID, so I can understand what a huge undertaking this is for you. Major kudos and respect from me!

it is so important.

Am in Wisconsin, so it's uphill here, too.
Please take care of yourself. Take a break, walk outside, hang with friends, read a book, sleep, and remind yourself there still is joy. Humor helps.
You are doing what you can. That is enough.
Thank you!

1. Tell people what you are going to tell them.
2. Then tell them what you intend to tell them.
3. Then tell them what you just told them.

Democrats would be wise to follow this advice, regarding what they did for people.

... it's all about communication, and sadly, the Debbie-downers are right; Democrats absolutely SUCK at it. We twiddled our thumbs while the Nazis v.2 built, with the help of Rupert Murdoch, a supremely effective system that pandered to the ignorance and malice of the lowest common denominator of the social equation, and by so doing, amassed an army of idiots, a confederacy of dunces, who are overjoyed at the opportunity to throw their lives away to ensure the continued comfort of the oligarchy.
Now there is no media that isn't controlled by fascists, to one degree or another, so we have no megaphone with which to even reach those who might be encouraged to turn toward the light, instead of the foul-smelling darkness of authoritarianism. Too many people would embrace a dictatorship because it's easier than thinking for themselves, or taking responsibility for their actions.
So, another civil war is becoming a very real possibility. I'm old, but I'm still a deadly marksman, and I'll do whatever it takes to preserve The Great American Experiment, and I know I'm not alone. That's the only warning you're gonna get, traitors.

I doubt anyone here twiddled their thumbs, I know I damn sure didn’t! And I also am tired of being told what Democrats did or didn’t do! No one asked ME what I did or didn’t do! I can remember putting flyers on cars at Walmart during the Bush campaign, registering voters, working elections, working in the local precinct, as well as the county Democratic Party. I phone banked, I went door to door working for local candidates, driving an hour and a half in a broken down car every other day to phone bank for candidates across the nation, participating in local Democratic events to facilitate candidates meeting constituents. Democrats did PLENTY! I donated thousands of dollars. If anything it was that we couldn’t get anyone to take us seriously—because I know I am not alone in that I saw all this shit coming LONG before the media caught on.

Every night I find myself screaming at MSNBC: I TOLD you this shit was going to happen! I told everyone I knew, but it fell on f*ing deaf ears! You cannot make them hear! Stop wearing us out further with what Dems didn’t do! Some of us did EVERYTHING!

... we still wound up with the worst possible excuse for a human being prostituting the Oval Office for his own benefit, instead of the most qualified candidate we've seen in nearly a century.
I know how frustrating it is, believe me, and we are supremely fortunate to have Biden leading the charge, but my point is, the slime out maneuvered us. They played a long game, starting at the local level, and keeping it quiet until they had accrued the power of numbers. Then they brought out the Big Sticks.
I think it was John Cornyn of Texas who accused Bill Clinton of "never meeting an education bill he didn't like." And that was a pejorative. As I said, they appeal to the lowest and meanest, and derive their support from their inchoate resentments, which are legion. A semi-literate, ignorant electorate is easy to manipulate into voting against their own best interests because they want someone to blame for their own inadequacies. That's hard to overcome.
I didn't twiddle my thumbs, either, but time and time again, decision makers at the top certainly did. Consider the "advisors" who told John Kerry he should apologize for the Swift-boaters' lies!
Self-righteousness doesn't win; but standing up to thugs and exposing their perfidy just might.
No one has all the answers, and I'm sorry, I never intended to offend the tireless efforts of unsung heroes like yourself. But I'd like to see my rage, and yours, reflected in the actions of those in control of messaging at the national level, and take it to these sonsabitches until they're just puddles of blood and bone. Figuratively speaking, of course.

...People should specify LEADERSHIP, not merely Democrats!

i don't accept guilt. i was aware, i was protesting, i was doing every thing i could. still do, it's less, i'm getting old, but still do.

i blame republicans, i blame out of control capitalism, roger ailes, richard nixon, republicans, republicans, republicans, corporate media's huge failure...all I would blame Democrats for is letting Nixon off the hook. If he'd been prosecuted, we would be in a very different place. Even if Reagan or one of the bushes had been, trump could not have happened. republicans are so, so bad. if I blame Democrats at all it's for ever assuming that republicans are operating in good faith. they simply never are.

...blaming the rape victim for the rapist's behavior!

It is designed to intimidate you and I, and all Americans of whatever persuasion, or faith, or family.
It is a propaganda program meant to frighten their own voters into electing a demagogue whose paranoid vision of America has poisoned their minds.
It is not merely an overstated difference of opinion.
The MSM is far to timid to speak this truth. I wonder if our party can.

that's why I get my news primarily from DU and the Meidas Touch Network. DU is a great aggregator of the real news.

That doesn't mean one has no other way to help Democrats get elected. Either the local party HQ, or a campaign is always on the lookout for people to help out in ways beyond GOTV. If you have a needed skill--bookkeeping/accounting, stats, admin, advertising, technical writing (many local candidates can use help with writing/proofing speeches), you could be a huge help in ways that don't involve high-volume public interaction.

Ask around, even ask campaigns directly, see if you have some skills they could use.