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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAmerican Voters Need To Realize The Terrible Urgency Of 2014
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/06/15/american-voters-realize-terrible-urgency-2014.htmlAmerican Voters Need To Realize The Terrible Urgency Of 2014
By: Yellow Dog Yankee
Sunday, June, 15th, 2014, 6:26 pm
Every time I hear a pundit or a pollster discuss the certainty that Republicans will hold the House or the high probability they will gain control of the Senate I suspect I am having an out-of-body experience. In what world, no matter how ill-informed, gerrymandered, Fox News saturated, or Koch Brothers money-smothered could Democrats not win overwhelmingly this November? Are Democratic candidates and especially Democratic leadership so incapable of connecting the dots that a sane and literate electorate will sit out this critical election?
Yeah, apparently.
We have leadership handpicking candidates who wont galvanize the base and refusing to provide support to non-incumbents unless they are sure-fire winners. Our candidates pussyfoot through campaigns, terrified of offending Republicans who would never vote for them anyway. All in all we have a party which is unwilling or unable to bludgeon voters with the truth.
Democrats consistently campaign on the defensive; letting the opposition frame the debate and choose the terms; Obamacare, Benghazi, the IRS scandal the War on Coal. They wield the Second Amendment like a mace and lie that liberals plan to eviscerate the First. Complacent independents and Democrats may not be well informed or likely voters in off-year elections but they can understand actual facts and become angry enough to do something about them.
It is time we pick the battleground and infuse the field with urgency.
There isnt a natural constituency the Republicans have not insulted, annoyed, or outright harmed in recent years yet many seem blissfully unaware of it. How many veterans know Republicans killed $100 million in funding to improve access to care as opposed to those who only heard the President was to blame four months later when the VA scandal broke. How many low income persons are aware their own governors are keeping health care from them but instead believe Obamacare is killing the country?
snip//
There is a Facebook meme to the effect that if Republicans stop lying about us we will stop telling the truth about them. The problem is they are still lying but we have never hit them with the unvarnished truth nor even attempted to arouse voters to the crises they are facing everywhere with their jobs, their health, and their democracy. It needs to be said over and over that we cannot wait until 2016 there is a terrible urgency to now.
villager
(26,001 posts)Many problems in a nutshell, right there...
grahamhgreen
(15,741 posts)Louisiana1976
(3,962 posts)will win and there'll be dark days ahead.
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)That they support healthcare, women, wind, solar, and legal Marijuana. They need to change their color from blue to blue-green.
YOHABLO
(7,358 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Democratic candidates need to be forceful and tell the people the dangers of a Democratic loss in this election.
Cha
(295,899 posts)thank you, babylonsistah
aikoaiko
(34,127 posts)aikoaiko
(34,127 posts)Might even lose more than gain from it.
I don't think it's worth losing income inequality. Health care, and hungry children to keep me and people like me from buying certain guns.
Hekate
(90,189 posts)I live near UCSB. There's now an average of a mass shooting per week in this country, I think. I think this issue has some urgency, and so do a lot of other voters, even if the NRA currently outvotes us in Congress.
aikoaiko
(34,127 posts)These shootings were just angry guys being violent. Not a sensational mass killing like UCSB.
California always been uptight about guns so it doesn't surprise me to hear you say that.
There is a lot of country where talk of banning guns hurts democrats.
See my sig line for an example of someone not willing to be branded a gun banner.
Hekate
(90,189 posts)aikoaiko
(34,127 posts)Look at the meme I responded to up this subthread. They wish to reduce "gun proliferation". There's only one way to do that.
Like it or not there are too many democrats who want eligible gun owners from buying guns.
Hekate
(90,189 posts)My brother deals in gems and carries a gun for protection (he knows other dealers who have been followed, and he has too). My sister in law taught her sons to hunt deer. My next door neighbor has a gun (he told me after our tract was stricken by 24 burglaries in a couple of weeks). In my earliest childhood our across the street neighbors were both members of the LAPD, and they each had a weapon issued to them.
None of these people -- zero, nada, nil -- has collected an arsenal suitable for a Third World national army. What they each have is a tool suited to their trade -- not some goddamned power/sexual/fantasy/violence fetish. Do you see the difference in my mind?
aikoaiko
(34,127 posts)But I'm not sure it is much of a difference when talking about gun violence. Most gun homicides are conducted with just one gun. Even the mass killings involve just 1 - 3 guns.
So if people like to collect them I'm fine with that. I have several. Some rifles, some handguns. And a shotgun. But five of them have been on ban lists at one time or another.
So yes we can agree to disagree.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)In order for Democrats to lose over gun control, devout anti-gun-control people would have to be Democrats. 99% of them are Republicans, and would never vote for a Democrat.
Meanwhile, it could be quite helpful in getting people who are pro-gun control to bother coming out and voting.
aikoaiko
(34,127 posts)and other democrats pushing gun control can get them out of office as voters try to hedge.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)and RKBA being enough of an issue to vote for the other candidate.
You are arguing that someone says, "This candidate will slash welfare, give more money to the wealthy, destroy our roads, destroy our schools and cause massive pain. But the other one wants universal background checks. So goodbye schools, and hello starving poor."
And you are arguing that there's lots of them.
aikoaiko
(34,127 posts)Democrats winning congressional seats in GA sometimes come down to a thousand votes.
Of course they don't really think the same way as you about the republican agenda either.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)aikoaiko
(34,127 posts)It's a big problem in the south.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)No, it really isn't.
The folks you describe as voting against their interests because of gun control fear are Republicans.
The problem in the south is turnout. The folks you describe show up to every single election. Democrats do not.
aikoaiko
(34,127 posts)Some may be, but I assure some are not. Some are just democrats or centrists who have given up on public education, aren't on welfare, want fewer taxes, and can be put off by gun control.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)"Guns" weren't even Mentioned in the Platform before '68. The GOP loves seeing it mentioned, though.
Cha
(295,899 posts)Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)and never has been, even from its fairly recent beginnings. It is not a vote-getter, only a vote-loser. Frankly, IMO most folks who vote Democratic and are in any way activist wish the "issue" would just go away. The course of action needed to reduce crime and mass shootings does not lie with more controls and prohibitions. It lies with major change in our society, and the chances for peaceful, productive change are rapidly slipping away as the corporate state intensifies its hold in this country. "Guns" are deck chairs on the Titanic.
Cha
(295,899 posts)Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)for blacks, that few voted. Fortunately, blacks could obtain guns in the South, if for no other reason than the failure of prohibitionist policies in general. MLK was surrounded by a phalanx of gun-toting blacks. Both rights have been expanded greatly, thanks to LBJ. I don't support current laws for I.D.s to vote. But I do support providing an I.d. for gun purchases.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)I doubt that its DNC parent is the kind of cutting edge change we needed even 5 yrs. ago. Come to think of it, I'm increasingly of the opinion that what remains of the gun-control outlook is showcased by the DNC.
Response to babylonsister (Original post)
Corruption Inc This message was self-deleted by its author.
babylonsister
(170,960 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)What are you going to do about them?
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Aspire to inspire.[/center][/font][hr]
Hekate
(90,189 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)Good post!
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"The whole world is a circus if you know how to look at it."
Tony Randall, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)[/center][/font][hr]
napkinz
(17,199 posts)Hekate
(90,189 posts)Cryptoad
(8,254 posts)to worry about this Election..... all our time is consumed worrying about Comrade Snowden and all the other Papa Paul Plants!
lastlib
(22,978 posts)For their (our) own good. If not NOW, then WHEN???
[font size=10]G.O.T.F.V., people!!![/font size]
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)We are a democratic nation in numbers, and progress would actually move a little faster if we all had to vote at least in every national election or major election. I think everyone should have to vote in local politics too.
I get so frustrated with hearing people say they are so disillusioned that they may not vote. I'm disillusioned too...and frustrated, and hell, I'm mad. But nobody is going to take my vote away.
What frustrates me the most is that voting is too difficult for a lot of people, or they are just too lazy. I have always voted, regardless of how the voting was handled in different states I lived in, but I love the Oregon system where we vote by mail. There is absolutely no excuse for not voting when you can do it by mail.
Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)what I've been saying about mandatory voting for a while. Add to that the fact that countries such as Australia have did it with not many issues involved. The people who vote are the ones who ultimately decide how a democracy's government is run, and by whom. Unfortunately, I don't expect anyone in D.C. to touch that idea with a 10-foot pole within the near future. If a Democrat tries to do it in this political climate, the Reds will probably portray him or her as a tyrant, of course (you've seen what they did against Obamacare), even though it is just a way of ensuring that every American gives their voice in how the country functions. The GOP's leverage in elections obviously goes down as more people vote.
I would like to see voting be mandatory, yet be made as easy and accessible as possible. Do away with the voter ID laws altogether.
Martin Eden
(12,802 posts)Good question, which I ask myself whenever the concept of Rethugs keeping the House or taking the Senate crosses my mind.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)LBJ to Hubert Humphrey in the play "All the Way," now at Neil Simon Theater. Scene with that dialogue is featured prominently in advertisements. Very prominently.
I have felt very estranged from the Democratic Part for many years; in terms of philosophy, in terms of style & passion.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)TheKentuckian
(24,934 posts)because no help is coming from the corporate media and no help can come from the grass roots if they insist on stepping on and even cutting off the message at the knees in a vain effort to "meet in the middle", "seek bipartisan consensus", "attract independent voters", or whatever bullshit they spout to excuse corporate subservience and funnelling wealth, resource control, and power to the wealthy few 'stakeholders" while trying to keep enough voters corralled to be the ones who earn the right to advance their real master's interests.
The mealy mouthed cowering about is proof of complicity to me, no one that sees these regressives and their wealthy puppet masters as what they are and opposes them would be able to go so meekly into the night, they are fucking playing us. Playing on our desperation for just being to hold out hope some of the powerful are really on our side and that we have any real self determination.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)which party gets into office.
Mass spying on Americans? Both parties support it.
Handing the internet to corporations? Both parties support it.
Austerity for the masses? Both parties support it.
Cutting social safety nets? Both parties support it.
Corporatists in the cabinet? Both parties support it.
Tolling our interstate highways? Both parties support it.
Corporate education policy? Both parties support it.
Bank bailouts? Both parties support it.
Ignoring the trillions stashed overseas? Both parties support it.
Trans-Pacific Job/Wage Killing Secret Agreement? Both parties support it.
Drilling and fracking? Both parties support it.
Wars on medical marijuana instead of corrupt banks?
Deregulation of the food industry? Both parties support it.
GMO's? Both parties support it.
Militarized police and assaults on protesters? Both parties support it.
Indefinite detention? Both parties support it.
Drone wars and kill lists? Both parties support it.
Targeting of journalists and whistleblowers? Both parties support it.
Private prisons replacing public prisons? Both parties support it.
Unions? Both parties view them with contempt.
Perhaps the corporate-purchased parties themselves have something to do with this conclusion by the American people:
Poll: Half of Americans dont care which party controls Congress
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024988821
The record shows aggressive, proactive pursuit of a corporate agenda.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3202395
America, these are your parties on corporate cash. Politicians, show us something different.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Probably extremely low. Wanna fix your laundry list? Fix primary turnout.
Lousy candidates in your primary? Then why didn't you run?
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)You lecture that we need to, "Fix primary turnout."
In other words, "Make people vote, dammit!" This is the arrogance of corporate politicians. Fixing turnout doesn't happen by lecturing voters. It happens when you offer candidates and policies that voters want to support.
Why didn't you run, Jeff? Do you approve of these predatory policies? Your habit of personally blaming anyone who complains about being poorly represented and lecturing that person to run for office him or herself is a pretty lame response. Not every person is in a position to run for office, and you know that. You also know that most of the politicians in office got there by promising what they are now failing to deliver; there is a lot of leftward pivoting and lying from corporate Democrats during election seasons, but afterwards the corporate masters are paid.
It says a lot about what our parties have become that the messaging to get voters to the polls now consists not of advertisement of all the great representation they can expect, but rather a steady diet of bullying and threats. "Vote for us or the other guy will be worse."
Americans are getting pretty sick of it.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)In that you assume it is someone else's job to fix the problem. That someone else is lecturing. That someone else has to "offer candidates".
It isn't someone else's job. It's your job.
I moved. Thus, not eligible in either my new or old district.
Then find someone who is.
And it's your job to fix it.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)My post stands. The point stands. And your responses here are very helpful in making my point.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)In the old state, someone from our Drinking Liberally group.
Who'd you find?
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)Third way repuke-lite or GOP is disingenuous at best.
seveneyes
(4,631 posts)sheshe2
(83,319 posts)Yes.
Do it people or stop complaining about what is wrong with this country.
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What you can do is vote.
stupidicus
(2,570 posts)considering who and what we're combatting, and the price we all have to collectively pay over worrying about something the opposition clearly doesn't -- hurting someones feelings.
The facebook meme you cited shows the ridiculousness of the timidity and the justification for what they will surely characterize as incivility once their fee fees are hurt, and the lack of any justification for all their lying other than by way of "the ends justify the means" rational the dems again, would be justified in using given their far lesser reliance on lying.
Kablooie
(18,571 posts)I'll bet their poll numbers would start rising immediately.
Everyone seems to be afraid of seeming negative so they counter idiotic Republican demands with arguments that make the Republican view seem reasonable.
They should call GOP bullshit for what it is.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)They really believe it was rage over Iraq that caused Obama to ACCIDENTALLY win in '08 (As if voters didn't KNOW he was black) and they are acting like '12 never happened as they predict '14 and '16.
Oh,....and the beltway LOVES the Republicans. They have parties with servants. Dems tend to do buffets.
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)How do we settle on a plan to develop a short, clear, short, concise, and brief statement of beliefs and goals? With essentially the demise of both the legitimizing force of mass media, and of a political party capable of effecting those beliefs and goals, we are quite literally On Our Own.
Jenoch
(7,720 posts)It seems there are too many young voters who vote for Democrat candidates and Democratic voters who sit out the off-year elections.
I don't get it. The only elections I have ever missed are some local elections conducted in the spring. I confess to be a suburban voter who has moved several times and have not been engaged in local, city politics.
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)it's only a question of how awful a person the Republicans in our state will elect. Will our ostensibly "moderate" Republican senator Lamar Alexander be replaced with Oath Keeper and Tea Party Patriot Joe Carr? Fuck. I shudder to mention that creep.
Tennesseans overwhelmingly despise everything they imagine the Democratic Party stands for and they believe every bullshit lie about Benghazi, the IRS, "Death Panels". etc., that they've ever been told.
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)I was in a diner in Tiptonville, Tennessee overhearing a conversation of good ol' boyz who were trashing Al Gore left and right. It was utterly disgusting. If that kind of attitude is prevalent in Tennessee, then you have my sympathies.
humbled_opinion
(4,423 posts)I just took your premise and changed it to how they see it...
In what world, no matter how ill-informed, race baited, MSNBC, NBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, NYTIMES, Hollywood, and every other form of media except Fox News and talk radio saturated, or John Stryker, George Soros and Labor Union money-smothered could Republicans not win overwhelmingly this November? Against a President and his party that have destroyed any sense of bi-partisanship by taking direction from their rabid leftwing nutcase base where the slippery slope of liberalism has destroyed traditional family values, limited our ability to produce our own energy and forced us to rely more on middle east oil and, where a President is embroiled in scandal after scandal from the lies about the reasons behind the Benghazi massacre, to the IRS targeting of conservative groups, the botched roll out of Obamacare, the release of mass murdering terrorists that should have been tried for war crimes and that huge whopper about being able to keep your plan and doctor top it off with the recent deterioration of Iraq which the President was warned would happen if he did not leave troops in Iraq, the failure to act in Syria, and no one ever held accountable in his administration. Are Republican candidates and especially Republican leadership so incapable of connecting the dots that a sane and literate electorate will sit out this critical election?
I hear this tripe everyday much of it is just their hysteria but some of it has been brought on ourselves because you are right about one thing Democrats especially leadership have not hit back with the truth and every time we get the chance we stop short or pull up, I for one don't understand it and can only do my small part to make sure that people are truthfully informed....
Peace.
lark
(22,994 posts)Many Dems can't really hit the Repugs hard on some of these things, like gun control, loss of privacy & big money privilieges because too many of them are in favor of those same things. Progressives do need to come out hard and hammer these truths home. Repugs vote for tax decreases for rich yet won't fund VA for the additional hospitals it desperately needs. Hammer, hammer, hammer - that's what I want to hear. Dems win by being Dems, not watered down Repugs.
saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)we gotv. We are the majority. Let's not waste this moment in time.
There is a Facebook meme to the effect that if Republicans stop lying about us we will stop telling the truth about them. The problem is they are still lying but we have never hit them with the unvarnished truth nor even attempted to arouse voters to the crises they are facing everywhere with their jobs, their health, and their democracy. It needs to be said over and over that we cannot wait until 2016 there is a terrible urgency to now.
LiberalLovinLug
(14,153 posts)At the risk of being flamed as a "conspiracy theorist" (as if the word doesn't exist in the dictionary) you'd almost think there are times that, at least the corporate-dominating right wing of the Democratic party, wants to be kept in check. The thing they fear most is having control of all three levels of government and thus have to be burdened with the expectations of their more liberal base.
What suits them best is having the Presidency locked up, but having one of the other two branches dominated by the GOP. That way they can please their corporate masters and still look more "progressive" than the screaming banshies in the ever increasing ultra-right-wing bagger party that must always be to the right of even the most right wing Democrat. And that way they can throw their hands up and declare..."we tried" (...to have a public option on health insurance...to punish the Wall Street criminals....to pass background checks...etc...)
So at times, like in 2010, they zip it and disappear even though they have a ton of material of bad behavior they could use against their political foes. I know it has also a lot to do with the MSM who also want to keep the two parties neck and neck, and always seem to steer the electorate by declaring in advance that the GOP "will probably take the Senate", which keeps a lot of sunny day Democrats away from the polls. But I still think there could have been more push from the Democratic spokespersons back in 2010 and it seems like its all happening that way again.
Its not that I can totally believe this, especially with good Democrats like Grayson, Takano, Warren, and there are others too who I cannot believe would let this kind of behavouir stand. But it happens too many times for me to be absolutely convinced there is not some ulterior motive, at least by the DLC leadership.
radiclib
(1,811 posts)but you say it better than I did. It's "good cop/bad cop", and that's the way they want it to stay.
flamingdem
(39,303 posts)radiclib
(1,811 posts)Of course they all want to win their own races, but they don't necessarily want party majorities, and they don't want to run on an aggressive platform, because that would mean they might be expected to work to affect positive change. They don't want that, they're too invested in the status-quo.