The Democratic Base Staying Home This Election

In 1980, liberals were mad at Jimmy Carter, so many millions voted for John Anderson and 17% of liberals voted for Ronald Reagan.

The Democrats got back into power in 1993. The next year the Democratic base stayed home and the Republicans won the congress for the first time in 40 years.


In 2000, the left was disillusioned once again. Ralph Nader ended up getting almost 3 million votes and gave several states to Bush including Florida.


In 2008 the Democrats are once again in power and it looks like the same exact thing will happen. Democrats will stay home and Republicans will retake the House and Senate.

If this happens, it will probably be 2022-2024 before Democrats get into power again and I bet 2 years later Democrats will once again get disillusioned and stay home.

I think Democrats should be given at least 6-8 years to prove themselves. There is no reason for Republicans to do well in 2010 if Democrats show up to vote.

Republicans do not stand for anything and all they do is go after groups of people (muslims, hispanics, newborn babies etc.)

Otherwise why even bother having elections. We already know the result. Democrats get into power every 10-12 years and 2 years later the base stays home and Republicans take over.

Republican Party Only Winning Key 2010 Poll In Southern States

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4502714

be considered as the "base" of the party.
I'll be there hitting the straight ticket once again.

:thumbsup:


I'm not staying home. No way, no how. I agree we need more than a couple of years to prove ourselves. Speaking ONLY FOR MYSELF the alternative makes me want to :puke:

Bush had 8 years to screw things up, anyone who thinks "any" president could fix the mess he left in just 18 months is crazy! We need to keep control of congress so we an keep working at fixing his mess. As was already said this should be a slam dunk win for democrats the way republicans are going after so many different voting groups with their hate and stupidity! If any democrats stays home and lets the republicans take back congress they have some serious issues with reality in my book!

Nobody is completely happy with things, nobody, but damn there has been a lot done already, not everything, but a hell of a lot! Sure things could have been better, but we can still make them better if democrats can retain control of congress! It will take work, and it will take the left pushing like hell to make sure we get congress to do what is right, but it can be done. If we allow republicans to take back congress, well that's the end of any change! They will tie things up and stop anything from getting done so they can use it against the president in 2012! We just can't let that happen no matter who upset we might be that everything we wanted done hasn't been done yet! Give Obama some more time, Rome wasn't built in a day, and fixing Bush's mess will take time!

I see the trolls are already unrecommending this thread. Looks like we have a lot of right wing trolls these days trying to keep things like this off the main page!

People calling for Gibbs' head right now aren't hearing this. Don't bother trying to reason and cajole.

Just let everyone do the math when the ballot's in front of them.

`and not with a party that disillusions its own base as soon as it gets into power?

Of course, your reconstruction of history is a bit fanciful. But even if true, wouldn't this indicate something wrong with the party and its leadership? Is it possible that Gibbs just helped rip the veil away from the problem: the leadership's failure to listen to its base?

Or is it to be like the leadership of the East German Communist Party who, after the 1953 uprising there, said that the government was losing confidence in the people. Berthold Brecht's response was that if the government lost confidence in the people then it should vote out the people and elect a new people. ;-)

We have to play chess too, as voters. We need to think strategically and long term. If the game is not moving as fast as we want it to or our move is not working then we shouldn't just get up and walk away. We need to keep working to win. Walking away means we lose. Staying means we are fighting to win.

I vote for the country and my fellow countrymen, not for some warm fuzzy feeling of political perfection.

I agree with your every word. We need MORE Democrats in office, not less. :hi:

n/t

... but it can also be said that Democratic centrism gets elected whereas "progressives" don't.

n/t

"The ups and downs in peoples’ feelings, particularly on the liberal side, are an old, old story. The liberals always get discouraged when they do not see the measures they are interested in go through immediately. Considering the time we have had to work in the past for almost every slight improvement, I should think they might get over with it, but they never do." - Eleanor Roosevelt

What's that definition of insanity, again?

The White House has never been occupied by a "progressive," and each Democrat has either been a Centrist or slightly left of center. Yet Democrats have held the White House longer than the GOP since '32.

But you're right: That's not my definition of the word, in this context

Yes, if one could actually get past the belly aching and whining of their own, perform the impossible task of uniting them, and then get themselves elected president, there would never be another Republican in office. LOL.

We're liberals.

Progressive is a label foisted upon us resulting from those within our own party who collaborated with RWers to make liberal a dirty word. Honestly there should be no room in the tent for the likes of those quislings anyways. They tend to be the same people who defected in droves to support Reagan in 1980, 1984 and Bush Sr. in 1988 because Pappy and Ronnie were closer to their economic ideals and shared their values on stamping out liberalism. After being handmaidens to the disaster those two morons were, they come running back to support Clinton in 1992 (you see, they're sophists. They like being on the correct side more than their ideals.) and say "Who? Me? I never left." We should have said "Yes. You did...and you're no longer welcome. We'll take your votes but you aren't one of us." because in 1994, they did it to us again. Of course, they still say to this day they're Democrats but if you supported Reagan, GHWB and Gingrich you're no Democrat I've ever comprehended. (In the interest of stating-fact, these Dems don't exist on DU. Not to say they don't join, they tend to get frustrated by our not-Republican-ness and troll themselves into oblivion fairly quickly.) And yet, the "sensible" wing of our party chases their support ever rightward.

We could actually get liberals elected if we could stop being thwarted internally by the lie promulgated by the quisling ranks that we're unelectable, facilitated by corrupt money seeking to cling to power (and frankly that corrupt money is the only rational actor most days in this mess) and accepted uncritically by many more. Americans tend to think they're more conservative than they are. Ask them, they'll tell you they're moderate to center-right. Ask about specific issues (like literally any issue from abortion to healthcare reform to gay-equality to economic-reform.) and you soon realize they're about as exclusionary-left-of-center (ie. anti-centrist) moderate-left as they think they are right-of-center. Meanwhile, the party (led by pragmatism. Actual pragmatism, not "pragmatism" as depicted by furry animals.) pulls right and right and right to capture the votes of Democrats that aren't really Democrats anymore and a mirage of who the electorate is. At this point, the "sensible" wing of our party is now barely on the correct side of center (and both parties are on-the-whole to the right of the electorate on the issues.)...and they don't even truly support their own agenda. They desire one more liberal than the one they pursue but say "It's impractical." (they're wrong there) and (rightly) that we have to keep the Republicans out of power (because they've been co-opted by a criminally-insane fringe reminiscent of the John Birch Society.) So does this administration...and it settles for what it thinks it can get done. The whole situation has taken on high farce, it's a philosophical case of the emperor having no clothes. Absurdity masquerading as truth because anybody who tries to reveal the lie gets mocked.

And yet, you wonder why we call you names when you say we're crazy. Having said all that, I really think we could bury the hatchet intra-party, that liberals would accept an incrementalist approach if we thought we were actually on the path towards our objectives if you might concede that the restraint of "pragmatism" and "sensibility" might be completely unnecessary at this point.

LOL!

You're entire post is blaming everyone but yourselves for your failings. Seems if there is so many of you, you could get past the evil doers.

You think we did that to ourselves?

Now I know you're crazy, that's not even rational. Isn't rational pragmatism the very issue at-hand between the "professional left" and the policies coming out of the White House (and their respective proxy factions here on DU)?

You seem to be alack for facts, rebuttal of any sort or a counter-narrative. That suggests for me that you can't actually contest what I said, other than to be mouthy and snide.

(I'm guessing you're some sort of HS drop out, it's okay wyldwolf, there will always be a job for you at Chipotle as long as Americans love their burritos. See, I can be snide while avoiding debate on the assertions of the post I'm replying to too. Fuck, I think chimps can manage that (albeit in chimpanzee) so it's probably not beyond the mental capacity of Republicans either.)

LOL.

But your firmly planting yourself well to the right of the "progressives" you lambaste tells us all we need to know.

Even if you're only capable of doing that "telling" when it's rife with insult, sneer, and ad hominem attack.

they don't even see the guy they help get elected fight for a single reform. As soon as the election of "change we can believe in" was over, everything went on the table to be traded away. It started bad right after being sworn in when his "washington outsiders" were comprised of mostly "washington insiders".

the DLC wants us to believe anyway...that they get Dems elected where progressives can't win. I'd actually like to see that put to extensive testing.

:patriot:

Social Security and Medicare were modest programs when first enacted. Using your logic these programs would have been a "centrist" failure and Democrats should have been voted out in the next election. Had this occured, Republicans would have repealed these programs and they wouldn't exist today and millions more would be living in poverty.

It distresses me beyond words to hear that "the base" is staying home because the President has not done everything the way they wanted it! How selfish and shortsighted! I look at it from the perspective that I KNOW I will get screwed by the reTHUGs - with the dems I have a fighting chance! Come on dems, get enthusiastic and get out the vote - or I can promise you you will be extremely sorry!

but they won't bring their families
and 15 friends with them, as they
do when they are being represented
properly.

I'm still gonna be there. I haven't missed an election since I was legal to vote, and I'm not about to start now. But how am I gonna work up the passion to convince my sister and my boss to vote for someone who I don't trust myself? Yeah, vote for my guy, he's not quite as scuzzy as the other guy. What a convincing argument.

Is this why the so called base deserves to be obeyed by the rest of us? You deliver 16 sheep votes along with yours?

on most of the issues. However, you do not have to agree with everything to be a Democrat.

ok for some Democrats not to agree with. If you are saying that you can be a Democrat but believe in the Patriot Act, I say BS. Or if you agree with the Military Commissions Act, i say BS. Or if you claim to be a Democrat but dont believe in DADT, I say BS. I can not think of a Democratic principle that I would allow some one to disagree with and still allow them to call themselves Democrats. There are DINO's that agreed with Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq. To me they are not Democrats.

You either believe in Democratic principles or not. You cant pick and choose.

A Balanced budget might be more important to some Democrats than to others in the party.

Some Democrats might want to find ways to reduce the number of abortions whereas the party isn't really addressing that.

over abortion and balancing the budget?

as Democrats. They distrust big business just like those on the left. However, it's the abortion and balanced budget issue that causes them to vote Republican at the national level.

Here many Democrats are Republicans too. For the longest we didn't do Republicans in statewide office (we've only had three one term puke governors from the Depression on, dispersed through the decades) so the left/right dynamic isn't as pronounced as it is elsewhere.

We ain't Oklahoma though, that shit is beet red. Obama won zero counties red.
This is no land of enlightenment or anything but it is pink. We went for Clinton in 96, McConnell was tested last time, Obama would have done infinitely better if his name was Tim Johnson and still better yet if he was white.

Republicans of late get on thin ice by getting a lot of their energy from the theocrats who don't grasp the importance of things like Bourbon and horse racing.

They also seem even more graft friendly and generally crooked, which is saying something because our guys are New Jersey/Illinois/Louisiana caliber swamp dwellers.

I keep hearing that is undesirable.

left. On what issues are the left too radical?

Now did I say "lock step"? Can you spell straw-man?

And, look where that's gotten us! We must not let them take back the House. Speaker Pelosi has worked very hard to pass Obama's agenda--even though she had to settle for less due to the dysfunctional Senate. Their taking back the Senate is a long shot, at this point-but cannot be ruled out entirely.

Not much of a choice.

n/t

With all the crazy Republican candidates out there, that's motivation enough.

to vote. This is exactly the time to get enthused. If the majority is lost we can count on being marginalized -fact. If we keep the majority then we at least have a chance to stop being marginalized. I have no intention on giving up on my party, I have every intention of supporting those that are working hard for us and replacing those who are working hard against us.

That there will be a next time.

It's the wishy-washy middle and/or the far fringe that might stay home.

The base is the foundation, and the others build upon that to win the elections.

It's those others that the Dems need to work on to get them to the polls in November.

and threaten to stay home after 18 months.

Take the GOP's base. ROE V Wade passed in 1973. The GOP has had Reagan, Bush and Bush ... a 6 year total majority of all three branches of government. ROE V Wade still stands.

Has the GOP "base" given up? Hell no.

We have lots of folks on DU calling themselves "the base" while also threatening to stay home. They aren't the base.

Your base knows that it might take YEARS of control by your side to get what you want.

Until those in power understand this, this cycle will continue. Democrats know how to win elections: The appeal to progressive ideals...but once in power they always, ALWAYS move right which ends up dissilluioning its base. This is no different. And ocne again the democrats are perplexed.

It isnt that the republicans win, its that the democrats keep setting themselves up to lose.

You may not like everything he's done, but you don't have to. You're not the only person in this country.

- Ordered all federal agencies to undertake a study and make recommendations for ways to cut spending
- Ordered a review of all federal operations to identify and cut wasteful spending and practices
- Instituted enforcement for equal pay for women
- Beginning the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq
- Families of fallen soldiers have expenses covered to be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB
- Ended media blackout on war casualties; reporting full information
- Ended media blackout on covering the return of fallen soldiers to Dover AFB; the media is now permitted to do so pending
adherence to respectful rules and approval of fallen soldier’s family
- The White House and federal government are respecting the Freedom of Information Act
- Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible
- Limits on lobbyist’s access to the White House
- Limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration
- Ended the previous stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date
- Phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane and other outdated weapons systems, which weren’t even used or needed in
Iraq/Afghanistan
- Removed restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research
- Federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research
- New federal funding for science and research labs
- States are permitted to enact federal fuel efficiency standards above federal standards
- Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants) after years of neglect
- Funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools
- New funds for school construction
- The prison at Guantanamo Bay is being phased out
- Saved GM -- now reporting profits for first time in years
- Passed the largest economic stimulus plan in U.S. history
- The public can meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (the new plan can be completed in one day) a mortgage if they are having trouble paying
- Passed financial reform bill
- The secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere are being closed
- Ended the previous policy; the US now has a no torture policy and is in compliance with theGeneva Convention standards
- Better body armor is now being provided to our troop
- The missile defense program is being cut by $1.4 billion in 2010
- Restarted the nuclear nonproliferation talks and building back up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols -- signed deal with Russia.
- Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic
- Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions
- Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office
- Successful release of US captain held by Somali pirates; authorized the SEALS to do their job
- US Navy increasing patrols off Somali coast
- Tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles
- Cash for clunkers program offers vouchers to trade in fuel inefficient, polluting old cars for new cars; stimulated auto sales
- Announced plans to purchase fuel efficient American-made fleet for the federal government
- Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children
- Signed national service legislation; expanded national youth service program
- Lifted travel restricted on Cuba, allowing Cuban families to return home to visit loved ones
- Ended the previous policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions
- Expanding vaccination programs
- Immediate and efficient response to the floods in North Dakota and other natural disasters
- Closed offshore tax safe havens
- Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals
- Ended the previous policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who outsource American jobs; the new policy is to promote in-sourcing to bring jobs back
- Ended the previous practice of protecting credit card companies; in place of it are new consumer protections from credit card industry’s predatory practices
- Energy producing plants must begin preparing to produce 15% of their energy from renewable sources
- Lower drug costs for seniors
- Ended the previous practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug manufacturers for cheaper drugs; the federal government is now realizing hundreds of millions in savings
- Increasing pay and benefits for military personnel
- Improved housing for military personnel
- Initiating a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses
- Improved conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital and other military hospitals
- Increased student loans
- Increased opportunities in AmeriCorps program
- Sent envoys to Middle East and other parts of the world that had been neglected for years; reengaging in multilateral and bilateral talks and diplomacy
- Established a new cyber security office
- Beginning process of reforming and restructuring the military 20 years after the Cold War to a more modern fighting force; this includes new procurement policies, increasing size of military, new technology and cyber units and operations, etc.
- End previous policy of awarding no-bid defense contracts
- Ordered a review of hurricane and natural disaster preparedness
- Established a National Performance Officer charged with saving the federal government money and making federal operations more efficient
- Students struggling to make college loan payments can have their loans refinanced
- Improved benefits for veterans
- Many more press conferences and town halls and much more media access than previous administration
- Instituted a new focus on mortgage fraud
- Ended previous policy of cutting the FDA and circumventing FDA rules
- Ended previous practice of having White House aides rewrite scientific and environmental rules, regulations, and reports
- Authorized discussions with North Korea and private mission by Pres. Bill Clinton to secure the release of two Americans held in prisons
- Authorized discussions with Myanmar and mission by Sen. Jim Web to secure the release of an American held captive
- Made more loans available to small businesses
- Established independent commission to make recommendations on slowing the costs of Medicare
- Appointment of two women to U.S. Supreme Court -- one being the first Latina
- Authorized construction/opening of additional health centers to care for veterans
- Limited salaries of senior White House aides; cut to $100,000
- Changed the failing/status quo military command in Afghanistan'
- Deployed additional troops to Afghanistan
- New Afghan War policy that limits aerial bombing and prioritizes aid, development of infrastructure, diplomacy, and good government practices by Afghans
- Announced the long-term development of a national energy grid with renewable sources and cleaner, efficient energy production
- Returned money authorized for refurbishment of White House offices and private living quarters
- Paid for redecoration of White House living quarters out of his own pocket
- Held first Seder in White House
- Deported nearly 400,000 illegals with criminal past
- Has announced his intention to push for energy reform
- Has announced his intention to push for education reform
- Banned offshore drilling until parameters for deep well safety procedures are clarified.
- Put a hold on Artic oil exploratory digging until environmental impacts are clear.
- Signed order giving benefits to government employed same sex partners
- Signed Lilly Ledbetter Act improving women's right to sue employers for pay discrimination
- Signed order giving benefits to government-employed same sex partners
- Signed law meant to improve the ability of women who allege pay discrimination to sue their employer.
- Signed Matthew Shepard Act, a hate crime bill

And if you say you want someone more Progressive, make damn sure you have the numbers to unseat the sitting Dem president in the Dem primary, the momentum, and the mainstream support for the GE to get them all the way to the WH.

Otherwise, you get an R in the WH if that's what you want.

The base is not staying home.

that will rule us for the next two years and maybe longer.

you "deserve" misery huh.

I'll keep leaning on the dems that I can to do the right thing. Up to and including not voting at all, and not donating at all. Those are the only 'stick' and 'carrots' I have to wield, so I'll wield them. I dont really care if you people like it.

That's how they roll

how about the dems slam on the brakes and stop chasing the mythical chewy center, and start legislating from the fucking left for a change? i bet a whole lotta folks come out and vote for that. this enabling the centrists bullshit is just that. bullshit.

and then blame the left for any problems that come up. more PC.

besides the base is not far left.

I vote straight Dem for the last 42 years or so, in the process voted for a lot of dogs, I am pretty f'n left. This year I will vote but not for homophobic Dems. Luckily I am in Calif and only state senate falls into that category. I've had enough of these guys, I'll see a puke in that chair before I vote for Juan Vargas(i'll never vote puke, but write in or vote Green). Sorry, this one's for my self respect.

count on the most liberal votes on DU. They've said over and over that they'll write someone in or vote for a 3rd party and I believe them. Thankfully they're small in number compared to the general population.

Most people understand that their vote must ensure that the worst case scenario does not happen. It's a zero-sum game, plain and simple and voters know this.

Here in Arizona I have heard that requests for early voting ballots by dems skyrocketed to the point where the Az Dem Office couldn't keep up with them.

Republican numbers are worse than ours - don't buy into this lie. NO ONE wants to go back to the Bush years.


Get involved - make phone calls. Volunteer. Put up signs. We all need to do our part.

Your whole premise is bullshit.

Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris purged approx, 100,000 probable Dem voters from the roles. You had confusing butterfly ballots, where people thought they were voting for Al Gore, wound up voting for Pat Buchanan.

Not to mention that if the recount had proceeded, by EVERY method except the method Boies chose, Al Gore won.

We won't even get into rigged voting machines. And I know about them. I was on the task force that investigated them for a year after the election.
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I'll also submit, that if "liberals" or "The Left" vote for someone else, it's because the Democrats aren't even trying to do what they're supposed to do. When my former party decided to continue funding the Iraq war in 2007, only because they didn't have the political courage to stop it, I resigned from my DEC position. When my former party decided to renew the worst aspects of the Patriot Act, voted for telecom immunity, and warrantless eavesdropping on US citizens, I changed my voter registration to "No Party Affiliation". That's even before we decided that it was ok to execute US citizens, without trial.
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"Otherwise why even bother having elections. We already know the result. Democrats get into power every 10-12 years and 2 years later the base stays home and Republicans take over"


Translation: Democrats get into power and fuck it up beyond all recognition, and they wonder where their support went.

I wish I could unrec this drivel more than once.

it makes no damn sense to help a political enemy that will do NOTHING for you. These "stay at home" democrats think they are punishing the politicians by not voting for them when in reality they are only hurting themselves. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

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And I don't buy the 2000 theme. In fact, I think Gore won (even Florida) where there was hanky panky going on.

This is a multi-generational fight and Im in it for the long haul!

Im an FDR Democrat

Our party has drifted away from some of its working class values, lets march in the right direction

"If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them."
--- Paul Wellstone