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Ferd Berfel

(3,687 posts)
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 02:46 PM Feb 2016

Yes, We Have a Turnout Problem. And Here's the Biggest Culprit:

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/21/1488628/-Yes-We-Have-a-Turnout-Problem-And-Here-s-the-Biggest-Culprit



The bad news (and yes, it is bad) following the first three Dem presidential primaries of this cycle, is that Dem turnout is lower than it was in the wave election year of ‘08, and (this is the really bad part) that the GOP turnout is commensurately higher. This, indeed, does not bode well.

But to attribute the problem (and yes, it is a problem) totally to the incompetence of the two remaining Dem candidates’ campaigns is an extremely blinkered notion, especially since this very outcome was predicted months ago, based on the strategic idiocy of the Debbie Wasserman-Schultz-led DNC. Here’s what I wrote in that diary of Aug 5 last year:

So the Chair of the DNC, in a brilliant strategic move, is encouraging Democrats to inflate the ratings of the FOX News network as they go about the business of promoting the personalities and policies of the GOP Presidential field??? And she's hoping we'll use the DNC's Bingo game to make a fun night out of it??? This is not a game, Debbie, it's the most critical political juncture in the history of the world (and that's not even close to hyperbole) and your plan is for us to sit down with popcorn and Bingo cards and have some fun! Meanwhile, the whole country (and the world) is going to be subjected, without a countervailing event from the Democrats, to the distortions of the John Birch Society that has rebranded itself as the Modern GOP.


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Yes, We Have a Turnout Problem. And Here's the Biggest Culprit: (Original Post) Ferd Berfel Feb 2016 OP
Another one who's only in it for her self. Fuddnik Feb 2016 #1
She must go. 2pooped2pop Feb 2016 #2
You mean Clinton's 2008 Campaign Manager is the problem FreakinDJ Feb 2016 #3
Well that, and this... Ferd Berfel Feb 2016 #6
What I would like to know is - why is it okay for Debbie DINO to support GOP buddies down djean111 Feb 2016 #4
So Bernie followers have abandoned the grand revolution as a protest to DWS? wyldwolf Feb 2016 #5
Wasn't Bernie supposed to drive turnout to historic levels? redstateblues Feb 2016 #7
When HilLIARy cheats Politicalboi Feb 2016 #10
You should have posted a warning Politicalboi Feb 2016 #8
Yawn... workinclasszero Feb 2016 #9
They know what's coming in SC and Super Tuesday CorkySt.Clair Feb 2016 #16
A 'fellow democrat' who allied with Sheldon Adelson to send medical marijuana users to prison. Warren DeMontague Feb 2016 #25
The revolution didn't happen and that is Debbie's fault? leftofcool Feb 2016 #11
Probably one of the worst analyses I've read in years--really whiny and wrong. Embarrassing. MADem Feb 2016 #12
how did Dems do, under her 'leadership' in those pesky 2014 elections? islandmkl Feb 2016 #14
Are you telling me that the DNC chair under a sitting Democratic POTUS is "in charge" of the party? MADem Feb 2016 #15
you might want to do a little research on DWS and how she operates... islandmkl Feb 2016 #18
You might want to read what you are writing from the perspective of someone who understands who MADem Feb 2016 #19
again...tell me what she has accomplished in her position... islandmkl Feb 2016 #21
Debbie is only a Democrat when it comes to getting paid... islandmkl Feb 2016 #13
Where is the Democratic voter registration program, where is the voter outreach program, Todays_Illusion Feb 2016 #17
I have been saying for a long time that Hillary better find a way... islandmkl Feb 2016 #20
republican will come out in droves just to vote against her Ferd Berfel Feb 2016 #22
Yep. In addition, our corporate media did not cover a word Sanders was saying until mhatrw Feb 2016 #23
Hold on. Bernie's demographic is not turning out because.....? McCamy Taylor Feb 2016 #24
Or maybe folks are just not that excited bigwillq Feb 2016 #26
She must go... but how to make that happen? kgnu_fan Feb 2016 #27
She has done a horrible, lack-luster job of getting the base out. This is the #1 priority JimDandy Feb 2016 #28
Not that bad, considering... HassleCat Feb 2016 #29
Despite DWS Bernie should be ahead in about a week and a half... jonjon Feb 2016 #30
I believe with all my heart Jenny_92808 Feb 2016 #31
Here's what I don't understand: Bernie Sanders is supposed to be a game-changer... Liberal_Stalwart71 Feb 2016 #32
 

2pooped2pop

(5,420 posts)
2. She must go.
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 02:48 PM
Feb 2016

She is expecting a position within a Hillary white house but I hope we can show her the door instead.

 

djean111

(14,255 posts)
4. What I would like to know is - why is it okay for Debbie DINO to support GOP buddies down
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 02:53 PM
Feb 2016

here in Florida, refuse to support Democrats, and fund-raise for GOP buddies? Her reason - working relationships. Yeah, we sure do get that.

Looks like it is tougher to be a member of DU than it is to chair the DNC, doesn't it?

No respect for the DNC while Debbie is there. Either the DNC should admit it is now a Third Way tool, or get rid of the DINOs.
I am guessing the DNC is now the Third Way's version of a Snap-On truck. At least it is, here in Florida.

wyldwolf

(43,868 posts)
5. So Bernie followers have abandoned the grand revolution as a protest to DWS?
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 02:53 PM
Feb 2016

Or did she outsmart the Bernie campaign... somehow...?

redstateblues

(10,565 posts)
7. Wasn't Bernie supposed to drive turnout to historic levels?
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 02:54 PM
Feb 2016

That was the "Bernie is most electable" meme. It's always somebody else's fault

 

Politicalboi

(15,189 posts)
10. When HilLIARy cheats
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 02:59 PM
Feb 2016

It's hard to win. Letting people caucus without registering first, and not allowing Orthodox Jews to vote after hours. I'm glad you people feel comfortable winning at ANY cost. Cheating now will surly leave HilLIARy crying come Nov 2016. The more we see how she rolls, the less likely we will roll for her. And the GOP will roll over her. It will be 1984 all over again.

 

workinclasszero

(28,270 posts)
9. Yawn...
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 02:57 PM
Feb 2016

Another day another savage attack against fellow democrats.

This meme is getting old Bernsters, can't you find another excuse for the total failure of the Bernie revolutionary army to vote?

Warren DeMontague

(80,708 posts)
25. A 'fellow democrat' who allied with Sheldon Adelson to send medical marijuana users to prison.
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 10:27 PM
Feb 2016

4 states have legalized for recreational use - including a vital swing state- and the public face of the DNC is in the NY Times going on about how they all should be sent to jail.

MADem

(135,425 posts)
12. Probably one of the worst analyses I've read in years--really whiny and wrong. Embarrassing.
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 03:11 PM
Feb 2016

Some of the lamest "blame placing" I've seen in eons.


If all it takes is "WAAAH!!! DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ is EEEEEEVIL!!!" to stop people from voting, well, maybe they are getting what they deserve. But I don't think that's the case at all.


People who want to participate in the democratic process get off their asses and VOTE. People who like to shit stir on the internet, though, maybe they don't.

This brilliant analysis (the B word is used reservedly) fails to take into consideration that we had a SHITLOAD more CANDIDATES back in 08. A SHITLOAD more, that needed everything from more debates to more vetting to more ginning up excitement in differing camps.

Why, I remember Susan Sarandon vigorously stumping for that Iraq War loving John Edwards, I do! And who else was running? Why, JOE BIDEN--remember him? Chris Dodd!!! Mike Gravel!!! Bill Richardson!!!!!! And don't forget DU favorite, Fox News Analyst DENNIS KUCINICH!!! And there were a lot of others who contemplated, and then passed (many of those had tried in 04).

We're down to two now. Hell, we were down to two, for all intents and purposes, after IA.

Here's another analysis--there are a boatload of people who aren't like the poop flingers on the internet, who are Just Fine with whichever candidate the Democrats finally decide upon. There are--believe it or not--a lot of people out there who don't see much real daylight between Clinton and Sanders, and think that the attempt to starkly contrast them is just electioneering horse shit by partisan factions with special interests and a poor view of the Big Picture (that's on both sides, so none of that "Waaah they're being meeeeeean to BERRRRNIE" shit I keep getting whenever I make a point). They don't care which of the two gets it, because they're going to vote for that person, whosoever they might be. And they don't feel like standing in line or caucusing or whatever the hell--the outcome just DID NOT MATTER to them. They'll vote for the Dem at the end of the day. IN NOVEMBER.

smh.....

islandmkl

(5,275 posts)
14. how did Dems do, under her 'leadership' in those pesky 2014 elections?
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 03:14 PM
Feb 2016

her program of support for candidates that didn't fit the Third Way agenda was zero...and her encouragement to run away from Obama was disastrous...

MADem

(135,425 posts)
15. Are you telling me that the DNC chair under a sitting Democratic POTUS is "in charge" of the party?
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 03:17 PM
Feb 2016

Get a grip. She's in charge of raising money.

The party leader is a man named Obama. Take your whines to him.

islandmkl

(5,275 posts)
18. you might want to do a little research on DWS and how she operates...
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 03:47 PM
Feb 2016

In 2014, she directly assisted in losses by refusing to support three Democrats, Miami-Dade Democratic Party chair Joe Garcia, former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez and businesswoman Annette Taddeo, who were challenging Republican Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, because she is 'friends' with her Republican colleagues.

her handling of the debate schedule was a work of art, too...her bullshit 'reasons' were lame enough, and then she talked herself, and her potential benefactor (part II), into a corner...which they managed to triangulate into looking like it was what they actually wanted to do all along...

let me know next time President Obama is actively involved in the operational machinations of the DNC...he is, as Presidents always are, the symbolic head of the Party, and HBO has only shown interest in anything directly going on in the DNC when he was running for re-election in 2012...

MADem

(135,425 posts)
19. You might want to read what you are writing from the perspective of someone who understands who
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 03:53 PM
Feb 2016

our party leader is.

DWS was chosen for that job (that she does part time because she has a full time job in the House) because she is a talented fundraiser. She doesn't need to be a "moral leader." That's OBAMA's job.

You remember him? He lives in the White House and is the leader of the free world.

smh!!


Keep playing that "Evil Debbie Wasserman Schultz" card, though, if you think it works for you....LOL! Beat up on a cancer survivor who kept working two full time jobs through chemo! Ascribe All Things Evil and Wrong to this One Mighty Woman!!!

It sounds a bit like one of those far-right wing crazytalk memes, but you go on with your bad self!

islandmkl

(5,275 posts)
21. again...tell me what she has accomplished in her position...
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 04:05 PM
Feb 2016

if it's just a part-time 'hobby' gig, let me know...

she sure seems to have a lot to do with the operations of the DNC...just unlocked the corporate donation thingy, didn't she...or did Obama make a call and tell her to do it...

screw 'moral' leader...who the hell claims that...she is supposed to direct traffic for the betterment of the Party...oh wait, I forgot, that is the Clinton/TW/DNC group...

well hell...she is doing great after all...

your responses mimic the best of the 'no need for change' segment of the Party...and you even doubled down with a cancer reference to accomplish what?

you like the way she is operating, fine...a lot of good Dems don't, and we have plenty of reasons, none of which are about her goddam health, lousy hair, eyeliner or any of that crap....

she is the epitome of the establishment of RepublicanLite™ as the direction of the 'new' Democratic Party...

islandmkl

(5,275 posts)
13. Debbie is only a Democrat when it comes to getting paid...
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 03:11 PM
Feb 2016

or, maybe better...let her supporters list all of her accomplishments as head of the DNC...

at least you won't have to exhaust yourselves with the endeavor...shouldn't take long...

Todays_Illusion

(1,209 posts)
17. Where is the Democratic voter registration program, where is the voter outreach program,
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 03:21 PM
Feb 2016

Oh, it doesn't exist because low voter turn out helps Hillary Clinton.

islandmkl

(5,275 posts)
20. I have been saying for a long time that Hillary better find a way...
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 03:54 PM
Feb 2016

to get the voters to turn out for her if she makes it to the GE...

the opposition, regardless of their candidate, won't have to do much to energize their base to come out to VOTE AGAINST HER...they really won't have to spend much energy getting the base to vote for their candidate...STOPPING HILLARY will be their mantra...

she needs a plan...and the current HRC/TW/DNC program, which minimizes exposure/platform specifics/turnout, doesn't appear to have the kind of 'plan', nor the kind of operators, who can turn it 180° and actually crank up an electorate to turn out in support...

haven't seen it yet, anyway...

mhatrw

(10,786 posts)
23. Yep. In addition, our corporate media did not cover a word Sanders was saying until
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 09:39 PM
Feb 2016

about a week before the Iowas caucuses.

McCamy Taylor

(19,240 posts)
24. Hold on. Bernie's demographic is not turning out because.....?
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 09:41 PM
Feb 2016

Title caught my attention. Too bad you did not provide an answer.

 

bigwillq

(72,790 posts)
26. Or maybe folks are just not that excited
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 10:30 PM
Feb 2016

About Hillary and Bernie.

I like Bernie. I like what he says. I like most of his ideas. But he's a tough sell.
And Hillary is another Clinton.
Neither candidate is all that great, imo.

JimDandy

(7,318 posts)
28. She has done a horrible, lack-luster job of getting the base out. This is the #1 priority
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 10:38 PM
Feb 2016

of the DNC and they have failed miserably at it under her leadership. Dems are going to lose in the GE unless enough independents get out to support our candidate. So far the independents are breaking for Sanders. I doubt they will engage, if Clinton is our candidate.

 

HassleCat

(6,409 posts)
29. Not that bad, considering...
Sun Feb 21, 2016, 10:45 PM
Feb 2016

...we're the minority party, standing on the edge of irrelevance, desperately trying to emulate the other party while trying to draw nearly non-existent distinctions. "Vote for us! We're not as bad as they are!" There's a winning theme, custom made to attract a big voter turnout. Gosh, if that doesn't make you want to fight your way through snowdrifts and get to the polls, I don't know what will.

 

Liberal_Stalwart71

(20,450 posts)
32. Here's what I don't understand: Bernie Sanders is supposed to be a game-changer...
Mon Feb 22, 2016, 12:51 AM
Feb 2016

...drawing in tens of thousands supporters to his rallies. Why isn't that translating to higher turnouts, like President Obama did before him?

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