It sure doesn't seem like it. If nothing else, people seem very apathetic in general to Hillary. I may be wrong, but her and the party need a primary to to get things rocking.

No Rethug is even close.

What's your point?

Democratic Underground and sites within the conservative media bubble are the only places where I see a lot of Hillary hand-wringing.

On my Facebook, at work, and with friends I see a lot of people excited about her.

No Democrat I know IRL carries on like the ultras at DU. None.

They know it's essential to respect the differences and don't indulge in name calling at all. You never know when someone who doesn't agree with you on everything might be the one to save the cause nearest your heart.

The only ones I see dismissive of others are DINOs, Libertarians and Tea Partiers. They intend to get their money and to hell with everyone else.

And the first two claim to be more progressive than us old style FDR Democrats who do support a helping hand from the governmet at times, freedom for individuals and equal treatment of all, even those we don't agree with.

Naturally, the Tea Partiers want all aspects of government destroyed from top to bottom, they want an anarchy in which the well armed tribalists make the rules for others.

Thanks for your post.

The more casual democrats are very excited for her campaign. Yes.

I've taken a 2ish year break from DU, my feeling on the pulse of things is from local democrats i interact with daily, not DU. To me DU has always seemed overly pro-Hillary.

more like "ok, she's it". I remember excited at Barak's inauguration speech .....yikes, now there was excited.



Now this was excited..... JMHO

WHERE YOU BEEN ALL WEEK? the Groups on FB have increased 75% just this week alone.


You're wrong bucko.

But here on DU... we have a few Hillary Haters.

Comments are my own.

Hillary is flawed to no end. Hillary vs Jeb or any other GOP bastard is a sickening choice.

Furthermore, she has The Big Dawg on her side.

They are still holding out for Obama to push through universal healthcare, close gitmo and prosecute wall street
criminals and scooter libby. Fired up and ready to go.......

Last edited Mon Apr 13, 2015, 11:09 PM - Edit history (1)

• Billions of dollars of Koch cash and "Dark Money"
• Every commercial Tee Vee station in the country
• The Churches
[font color=red]• The Voting machinez
• The Supreme Court[/font]

One can never count the Rapeuglicans out no matter how bad their candidates are.

...that a certain aging, washed-up ex-actor and Borax salesman was considered a "kook" by all sides.

We've seen this movie before. And I don't care to sit through it again - I'm getting too damned old!

GOTV!

voting machines.

...she may have taken some cues from the Obama camp, by highlighting the stories of the citizens ahead of her own.

Look, I'm no Hillary fan. I have a lot of problems with her ties to the banks and Corporate America. But right now, job one is to KICK THE GOD-DAMNED REPUBLICANS OUT OF POWER and KEEP THEM OUT. We can't just win 2016 - we need a Lyndon Johnson/FDR-style ASSKICKING by way of LANDSLIDE. We'll worry about cleaning out the Third-Wayers (who I can't stand) and the DINOs in due time. But if HRC is the best way, right now, to accomplish the first step of KICKING THE REPUBLICANTS out of power, then yes, I'll vote for her.

(There, 'NillaRap, I said it. Satisfied now???)

I agree and feel about the same way about Hillary.

We can't let a reTHUGliCON get anywhere near the White House.

The only way those crazies will get the Presidency is if they do it through computer hacking like they did in 2004 and almost did in 2012.

That's why we have to get out and EVERYBODY vote! Make the number of dems voting so huge that no amount of chicanery will leave any doubt who wins.

...GOTV!!!!!!

ignoring their best weapon.

and their best weapon is.....

yeah right. that's the point. their best weapon, the only medium capable of successfully and regularly short circuiting the democratic feedback mechanisms we need in a representative system is and has been kicking the left's ass for 25 years. and it is their best weapon because it's practically invisible to the left and we continue to give it a free speech free ride.

and dependence on that very effective media weapon is precisely why the GOP keeps getting more and more irrational

1. (and I'm sorry, but this one is on Big Dawg): The Telecommunications Act of 1996;
2. The mismanagement at Air America Radio (gross underfunding, inexperienced or otherwise less-than-competent people running the network, etc.)
3. The continuous political wars at Pacifica Radio (which is becoming an ever-growing joke - sorry, but it is);
4. The increasing corporate influence at NPR.

More about Air America - I recall several years ago, that there was a memo circulated amongst several businesses that openly called for an advertising boycott of AAR. This memo drives home an important point - that the liberal/progressive message is, at it's heart, incompatible with the values of big business. The Third Wayers can try all they want in trying to make the Democratic Party more "corporate friendly", and thus making corporate dollars supposedly available. But those dollars always come with strings.
So AAR was, perhaps, doomed in part by its very concept as a "liberal" radio network - big advertisers won't dare put their money behind something that doesn't comport with, and in fact will openly criticize, their views.

All this being said, the Democrats have held an advantage over the Republicans in the areas of Social Media and the Internet, as both fund raising, messaging, and getting out the vote. The fact that HRC's announcement video was released in this way tells me that they plan on leveraging this advantage to the hilt.

social media and internet are natural advantages for liberals because they are still relatively democratic. and it's easy to skip around in it to find whatever politics you want. they do not represent a propaganda tool. by ceding rw radio to the right that advantage is more than negated. rw radio kicks ass as a PSYOPS and for the left to use the soc media and internet advantage as an excuse to continue to ignore it is nuts.

on 1) it started in 1987 when reagan killed the fairness doctrine and after a few years they had total dominance of the radio waves. that monopoly was already dominating political and media messaging, and swiftboating, by 1996. i remember it being used to sell the tel com act- dems were generally against it and their stupidity on rw radio allowed the right to beat the crap out of the clintons and greatly reduce their relative bargaining strength on everything- including that. gingrich and the contract on american and rove (like the tea party) all owe everything to rw radio.

2) yes AAR was underfunded and sabotaged, but liberal radio's growth is not about buying radio stations and competing with the right's PSYOPS- until the left recognizes the right's best weapon and stops ignoring it the right will continue to be able to use their monopoly power to exclude competition. it's not about market forces- they're having to subsidize it heavily like they did when they built the limbaugh monopoly (and fox for that matter) just because of the very specific and limited stoprush action in which all they have to do in most cases is inform the company employees and even management that they're advertising on limbaugh. the left has to make it impossible for business as usual re rw radio- boycots, protests, monitoring to put into a readable studyable form, etc. just getting universities to honor their mission statements would destroy the monopoly and make many stations available for liberals.

3 and 4) pacifica and NPR are really not competitors to rw talk radio. and their infiltration is a direct result of allowing the right to control the general media tone and buzz in this country with talk radio. NPR and PBS defunding were real rw radio priorities for a while, and like ACORN etc, the left had no clue what was going on for years on rw radio until it was too late.

...but now we're at the ultimate question: what to do about it?

I don't exactly see anybody of substantial means attempting to restart a liberal radio network. We've had several radio hosts either leave the airwaves entirely, or move online: Ed Schultz and Peter B. Collins are now completely online, Randi Rhodes is gone, etc. Several cities have lost their progressive stations: KTLK in Los Angeles, KRXA in Monterey, the Green 960 in SF, Seattle, Portland, and a host of others. You mention the universities - most of these radio stations are not the 50,000-watt blowtorches that the RW has monopolized, and even if the left can get the universities to honor their mission statements and open up those avenues, they will not be able to effectively compete without promotion and marketing saturation - which takes money that the left simply doesn't have when compared to the Koch-funded right.

One more thing, as much as we might hate to admit it. Broadcasting is a business. Thinking that one will be able to challenge the RW's hold on radio with a non-profit effort, using volunteers and the university system as a basis, is wishful at best. The left needs its version of a Murdoch - somebody willing to lose $100 million/year for several years before realizing profitability. I don't see that happening.

as I wrote in #34. We are being killed, politically, socially and literally by the influence of RW Hate Media in this country. I just read a post here recently how these programs are also broadcast around the world! with loyal listeners in Australia, Europe, etc. Oh yeah, they figured out some loopholes even for transmission overseas. The Left can never start to compete, so it just ignores...P.S. So there's no group of wealthy businessmen who could sponsor some level of independent, quality and accessible news programming? Al Gore's Current TV was it? Forever?

monopoly and that can be achieved by getting university sports out of it- it wouldn't survive the advertising disaster and the publicity/notice that would generate among liberals and many moderates and fence sitters who have never given radio a second thought would also be damaging. the questions it would raise would end rw radio's anonimity.

the other thing that needs to be done is recording and transcription of the main talkers - i just had savage on, saying "you can only push white people so far" re marxist hitlerian abama siding with the nazi iranian mullahs and bringing immigrant kids across the border to pollute the country.- that's what these universities are helping them push. not getting in their face about it makes it alright- he's wondering when "who will save us from obama?"

the internet don't come close to RW hate media. And is the Left so naïve to think the telecoms & FCC won't try again to alter the 'free internet/net neutrality'? RW media effectiveness and dominance are a blind spot for the Left, and rarely brought up. I've mentioned & explained it here to deaf ears. No more. How a group can be that pig headed, blind and destructive yet convinced of their own higher cause and value is concerning.

They're all fired up to go against Hillary.

They really think they have a shot this year. The aren't talking about their own people, all they talk about is Hillary. They're desperately trying to dig up baggage for her. They really think they can use Big Dawg against her.

Bill Clinton, after Barack Obama, is one of the most popular US Presidents in modern history. Yeah that will play well.

They're all sack of hammers.

The House and Senate?

Yes, they'd like the White House too, but are Repubs 'shitting bricks' over the House and Senate? Or are they going to keep hold of both?

The Democrats' coronated nominee is flawed, too.

Leaving tightly coiled examples of his brilliance, wit & wisdom for all to gaze at in it's wonder & hilarious splendor.

Big Dawg has been running wild on the GOP front lawns for decades now. Can't be stopped. Don't even bother trying.