Tweet
Hey FDL, this is Jason Rosenbaum from the PCCC and Levana Layendecker with DFA.
You can’t seem to turn around lately without someone asking us about the ‘enthusiasm gap.’ It looks like Democracy for America and Progressive Change Campaign Committee volunteers didn’t get that memo, because our ‘phonebombs’ for key challenger races across the country are going great. When bold progressive candidates stand up, our members will stand with them. The exciting news with our new virtual phone bank technology is that even if you live in a place where you don’t have a progressive Democrat to volunteer for, you can still talk to like minded voters and in key districts — and help bold progressives win.
Two bold progressives — David Segal in Rhode Island and Ann McLane Kuster in New Hampshire — have their primaries next week – click here to volunteer from home with us and help them get out the vote!
In recent weeks, DFA and PCCC launched the first in a series of phonebombs (virtual phone banks) for candidates around the country. So far, volunteers made over 17,000 calls for David Segal — a progressive super star running in a primary for Patrick Kennedy’s open House seat in Rhode Island against 3 uninspiring hacks. Folks have also made thousands of calls for Ann McLane Kuster — a pro-choice bold progressive running in New Hampshire’s 2nd district against Katrina Swett, Joe Lieberman’s 2004 presidential campaign co-chair and a big supporter of Lieberman against Ned Lamont in 2006.
For a congressional race, these numbers are huge! And we are just getting started. Both of these bold progressives have primaries coming up on September 14, and DFA and PCCC have multiple phonebombs scheduled between now and then.
Let’s show the pundits that there’s no "enthusiasm gap" when it comes to bold progressives who actually stand on principle. Segal and Kuster are passionate advocates for the public option, holding Wall Street accountable, protecting Social Security, and getting corporate money out of our elections.
A small amount of your time, making calls from home, can help elect them to Congress — sign up here.
These conversations are really making an impact. Here’s what some recent phonebomb volunteers had to say:
"These are meaningful contacts. Many voters are just starting to pay attention… Let’s do this from now until election day. This is a GREAT use of resources. 10k contacts in one day is HUGE." — volunteer for David Segal
"I was pleased to turn around so many voters. These calls are worth the effort!" — volunteer for Ann McLane Kuster
"All in all, it was a productive and very professionally run experience in my opinion and hopefully we changed some minds toward Rep. Segal in the process. Thanks for the experience! I would most definitely participate again." — volunteer for David Segal
"I enjoyed speaking with the folks there in New Hampshire on behalf of Annie Kuster. I had some good conversations with folks and feel certain that the calls had a positive effect." — volunteer for Ann McLane Kuster
Let’s put the enthusiasm gap myth to bed once and for all.
Click here and volunteer for a phonebomb today. Let’s get out the vote for progressives!
117 Comments
More of the same…
Why would you say that? Got evidence, or just trolling?
I got all the evidence I needed reading every post you ever put up here. Somebody’s trolling in the Lake alright, Jason – and it isn’t me.
Jason, if you want enthusiasm, get in the time machine, go back and give us the kind of HCR bill that Obama campaigned on, not the crap sandwich that you helped try to describe as filet mignon.
We’re not apathetic or unenthusiastic, we’re pissed and disgusted.
The Dems, and Obama in particular, campaigned on a theme of major, significant change, of progressive policies that rolled back the GOP abuses and bullshit. Instead we got a health care plan written by the Heritage Foundation and a Wellpoint Exec — once endorsed by Bob Fucking Dole, for Crhissakes — that borrowed the most odious component of Hillary’s plan (individual mandates) and left out the critical element of Obama’s phony campaign plan (the public option).
So Fuck Obama. Fuck the Dems. Fuck gutless turncoat Dem political pros like you. (You guys were not only gutless, you compounded the felony by being gutless and stupid. Up there in your Beltway bubble ivory tower you actually thought that the public wouldn’t see through this sham HCR, or all the rest of the hard-right Republican policies coming out of President Pinocchio’s administration.)
As a lifelong Dem since I swept the floors at JFK’s campaign HQ when I was fourteen, I’m happily voting GOP straight down the ticket, just to rat-fuck the Dems for rat-fucking us.
The Democrats’ abysmal “leadership” with control of both houses of Congress and the White House has been documented here for the last two years, BUT WAIT! you say. It’s time to suspend your knowledge of that and all rally together because of this SHINY THING over here… an ELECTION!!
Time to forget how all the work we did to win those majorities proved futile.
To pretend that we’re all happy and things just keep getting better and better.
You call it an enthusiasm gap, Jason. I call it just desserts. We handed the party that is SUPPOSED to represent the Left everything it needed – on a silver platter. What we know for sure now is that it’s not our party at all any more. We can’t support its “achievements” ideologically and we’re not marionettes whose strings you can pull with your moneybombs and calls to action.
Funny how you stop by only now – when you need our cash. I’m guessing the next entry on your resume will be The Weiner campaign.
Any further questions?
Interesting, if misinformed comment.
Do you agree or disagree that these specific two candidates – David Segal in Rhode Island and Ann McLane Kuster in New Hampshire – are worthy of support? That’s really the only question on the table.
As for money, nobody asked for it here…
Do you have anything against the candidates listed, or are you just using this as an excuse to vent about Democrats?
You wanna know what I’ve got against these two candidates? I’ll tell you:
a) You’re working for them. That, in and of itself, indicates that they’re phonies. If they had an ounce of integrity, if they actually had any principles or believed what they say, they wouldn’t hire you.
b) They’re Democrats. Nowadays that means that they are automatically suspect. They get no benefit of the doubt. The only logical assumption that can be made is that they are part and parcel of the right-wing faux progressive sham Dem party currently in office.
You don’t seem to get it; after the el foldo by Kucinich, Weiner, Grayson, Boxer, etc., we don’t trust any Democrat, in office or aspiring thereto. At least the Republicans can be counted on to tell us they’re gonna fuck us. Dems say they won’t, then the minute we let our guard down, wham! they stick it to us without so much as a kiss, much less foreplay.
What you and so many other political hacks don’t seem to understand is that on the left, we have a thing about being fooled. Once you lose our trust, it ain’t coming back.
ETA: You can be proud of one thing, though: you’ve become an easy litmus test for Dems. If the hire you, we know right away they’re full of shit.
And what I’m saying is that’s an awful argument. We should judge candidates on their merits. If you look into them and don’t like what you see, fair enough. But you haven’t.
Bullshit. You ask for volunteers. Time is money, and the more of mine I give to the Democrats, the fewer of my progressive beliefs they advocate for.
And neither of these candidates is worthy of support this cycle. You don’t seem to get that the prevailing sentiment in the country is that Dems have betrayed us, and must be taught a lesson. In fact, it your blind disregard of and refusal to admit to this fact that is fomenting much of the discontent with the corporate party which the Democrats have become.
But I have judged them on their merits, which are actually demerits. They hired you. How could I trust a candidate who hires someone who was a paid shill for the corporatist welfare rat-fucking of the public perpetrated by the HCR bill?
Candidates and politicians are what they DO, not what they say. These candidates can say all kinds of wonderful things. (Obama did that better than anybody in American political history.) But when they hire you to shape their message and work for their election we can only conclude that they share your total lack of values, integrity, and candor.
If Josef Goebbels came back to life today, and a Dem candidate hired him, wouldn’t you be immediately skeptical of that candidate’s commitment to Dem principles and issues? Not saying that you’re Goebbels, just that he was a devious, unprincipled propagandist, and you’re a devious, unprinciped propagandist. Both of you share the conviction that “the truth is the enemy of the state”.
[Mod Note: Make your point without insulting others.]
After seeing all the progressive Dems roll over for the administration, it is difficult to discern just what the “merits” are.
People are angry Jason. The style you use when responding to comments does nothing to soothe that anger.
Why is neither worth support? Have you done any research? If so, tell me why. Just because they have a D after their name isn’t a good answer.
Hoo boy, you are uninformed. I don’t work for the candidates. Other objections?
No, you just ape what party flacks – of both stripes – have said for years: vote for the individual. Well you know what, Jason? The minute an individual representative can propose, pass, and enact a single progressive solution to a problem this country is facing, I’ll do that. But the last time I checked, we had a representative democracy, and you are flacking for wannabe reps, running under the banner of a Party that won by the largest margin in recent history, and was unable to do anything with that.
What part don’t you understand?
Fair point.
As an example, David Segal, as a state legislator in Rhode Island, fought both big corporations and his own party to win progressive victories. That gives me heart that he’ll be a fighter in Congress.
So, it doesn’t much matter who we elect, but the people we elect are doing the wrong thing. There’s a serious disconnect in the logic there.
Isn’t a good answer – why? Because you say so?
Man, you really need to get out of the Beltway for 20 minutes and at least TRY to comprehend the level of distrust in and anger with what is supposed to be the party representing Lefty ideals.
See @17.
If you don’t like who’s in office, but you don’t trust anyone, what’s your theory of making it better? All I see is cynicism and further losses down the road you’re proposing.
No, it’s a perfectly good argument, and it makes a lot of sense.
When being prompted by someone to support a candidate, the first question that should come to mind is naturally about the judgment of the person making the recommendation.
Victor is making the most sensible argument possible, that he doesn’t trust your judgment, and so he can’t really take your recommendation seriously.
So don’t take my word for it, do your own research. I’m still waiting for someone to put forward an argument as to why these people aren’t worthy of support. I have a feeling, once you take, say, 30 seconds to look into these candidates, you won’t be able to find one.
No, this time it doesn’t matter. What matters now is that the American Left stands together and sends a signal to the Democratic Party, specifically: It’s ours, and we want it back.
And I’ll thank you to stop taking pages from your GOP idols and attacking my logic, calling my comments misinformed, and trying to make yourself the arbiter of what are and are not “good enough” reasons – for anything, in hopes that doing so might win you a believer or two. If you can’t respond coherently to the core issue: Have the Dems earned the support you’re asking for – admit it, and move on.
You have no clue what I’m proposing, despite it being readily available in any number of online venues.
Get back to me when you do.
You want “enthusiasm” and participation? Fire Rahm, put Dean back at DNC with carte blanche, and stop thinking that TWO SEATS matter! We need a GLOBAL strategy – it’s 60 days out!!
Well then apparently your reading comprehension skills need work, Jason, because we’ve told you: They are Democrats running in a year when nobody trusts Democrats.
Perhaps a[edited by Moderator] would help?
[Mod Note: Disagree without being disagreeable. In other words, state your opinions without denigrating the opinions of those with whom you disagree]
Ah, the old send a message strategy. Worked out real well in Massachusetts, if I remember right.
Sorry, but I just can’t go in on the reverse shock doctrine.
And why did it occur in Massachusetts? Coakley had a huge lead (19 points as I recall) then was forced to come out in support of the Senate sham HCR bill which you backed with all the enthusiasm your paycheck could generate. Supporters immediately deserted in droves and nothing she could do or say would convince any of the deserters to come back to her. Something like 800,000-900,000 Obama voters from 2008 failed to even go to the polls. If she gets just half of those people to come out and vote for her, she’s a Senator.
People here were all about defeating Coakley to “send a message” to Democrats, which would somehow magically turn them into progressives. That worked out real good, we should definitely do it again.
That’s it Jason. The “D” after their name makes them unacceptable.
Mod, perhaps you need to tell Jason this. But I’m guessing that won’t be happening…
The Coakley defeat did send a message.
I don’t think it is the voters’ fault that message was misconstrued.
The democrat party apologists seem to be bred in the same incubator as the repug fear mongers.
If these candidates are so great why are they running as dems? They could run as independents and show they are true progressives. As long as they represent the party that helped to create income inequality in the US that is worse than Venesuela they are not the answer.
There were those folks around who pointed out that it was extremely doubtful that the message would be received in the way it was intended.
Actually Massachusetts was only partly about sending a message, and you know that, Jason. Coakley assumed something – that she was a shoo-in – which she shouldn’t have, and it cost her.
What I propose – a nationwide, strategic boycott of all Democratic candidates, while we (purportedly) still have a Democratic president – will go far beyond sending a message. It will wrest the party back from lapdogs like you.
Yes, Coakley made her own mistakes too. But this strategy of sending a message will not work.
I’ll check back after November and we’ll see how it did, though. Democrats are bound to lose at least a fair amount of seats in the House this election. Seems like if the message strategy works, we’ll know afterwards, when Democrats suddenly turn back to the base. Consider it a test.
And we were right.
Now, plan A seems to be ignore voter discontent and run against the Repub bogeyman.
That is going to be increasingly hard to do as voters get the gist of the Deficit Commission’s raison d’être.
If there is a plan B, they have as yet, not tipped their hand.
What was that “MESSAGE”, Jason? Maybe the health of the people of this nation really does matter to them? Perhaps the people CAN tell the difference between bold, daring change and piss-ant “pragmatism” that is essentially centered around the “futures” of the those who would be politicians or Presidents?
Any chance of that?
Have you ever gone to these Dem candidates and said, “Hey, guess what? People are not happy with things and they are trying to get a message through. Do you think we should listen or tell them to ‘suck it up’ and continue to support us because we are not as viciously greedy looters as those other guys, the evil ones?”
Apparently, Jason, “messages” are not getting “through”.
What do you suggest?
Vote for the Dems and continue to be ignored (and savaged at every opportunity… you do remember “effing re—–” and “they must all be on drugs”?) or what? What do YOU suggest to “change” this failed and dangerously corrupt political system? Please, if you have any respect for the intelligence and conscience of those here present, do NOT simply say, “Oh, vote for these guys and things will be better.” Give US some facts, some reason, beyond saying that we have no choice, Jason, else you’ll find little audience when next you come asking support from the “troops”.
You want to count on us, or your candidates do, and unless we can count on you and your candidates to behave as if we do have a substantial interest in the truth and the future, and are not simply expendable to greed, hubris and larceny; then a one-way street leads nowhere … except to a dead end.
What about them apples? Does that make ANY sense to you, Jason.
DW
Yep, that’s a start dude. I agree with the rest of them. I’ve given my time and body and my cash to the Dims for 40+ yrs. but not after the rat fucking I took these last two yrs. from them. They called me for $$ and time and I told them to go to hell. Enough of you people. Your only Progressive around election time and that’s NOT good enough anymore.
Big chance of that. Here’s your chance, too. There are two bold progressives up there who deserve support. Look up their records and their issues, you’ll see. Over 300 people are lining up to volunteer for them this coming weekend. You should join.
Let me add one thing to this slugfest: Right now progressives are at a critical crossroads. Do we stay with the Democrats and push them to live up to their promises, or do we give up on them once and for all?
In the last year, I’ve moved into the second camp (abandon the Dems). But I still have respect and am working side by side with progressives in the first camp. We all have different experiences and points of view that determine where we stand right now.
Let’s stop acting like we’re enemies. We still have the same basic political goals and convictions. Let’s have this conversation respectfully and honestly and remember who the real enemies are.
I guess my point is “abandon the Dems” is not a political strategy.
We have a representative government. We elect people to make our laws. So, therefore, it’s important we have a strategy to put people in office that will make the kind of laws we want to see become reality.
So if you say “abandon the Dems,” my question is, who are you for? Because that’s the more important question.
Just curious, but where did the phrase “bold progressive” come from?
Did it originate as a talking point?
It’s the PCCC’s motto
To those who are disgusted and plan on staying at home.
Get out and vote. Vote third-party or write someone in (someone like Elizabeth Warren is a good choice). If there is a truly progressive Dem (in action and deed), vote for them.
However, not voting at all contributes to the perception of public apathy. If the Dems (and Repubs) see the disappearing vote going to a third alternative, maybe the message will be clearer.
Then again, maybe not, but at least you are doing something that makes it harder for them to ignore.
What alternatied said.
We can have a discussion of whether third party candidates are viable, or whether time is better spent changing our voting system to make them viable, but you gotta vote.
Thanks.
I remembered the website address after it was too late to edit my comment.
Jason, I’m having a little problem.
You say, “Big chance of that.”
Now, I want to be clear, as I asked you several questions, … WHAT, specifically, is there a big chance of?
Right now, you seem to be a fast-talkin’ man, with lots of carny bombast.
Is that the “MESSAGE” which you would like me to take from your too-breezy answer to my multi-layered (not eleventy-eleven, admittedly, which may be necessary?) questions?
Feel-good swashbuckling is not appreciated, except among vulture capitalists.
How far up the intelligence chain do you wish to operate, successfully, and “successfully” is the “word”, Jason?
Do you wish to engage, or simply to tell the rest of us where it, politically, is “at”?
I do not like, not even a little wee bit, nor appreciate …. sound-bite journalism OR politics.
You can do better than that. Correct?
DW
You said:
And I agree. Check out the candidates, I think you’ll find them to your liking.
I respectfully submit that what you are witnessing here is an invitation to Jason to be honest with us and with himself.
I fear either his identity or his paycheck is getting in the way.
Either way, it not progressive backlash that is sinking the dems chances this election cycle, it is a wave of disgust and revulsion with dems who take our votes for granted and then treat us no better than the republicans we helped them defeat.
This disgust with democrats is not limited to the progressive left, it’s broadly felt and beyond anything I’ve seen in my lifetime, and it’s beyond foolish to deny they deserve the people’s anger.
America’s political rot has been forced out in the open, and who would have guessed, the democrats are every bit as reluctant to change the game as the republicans.
After the complete failure of the Progressive Caucus to show even a modicum of integrity during the HCR circus, how is this even remotely a vexing quandary?
We have no allies in Congress. Zero. If these two people have been at all vetted by the Democratic Party to run on their ticket, then it should be safe to assume that they’re not further to the left than all those people who already aren’t left enough.
Then of course there’s the fact that we have absolutely no assurances that even if these people campaigned in a way that made Martin Luther King look like Dick Cheney they wouldn’t immediately behave any differently than a pair of Dicks once in office. It’s a complete crapshoot.
Having read Jason’s many pleas and statements about finding out about these people for ourselves, I can say unequivocally that doing so is pointless. Past events, and current campaign promises, are no indicator of future performance.
I think that many Dem officials and apparatchniks like Jason didn’t realize what HCR really was. They saw it as an “issue”. We saw it as the penultimate litmus test. Then, when the anti-choice Stupak signing statement element got added, it changed to the ultimate litmus test. This was the line in the sand. The Dems not only crossed it, then turned around and pissed on it from the other side. We tried to warn them, but nobody listened. Now, we aren’t listening to them. Who could have guessed that, like elections, votes matter?
I’m guessing it’s his paycheck, because his paycheck is his identity.
Jason,
Does your re-appearence at FDL to shill for these two party candidates mean that the powers that be in the Democratic Party are getting worried that us no-count progressives actually represent a significant voting block? We are flattered, but “when the foot of pride comes down, there ain’t no coming back.” You earn our votes and support, and so far you haven’t earned it.
I guess, Jason, that what is bothering me, is simply this; you and your candidates are saying, “We need … we need, you, to do thus and so” … while these same people whom you are coming to, in such “need” … are likewise in need and they have been in need since before THEY elected Barack Obama as President …
Now I have said, and maintain, that the people gave Obama a clear mandate for real actual change, change from greed and massive unemployment, change from dysfunction and corruption to a decent and civil society, where all who seek employment may find it.
The people still have desperate need of well-paying, and decent employment, they have need of the means to live, their children have need of jobs and a future worth having.
Barack Obama and the Democrats, to a man and a woman, seem unable to grasp the significance of these facts and the implications for true, widespread suffering those facts ensure. And … it is not necessary … and it is not deserved.
And, Jason, the Democrats are EQUALLY culpable, along with the Republicans and the Media and the money-loving class.
Do either of these two candidates speak to those realities? Do you?
DW
I think it’s imperative that we all continue to tell the Beltway operatives that we are serious – when push comes to shove, we are not going to cave and vote for the lesser of two evils this year, or in 2012. I was at an event in downtown Oakland a couple of weeks ago and I gave the one lonely OFA guy a piece of my mind. The absolute best he could do was try to scare me with the “but we can’t let the other guys get back in” bugaboo. Sorry, that just’s not that scary. What’s scary is seeing Dennis Kucinich and Bernie Saunders fall in line with Obama. That does not bode well for any shiny new “bold progressives” who expect to serve more than one term as Democrats.
I think people like Jason really believe we can be shamed or fooled into taking responsibility for the failures of the Democrats to hold onto their seats and that we will keep giving them one more chance. I hope we’re not that stupid.
Keep on polishing that turd. Let me know when it stops stinking.
“…you look into them and don’t like what you see,…”
And therein lies the problem. Alot of us voted democratic in 2006 hoping for pushback against Bush and the republicans. A lot of us liked what we saw in Obama. We did not get what we thought we were voting for.
Actually, 1/10 of the stay at homes would have done it.
An obnoxious woman called me today from the DCCC, asking for money. I told her my husband lost his job eight months ago, and hasn’t found anything since. I asked her what the Democrats have done to help him get a decent job, in order for me to give them any money at all. She started talking about the UI extension. But my husband doesn’t want a hand-out for 99 weeks, followed by bankruptcy; he wants a decent job. So far the Democrats have not done much of anything to staunch the flow of jobs overseas. Now today Obama is pushing a tax break making it easier for businesses to automate so they can send even more jobs overseas! Way to go, Barry.
The woman wouldn’t take no for an answer; she kept asking for five or ten dollars. I was trying to restrain my temper, so I just told her no way and hung up.
I am not a democrat. I am a liberal. I vote based on issues and policy.
At one time the democrats appeared to be the party that most often reflected my stand on issues. That is simply no longer the case. There is no issue taht the dems cannot find a way to compromise into meaninglessness.
The democratic party is like a street gang that demands loyalty above all else but offers nothing in return. At least a atret gang offers some protection and NEVER insults its own members.
A proud f%%king ret&&d.
That should have been “A proud f%%king ret&&d” in need of drug testing.
Do some research on em, it’s not hard to find what they’ve done or said. I think you’ll find they do.
Well that was it for me. I wonder if that was it for others too. It was what brought me to FDL and away from another site. HCR was THE line in the sand.
BUT the Dems can’t even give us SOCIAL issues. (we know they are never going to stop the military from it’s endless cut of blood and treasure) Kuchinch was the end of the Democratic party in many ways for me. It was coming for YEARS, but his loyalty to Obama and the party instead of the people was it.
And for the first time in my 48 years, even the far superior to most Dems like Ron Wyden are not getting my vote. It’s third party or blank baby. I will always vote. I will not vote for those that only in the end support the stupid ass party and it’s head Obama.
Mr. I didn’t campaign on a public option changed everything for some of us right then and there. And no amount of fear mongering-”look at the evil man you are helping into office” is going to make me forget being betrayed. Enthusiasm gap? How about eyes open or eyes shut gap? Basta!
A similar process occurred for me when I realized that the Justice Dept was not going to go after Bushco and that Obama in reality was institutionalizing Bush abuse of executive privilege, all with nary a peep from the Dems.
From this must-read article called “Our Long National Nightmare Isn’t Over, It’s Just Beginning” by David Michael Green at Common Dreams.
No money here, either. Obama and the Dems were too busy helping big banks and big business, so my husband’s business no longer exists.
The our “Reps” in DC, don’t have a clue how we feel.
I do think it would be a better idea to go to the voting booth and write in someone — even a word like ‘public option’, rather than actually vote for the Republican.
If you don’t show at all, or actually cast a vote for the GOP, the media will spin the GOP gains as “the mythical middle” thinks Obama has moved the country too far to the left (HAH!) and is telling us to move back to the right, so they voted Republican.
If we intend to send a message, we should at least send one that is clear, concise, and isn’t left to the beltway establishment to spin us even further to the right.
Wouldn’t that be great if everyone wrote in ‘public option’ and the press reported that voters all over the country, instead of choosing a candidate, wrote in ‘public option’ instead.
This is brilliant. It is a phrase that would simultaneously prove we got out and voted – but for neither branch of our One-Party System.
My only question: do we want to go with “public option” or “single payer”??
Medicare for all.
Seriously, I want to run with this. We need a national campaign that simply states:
“We gave them the House, Senate and White House and still they failed – so we’ll take it from here. We are the American Left, and we’re reclaiming the Democratic Party. Show you’re with us on November 2. Make ‘Medicare For All’ your write-in vote for every national race.”
It would be great if someone knew someone at MoveOn to lobby them to pursue this. With their huge database of members, they could really mobilize people in a way that got results.
I guess I could submit it into their suggestion box, but it would likely end up lost in space.
I feel like an x-boyfriend. Jason Rosenbaum is my x, asking for help. I want to help so bad, but I need promises!
(Thanks – well worth reading, though still just a bit naive when it comes to the absolute corruption of the Democratic establishment.)
What a delightful surprise: I decided that FDL was getting too veal-pennish a couple of months ago to be worth my time, but now just dropping in for a quick peek I find this set of hard-line progressive responses to a would-be establishment shepherd (I do regret having missed what seems to have been Jason’s absence).
If the ‘Medicare for All’ write-in movement gathers any steam I might consider joining it: I certainly won’t be voting for any Democrats this November (just as I haven’t since 2002, with one regrettable exception in 2006) but had decided that leaving ballot slots blank (save for presidential votes I’ve had no progressives to vote for here) just wasn’t getting the job done.
Voting Republican has seemed the only way to escalate this effort, but even though voting ‘Medicare for All’ would have only half the power to evict national Democrats (the local ones I’m still willing to give some benefit of the doubt, for now) it would indeed send a message less subject to misinterpretation and help me keep my lunch down while voting – though I’m still not sure that ‘sending a message’ is as important as throwing the weasels out regardless of where the chips may fall and then making the ‘message’ clear later.
Jason asked for actual commentary about these allegedly ‘bold progressives’, and living in NH (though not in her district) I can at least address Kuster. She supported Kerry in the primaries in 2003 and Obama in 2007, which makes her a party centrist rather than any kind of serious leftist. Her stands on the issues (as stated on her Web site) are often cautiously progressive but carefully steer well clear of any confrontation with the Democratic establishment (she has decent – though quite conventional – positions on ‘choice’, energy, the environment, and equality, which seem to be acceptable to the establishment these days, her only objection to invading Iraq and Afghanistan appears to have been the cost in American lives and treasure, she thinks the health-care ‘reform’ sham was “a good start at providing a check on insurance companies”, she’s against tax cuts for the rich but somewhat ominously “believes cutting the long-term deficit should be a top priority for the country”) – so no ‘bold progressive’ there, either.
In fact, she reminds me of that one national Democrat I supported in 2006 (both in the primary – to help her beat the ‘centrist’ candidate favored by the DCCC – and in November). Two significant legs of Carol Shea-Porter’s platform were a pledge not to vote for any war supplemental that lacked a time-table for withdrawal, and support for Medicare for All. Two months after taking office she broke the first of those (the bill passed the House by a single vote, by the way), and for the past 4 years she hasn’t lifted a finger to support the second; her tenure has been otherwise unexceptional.
So I’m not going to be supporting anyone so much like Carol any time soon, I’m afraid – not unless they have a SOLID record of STRONG progressive stances rather than just talk, or talk at least as progressively as someone like Grayson does (I’m not that impressed by Grayson’s actual stances when the chips are down, but would be willing to give an aggressive unknown with no record a chance to disappoint me).
Don’t expect any help from MoveOn for anything like this: they just sent out an email announcing that 92% of those who had just responded to a membership survey (not including me, of course) favored supporting ANY Democrat this fall, regardless of how progressive they might be.
That would seem to preclude any help with write-ins of any type.
Welcome back, Bill.
(Thanks, newtonusr.)
Kind of interesting that Jason reappeared on the traditional opening day of the mid-term election season (just as Obama threw out the opening pitch this weekend). Just when I thought that these weasels couldn’t make it any clearer just how contemptuous they were of the (nominal) left, now they’re apparently making a last-minute 2-month push to convince us to forget the previous 20.
And who knows? They just might succeed (they have every time so far, anyway).
Fun and games ahead, laddies and lassies. Don’t forget to bring your claymores to the picnic.
J. Rosenbaum at #41.
Well, there it is, folks. Another way of saying what Rahm has always believed. Don’t worry about what Progressives think, ’cause at the end of the day they got nowhere else to go.
I believe that we’ll shortly see a Dump Obama movement – amongst Dems and lefties.
Hopefully, it will be extended to lots of Dem and Repub Congress critters. Then, the whole country can join in.
I’d love to see 2/3 of them forcibly retired within the next 6 years, wouldn’t you?
Yes!
The R’s and D’s need a wakeup call. Either they grow up and start governing properly or we will find adults who will.
Depends who defines the fucking table. Their ain’t no progressives in the Democratic Party. Tell these folks to leave the Democratic Party, then we’ll talk. And what kind of fucking progressive works for ABC? Fucking joke. Propaganda outfit. Does he know that? Has anybody asked Segal why he worked for a network that lies to the American people nightly? Fuck the Democrats. They are Trojan horse traitors. So sick of their bullshit lies. At least with Bush, their was a decent amount of unity on the Left. Obama has destroyed the Left and that was no doubt his traitorous goal. Traitorous to the US and traitorous the Left.
Actually, a movement that might work would be one to just vote against the incumbent everywhere for a decade or so. The result would be somewhat random, but it would probably do a lot to get rid of ALL of the fucking COKEPEPSIREPUBLICANDEMOCRATIC corruption.
Exactly.
“… a movement that might work would be one to just vote against the incumbent everywhere for a decade or so.”
A movement like this does not have to be too large to have an effect. One thing it would definately do is blunt the corrosive effect of campaign finance. The large sums of money needed by congress people mostly go to TV advertising and they all believe that campaigns live and die with the quality and quantity of their advertising.
Make the advertising irrelevant and they might actually have to make a commitment to a policy or two and actually live up to it.
Nah, just a Naderite/Greenie who doesn’t want to admit that the GOP is the only reason the Greens are on the ballot at all. If IRV ever became law, 90% of Green funding would dry up overnight because the whole reason for Republicans to support them would go away.
You all tried that in 2000. George W. Bush was the result.
In fact, you all tried that in 1930s Germany, when the German Communists backed Uncle Adolf on the idea that he’d piss off so many people that they’d immediately revolt and turn to the Commies for leadership. Didn’t work out quite the way they’d planned it then, either.
I hear that, billtodd, but the problem is “later” never seems to come.
What makes the message different this time is that (1) it’s a midterm election, and (2) there would be no parsing the “meaning” if an agreed-to phrase is written in by those of us on the American Left whose collective shit meters are now full.
Yes. Which is exactly why everything short of the plainly stated goal of reclaiming the Democratic Party for the American Left has failed up to now, and why now is the time to do it.
We’re in that position where we can repeat the same experiment that we know fails: Voting for Democrats who will betrary us if they get elected, or breaking away from them. Breaking away elected Nixon, Reagan, G.W. Bush. Sticking with them got us Johnson and Obama.
To me it seems repeating the experiment wherein we vote for Democrats who falsely say they believe in Human Rights, just ensures that we will lose those Human Rights. But when Republicans endeavor to remove Human Rights, some Democrats speak up and try to stop them.
As counter-intuitive as it seems, the only way to get the Democrats on the Human side of Human Rights may be to get them out of the majority.
Frankly, no. What I’d like to see is the Dems’ clothing streaked brown due to the shit being literally scared out of them, and a pledge by any who happen to survive the “Medicare for All” ballot initiative (hopefully few of this current lot) to propose and legislate and vote and support progressive ideals in all they do. And an understanding that the minute they stop doing that, whether they can hold their seat isn’t even a question.
That’s what I’d like to see.
This is fucking hysterical. Cass Sundstein-henchman Jason Rosenbaum is posting bull-shit about our “Enthusiasm Gap!” It ain’t a Gap, Jason, it’s a Chasm!
Why? Because after all these months of watching Obama sit around doing nada, zero, zilch, like he can’t be bothered (geez, not even a speech?), we’ve figured out that he ain’t even running the show. Obama’s a puppet, it’s the Corporate Whores like Rahm-bo and Summers, and Axelrod who are pulling the strings, and the fix was in before the last election.
We’ve figured it out Jason, and we’re not going to be giving you our money, time or votes! Because it can’t get much worse, and if it does, maybe the rest of America will wake up. It’s our only hope.
So, basically, you support the Democrats and their “agenda” because it is “working”?. Would that be right?
You are comfortable, if not sanguine, with the “progress” that the Democrats have “made” over the last forty-odd years? Including, presumably, the cynical “doing away with” Glass Steagall? Would that be right?
You are convinced that appealing to fearful images of “failure” and telling others that, in America, today, “in the land of the free and the home of the brave”, that they, all of us, have no real choice but to vote “in” those who despise us and who ignore such sound and sage advice as we consistently offer, that they may live like royalty and continue to ignore the breakdown of civil society and the terrorism THIS nation now practices daily? Would that be right?.
You, the Democrats, and everybody else ought to be hoping to heck that there ARE some alternatives, else things are going to be far worse than any of us can now imagine.
If this great experiment in democracy allows no alternative choices, options, or possibilities, then, PW, it is already too damn late for anything but the “end times”, brought on by the ruling classes, the pathetic and painful twilight of empire and manipulation, of violence and mindless greed.
All that is left is tomorrow … which you would have be like today?
You may well shake your head, and wonder at the deliberate stupidity of other people. I assure you, you will not be alone in THAT endeavor.
DW
Hi Jason, Look I think it’s our responsibility to send the message. It was the Party’s responsibility to understand it. They either did not do so; or did understand and decided to ignore it. The Administration, Reid, and Pelosi went right ahead and passed a bill that many progressives hate. They also forced progressives to swallow the bill to get cover for the blue dogs. In addition they passed a bad ccr bill that many people are feeling the effects of in the form of higher interest rates; a stimulus package that was clearly inadequate because it saved or created too few jobs, and a finreg bill that does little to solve our problems. They also avoided doing anything about a second stimulus, once they saw that the first was not going to work. They did nothing about the outrageous bank and Wall Street bonuses. They still haven’t gotten rid of the Bush tax cuts for the rich. They haven’t done anything about EFCA. And, of course, they’ve done nothing serious about accountability for torture, or the Patriot Act, and the Wars go on. And don’t forget the Catfood Commission which this Administration is wholly responsible for.
In short, there’s no economic and social justice from this top-down Reaganite Administration and Congress. I want to see results before I lift a finger for Democrats in this campaign.
Ds can get my help and my vote. But they need to do a couple of things in the next 55 days. First, they need to get rid of the filibuster, so they can ram things through in the Senate. Then they have to quickly pass a payroll tax cut for employees and employers, and a State Revenue sharing package of $500 per person. Then they need to pass a Federal Job Guarantee bill with a $10 per hr. wage plus fringe benefits and access to Medicare. Then they need to lower the standard work week to 35 hours and raise the miniwage to $10 per hour.
They also have to promise passage of HR 676, Medicare for All in the lame duck session, and oh, yes, the Administration, if it wants a D House, needs to dissolve the CF Commission now, and forget any budget cutting based on the idea of deficit neutrality. They can cut programs alright, but only because they have negative effects and aren’t good for the country.
I know, I know, this is totally unrealistic. However, so is a D victory is they think they’re getting one with the kind of performance they’ve given so far. Frankly, I’d rather see the Rs win and make things much worse for O, so that it becomes impractical for him to run again in 2012. I want real Democrats running in 2012, or a third party, whichever comes to pass. But I’ve had it with this Party of the Big Lie.
I’m still Mad AS Hell And I won’t Take It anymore.
That’s exactly what I’m feeling. The fact that the DLC-types could so easily diminish Kucinich and Sanders makes me think they’d make mincemeat out of any new Congresspeople with a D after their names.
WTF are you talking about Phoenix Woman? Do you even know? I have said consistently that the Greens are useless and will never succeed in this country. And while I cast a protest vote for Nader in 2000, it was (as I’ve also explained repeatedly, here being a recent example) because I recognized that things had to get worse in this country before they could get better for the Left. (Don’t want to click? Here: “It was purely a protest vote; I wouldn’t want that egoist to captain a rowboat let alone the (increasingly less) free world, but figured the quicker things got bad, the better – and I knew GWB was just the guy to do it.” If that sounds familiar to you, Phoenix, maybe it’s because I’ve said it in nearly every post I’ve put online, anywhere, since 2000 in reference to my vote that year.
But what the hell. Keep trying to marginalize me – and to convince me that the last two years have not been an abject failure in comparison to even your own expectations on January 20, 2009.
Do me a favor, willya, and compare apples to apples. 2000 was not a midterm election.
Or how about reclaiming the party for the American Left, which is who it is supposed to be speaking for? Looks like maybe others are seeing the upcoming midterms as a chance to do so.
But as I’ve been saying, any boycott/write-in initiative needs to be a full campaign, with stated goals and an agreed-to phrase or faux name all of us write in – maybe “John Q. Public Option”??
I’m all for reclaiming the Democratic Party for the American Left. But many Democratic leaders are leaving the Left behind in their quest for dollars from the same sources that used to fund Republicans.
Exactly why we need to reclaim the party – to throw the DINOs out.
“Bold progressives”. I like that. Reminds me of “fierce advocate”.
Exactly! :) WALOC.
Do you really believe that? That’s ridiculous. If Instant Runoff Voting were enacted people would make their #1 choice the candidate they liked the most, and wouldn’t do otherwise for fear of creating a ‘spoiler’.
Your logic suggests that all people either love Democrats or Republicans, and when anyone votes for Green/Independents it’s just someone from the opposing party trying to elect a spoiler. That’s a pretty simplistic POV.
Most people today consider themselves independents. I’m guessing it’s for a reason.
LOL. Great line. Wish I’d thought of it!
Jason, That’s not responsive to DW’s very well put comment. he’s made a reasonable request. Are you going to confront it, or just repeat yourself?
Jim, I’m not sure I see the same dichotomy as you do. For example, I think you can work with the Dems by telling them that they can have your support of they produce X, Y, and Z over the next two months, but not otherwise. In fact, I think that’s what the veal pen organizations ought to be doing. But they’ve not been doing that. At every stage of the political process it’s always, well we’ve got say nice things about the Administration cause if we don’t we’re supporting the Rs and if they lose our goose is cooked.
I think the veal pen folks like Jason are not supposed to be working for teh Administration. They’re supposed to be working for people like us. The problem we see here is that they’ve been co-opted by the Administration and are trying to mobilize us top-down, rather than trying to shape teh Administration bottom-up.
I’m afraid the Administration can’t be shaped without a threat to go somewhere else or stay home, because they have to be convinced that we will go somewhere else if they continue to tack to the right. So, of course, we can’t be bluffing. If they don’t do things for us we have to go somewhere else or stay home. It’s the only way to get change next time.
Jason, Why is it not a political strategy to abandon the Ds this year to get all the shaky Ds many of whom are blue dogs defeated, and then plan to come back with new and better D candidates in 2012, or failing that coming back with stronger third-party candidates?
You saying that’s not a political strategy doesn’t make it not a political strategy.
Why does a candidate have to be viable before you’ll vote for them? Is it wasting a vote to contribute to the defeat of the lesser of two evils? What if doing that will influence the Party involved to nminate someone next time who is not just the lesser of two evils?
Btw, I’m open to your two candidates. But what evidence do I have that they won’t just gave to the neoliberal plutocracy once they get elected? Are they making any promises? Any hard commitments? Are they committing to Medicare for All? Arte they committing to a Federal Job Guarantee? Here’s one candidate in CT who’s doing those things. I’d like to see your candidates doing that before I think about supporting them.
I’m not sure I agree entirely Nathan. It seems to me there is a little difference at least between candidates who will make commitments before an election and those, like Chris Van Hollen who won’t give any commitments about whether they’ll vote against any bill that has SS cuts in it. We know from his reply to Cenk’s question that Van Hollen may well vote for SS cuts if they are wrapped up in a larger bill of across the board cuts. If that were not the case he would have made a straightforward committment. So, we kind of know that when they give “sophisticated” weasel-word replies to direct questions that they’re going to cut and run when it comes to the crunch.
Didn’t we know that about Coakley in MA? She wouldn’t commit to voting “no” on a bill that had no public option. So, everyone knew she was planning to be an Administration tool.
Or as I said not too long ago: “How Can You Get ‘Em Fired Up Once They’ve seen Perfidy?”
Ah, yes, the fear card.
Medicare for All!
Good, you beat me too it!
It would be lost in “the veal pen.” All the organizations that have a seat at the Table are corrupted. Here’s one that’s not. And here’s another.
The problem with move-on surveys is that if one is pissed at move-on one just ignores their surveys.
Actually, there may be no enthusiasm gap for some of us. For example, I’m very enthusiastic about sending a “Medicare for All” message to the Ds. And I’m also very enthusiastic about getting rid of the man who botched the stimulus, passed a kabuki ccr bill, a bailout for the banks and health insurance companies, a lousy finreg bill, now suggests further economic legislation that won’t work, and when he’s all through tells me it’s raining.
Guilty as charged.
I don’t: in fact, it’s about the only reason I’m still a member (to keep an eye on them and be sure to let them know how I feel; I especially enjoy excoriating them for their threat to primary Kucinich last Spring if he didn’t fall into line to support the health-care reform sham).
I’ve done some of that too Bill. But I’m also busy and when they come at me with a bullshit polling instrument, I sometimes just ignore it. I’ll bet a lot of teir members don’t even read their e-mails any longer.