A Few Thoughts About Election '05 & Ramifications For '06!

O.K., We had a GREAT night last night. Corzine wins, Kaine pulls away AFTER the moron stumps for his opponent, here in Maine we send a DECISIVE message to the religious right that we ain't buyin' what they're peddlin' with their pathological hatred of Gays & Lesbians, and ahnald gets a big dose of egg on his face.

As many pointed out, even the positives for the rethuglicans aren't really positives. After all, can we REALLY call Bloomberg a "mainstream", meaning part of the ruling faction, republican? I think not!

One thing I've learned (or re-learned) from the perspective of some Ohio DUers this morning is that we have to STAND FOR SOMETHING! I would have hoped we'd have learned this from '02. This is why Howard Dean, who was never my choice for the nomination last year, is the perfect chair of our party. One of my favorite scenes in "The American President" is when Michael J. Fox tells Michael Douglas that his approval ratings are tanking because Richard Dreyfus is the only one talking. We can't allow that to happen again.

However, In my opinion the biggest thing we can take from last night is this. Now even "safe" republicans CAN BE HAD!

The Democrats had this feeling at this time in '73 and, as much as faux, cnn and, msgop and their lot would have us not remember, '74 was a huge year for the Democrats. The same could be said for the rethugs in '93 & we remember '94.

This will be the burden for the rethugs. They will have to spend a lot of money and time defending seats they didn't think they had to defend. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if we in Maine were much more energized to go after Snowe next year (in fairness, Snowe is no santorum, but ultimately, she is a bush supporter).

For all of the positive spin that the righties are trying to put on this election, they know that this is true. It is now up to US to hold the feet of our party leaders to the fire. Aggression will be our only road to victory, and if we allow our party leadership to assume that we can win by "not being them" and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory AGAIN, we will be complicit. And if so, shame on us!

Our experience in California just shows that when working people join together and fight, we can win. My husband and I hit the streets. We walked all but a handful of Democratic houses in our neighborhood. And a week ago, we met two other groups of Democrats walking the same precinct. That is how active and fired up we Democrats were here in L.A. That's what it takes. I have family in Ohio. They are strong Democrats, but they are not out walking their precincts. That's why Democrats lose in Ohio. I heard on AAR that, in Los Angeles, the number of Democrats and union members and other anti-Schwarzenegger folks on the street was 10,000. 10,000 people working together is a force to be reckoned with. Hallelujah! We know how to win now! We are the majority! We just have to get our voters out!

I knew we would win when, in the afternoon, we went for a walk in our working class neighborhood and passed a working class Hispanic couple on their way to the poles. I shouted to them across the street, "Are you going to vote No?" They answered, "Yes, we are voting NO!, Yes for NO!" I gave them the thumbs up, and we all laughed and smiled because we knew we could trust each other even though we had never seen each other before and probably hardly even spoke the same language. That is the power of the people. That is what wins elections. We may have our differences, but in the end, we are all on the same side. Si, se puede!.

...is what will lead to victory!

Thanks for sharing your story!

...something I almost NEVER do (2nd time in 2+ years) simply because I think that this is worth reading. Agree or disagree, it's still a free country (and after last night, I think it may remain so).

I really feel hopeful for the first time in a long time that Thugs like Vile Kyl and nutsacks like JD Hayworth might actually have to worry here in AZ!

...would be SWEET.

I think (from my Maine perspective) that AZ might be closer to going blue than many believe!

Who would have thought last year that they would be in this position. It APPEARS that voter aren't buying Bush's bullshit any longer. However, these "year after Presidential year" elections aren't always an indicator of the following season. IN 1993, the Republican did really well and this paved the way for their upset in 1994, but Republicans also did well in 1997 and lost seats in 1998. Also, we actually had a pretty good year in 2001 even though it was the aftermath of 9/11. Bush was not actively campaigning for anyone that fall, because of the mood of "bipartisanship" needed and thought it would be tacky to do so. Rove did not even have their post-9/11 politicization policy ready until January 2002 when he circulated a memo talking of ways to politicize the 2002 Congressional elections.

...but I believe that the public is starting to wake up to the kkkarl line of BS!

And everything will be spoiled by that time...

...more optimistic than you, kentuck.

and I am very pleased with the outcome of the election. A bit disappointed of what happened in Ohio, but overall I am pleased.

My biggest concern though is complacency. I think our worst enemy is complacency. We have to be diligent.

...Deweyitis!

The thing about noone is talking about is that both in NJ and VA the democrats performed much better than any of the polls predicted.

In NJ it was said the race is very close - Corzine won by 11.

In VA the talk was Kaine needed to be 5% ahead to stand any chance (GOP ground machine). According to that model Kaine should have lost as he was 1-3% ahead in the final polls. Kaine ended with a 5,5 point win.

Both results show that republicans were not so enthustiastic to go to the polls and that the independent voters chose the democrats over republicans by almost 3-1 margin.

Now, fast forward to Nov 2006. With the current mood we can expect big dem gains. Even a 60-40 republican districts can elect democrats.

What is the typical 60-40 republican district? 50% republicans, 30% democrats and 20% independents or something similar. In a typical year the independents will vote 50%-50% thus the 60-40 district.

5% to 10% of the republican base won't go to the polls. Another 5% moderate republicans will vote for the democrat. If independents go 70-30 for democrats we will have a democrat win.

My point is no republican with less than 65% of the votes in his district should feel safe.

...CAN BE HAD!