Ramona's picture

    Hey, Democrats, You Want To Win? Try Being Democrats

    The mid-term elections are less than a month away and there's a good chance the Republicans will hold the House and possibly take the Senate.  Stunning as that probability possibility is, considering the shoddy business the Republicans have been engaged in ever since their guy, Mitt Romney, lost to Barack Obama, the truth is, it looks like half the country's voters are still more than willing to vote for that particular party.  

    You hear that, Democrats? The Republicans could win.  I mean, WIN.

    Here's the part that really irks me:  The Republicans get off on making things terrible for the rest of us and if we let them win again, there's no chance they'll even say "thank you".  First they'll gloat and then they'll make us pay for being so stupid as to let them win. They're out to hurt us and we have a history of making it easy for them.

    Can we stop doing that?  Please?    

    Don't even get me started on the Supreme Court and Citizens United, the Koch Brothers' factions, insane-to-the-point-of-hilarious-if-you-find-that-sort-of-thing-funny gerrymandering, corporate vs. social welfare, insurance-mandated health care, tax breaks for the rich, the attempted murder of public education, the killing off of unions in order to keep labor poor and grateful for just any job, the ongoing crusade to keep women barefoot and on their knees,  the effort to pretend hungry kids aren't really hungry--not to mention the sanctioned takeover of our airwaves so that only the rich can survive to tell their stories.  All brought to us by the Republicans.

    We're just under a month away from the elections and once again, sorry to say, we Democrats have failed to make our case.  We have a platform that says the major focus for Democrats is, very simply, to ensure equality, to lift up the lower and middle classes, to keep our bodies healthy and our environment safe, to never be Republicans. 

    We're humanitarians (definition: concerned with or seeking to promote human welfare), which means we're liberals, and we used to be proud of it.   Not anymore.  We've become pathetically careful about blowing our own horns lest someone think we're bragging.  Or smug.  Or condescending.  Or--oh my God--elitist.  We fall for that shit every time.

    We're such suckers.  No wonder so many people have lost respect for us.  During the Reagan years the Republicans deliberately built the lie that it's bad to be good and damned if we didn't fall for it.  Even those of us who knew better.  (One small example:  Some of us dropped the word "Liberal" because people were making fun of us.  A dark moment in our history, but one I won't forget.)

    Suddenly the Teflon president could do no wrong and anyone who went against him--including the last of the investigative press--were deemed doltish.  Arrogant.  And just not nice.  So because we got suckered into feeling bad about doing good stuff, they got away with demeaning anyone on welfare (welfare queens in Cadillacs), with calling ketchup a vegetable in order to save money on poor kids' school lunches, with convincing workers they didn't need unions, with starting the ball rolling on outsourcing, and with moving the country Rightward when moving to the Right meant moving backward, not forward. 
     

    It's not that Republicans don't care about people--some--maybe even a lot of them--sincerely do.  It's that their method of "helping" is to keep on boosting the rich, buying their phony claims against the government (that's us) that taking away those awful tax burdens and pesky regulations would save us all, because, you know, Trickle Down theory.  (Because Ronald Reagan SAID it would work, that's why.)  But as long as we let the wealthy build their fortunes in this country without having to share it here, there is no chance it will ever trickle down.  It can't and won't work that way.  They take but they don't give back, and they're as proud of that little coup as the voters are oblivious to it.

     Their buddies in the House and Senate know that as long as they keep the hot-button issues like abortion, religious "persecution", gun rights, and gay marriage going, they'll get the votes.  The money will keep rolling in for those so-called public servants, they'll get to keep their taxpayer-paid jobs and, if they stay in office long enough, they'll get--courtesy of us--a dandy lifetime retirement package, safe from the vagaries of depressions, recessions, or greed.  No matter what they do to us, they'll have it made and we'll go on paying them.  For the rest of their lives.  Knowing, of course, that they will never return the favor.  Because we're suckers and they're not.

    We Democrats are here to put working people first.  Our job as Democrats is to work tirelessly to keep people safe, to build a strong middle class, and to put the people who ruined our economy out of business.   And if we can't bring ourselves to do that, we should at least have the good sense to stop rewarding them.

    I'm worried about my party.  Our representatives aren't listening to us.  Some Democratic politicians are breaking away, on the lookout for better friends.  I, on the other hand--I'm on the lookout for better politicians.  Politicians are elected to represent the party that supports them.  We, the Democratic voters, are the party.  Our politicians are temporary and expendable.  Our party is, or should be, forever. 

    I've been a Democrat for multiple decades--so many, you could say I'm entrenched.  So when elected men and women who say they're Democrats don't act like Democrats, I take it personally.  I know what I am and they're not it. 

    Democrats are not Republicans.  Democrats lean liberal.  (Republicans, you might have noticed, don't.)  Democrats are Democrats because we believe in people, not corporations.  Corporations are not now and never have been people, and Dem politicians should be screaming their heads off over that one.  Five members of the Supreme Court have opened the doors to allowing those with the most money to own our country.  That's nuts.  We Democrats are the only ones who might be in a position to change that, but we have to win elections first.

    So listen up, politicians:  If you don't know (or don't care) that being a Democrat means you're expected to lean liberal/progressive, then do us a favor and get out.  Stop pretending you're one of us.  We have work to do and you're not helping.  We need universal health care, strong unions, smooth-running social programs, massive infrastructure funding, the dehumanization of corporations, and an end to deadly trillion-dollar wars.

    The people who caused this mess need to be held accountable.  If you think nothing can be done, you're not one of us.  We don't need you.  We need tough people who don't shrink from stupid insults or fall for false promises.  The Republicans are our enemy and they're comfortable in that role.  We can't reason with them or force them to compromise, because they like things the way they are.  They get paid big bucks to keep it this way.  And honestly, Dems, six years of unrelenting obstruction and recalcitrance should be proof enough that they're serious about wanting to destroy us.  What else could they possibly do to convince you?

    So just stop, please.  Take a breath.  You're Democrats.  Act like you're proud of it.

     

    (Cross-posted at Ramona's Voices)

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    Comments

    I love all of this Ramona except for the sentence:  "It's not that Republicans don't care about people--some--maybe even a lot of them--sincerely do."  I know I sound (and maybe am) self-righteous but I just can't square concern for others with any aspect of the Republican agenda.


    Thanks, Hal, but what can I say?  It's the liberal in me.  I do know Republicans who actually do good things for others on a one -to-one basis, but can't quite make the connection when we're talking about scores of people going hungry or being jobless or homeless.  Then, because they don't know them, they buy into the lie that those other people don't deserve help.  

    Very odd, but I've seen it happen over and over again.


    I don't know about the rest of the country but the Democrat candidates in Florida have been hitting hard against the Republicans.  That is a good sign when they start this on the local level.  

    This up tick past the 50% margin is the first for the Republicans in this election cycle. It has been close all season.  I am not ready to clutch my pearls yet, also the polls are blind to GOTV operations.  

    To quote Sam Wang at the Princeton Election Consortium in his last news letter:

     The bottom line is that as a profession, pollsters have a small tendency to underestimate Democratic performance, by an average of 1.5%. Obviously this is off-limits to me for use in a calculation – but it is legitimate for you to think about, when interpeting the Meta-margin.

     For us we just need to make sure our friends that are Democrats get out ot vote.  Simply invite a friend that might not vote to dinner.  Take them to vote and treat them to a meal afterwards on you.  It is worth the time and investment.  Pollsters tighten up their likely voter surveys this close to election and that friend is not being considered as a voter in midterms. 

     


    Another thing we can do is refer to Charlie Crist and other Florida democrats as Democratic (not Democrat) candidates.


    At another liberal site that I comment on, I have been corrected to call them Democrats not Democratic.  LOL...as DD says "What is a mother to do?"  LOL.


    Momoe, the way I get it is that we use "Democratic" when we're talking about the Democratic Party but it's okay to call us Democrats.  The Republicans started the "Democrat Party" because they liked the "rat" part at the end.  We know it's used as an insult so we make sure to let them know we know every chance we get.

    It's a small thing. . .no, a tiny thing. . .but somehow it satisfies us to let them know they're not fooling anybody.  Lol.


    Thanks.  You now gave me a come back when I get corrected.  


     We need universal health care, strong unions, smooth-running social programs, massive infrastructure funding, the dehumanization of corporations, and an end to deadly trillion-dollar wars.

    It is what the Democrats will also do; that worries Americans, 

    Gun Control and Amnesty, 

    The Scorpion and the Frog

     A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the

    scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The

    frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion

    says, "Because if I do, I will die too."

     

      The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream,

    the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of

    paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown,

    but has just enough time to gasp "Why?"

     

                                    Replies the scorpion: "Its my nature..."

    IMHO Democrat name brand, has been high jacked to serve an agenda, not acceptable to most Americans.

    Yes we want  Universal Healthcare, good jobs and everything quoted above, but not at the cost of sacrificing other rights. 

    The People will be forced to work with a moderate Republican, who'll give them what they want. without gun Control or Amnesty. 

    It is not an either / or gambit 

    Obama and the Democrats showed their hands early and lost.

    People are not fooled by the bluff. they are well aware of what happens after the Democrats come to power. 


    Sorry I just got around to reading this Ramona.  I concur with much of what you wrote and share the anger and frustration.  I also agree with Resistance when he says that the Democratic name has been hijacked.

    I was riding in a vehicle the other day and had to listen to a radio interview of Paul Ryan.  It was on NPR and he did his absolute best to sound like a Democrat.  Clearly this will be his strategy for 2016.  He will assume the mantle of a caring, humanitarian and downplay all his extreme right positions.  He even told a little anecdote meant to show he realized that ignoring, or not doing enough for the 47% in the last election was a mistake.  All in all, he was, to use Resistance's analogy, the Scorpion on the shore, warmly reassuring the frog.  And the interviewer never challenged him when he talked about how the Republicans were going to make government work again ...  It's like a man putting a cork in a bottle, and then wanting to be hailed as a hero for taking the cork OUT of the bottle.  I fear we are going down in this election because the GOP has convinced voters that, somehow, Democrats are the ones that caused the obstruction.  It's mind-boggling.


    Whenever I clear my head out, I am sure I am going to get into this.

    I know this:

    If we have five Dem Presidential candidates, and the moderator of the debates asks:

    How many of you candidates believe in Evolution (which is a stupid question just like most moderator questions) all will raise their hands.

    I keep looking at the Walker ';model' in Wisconsin, I mean that sombitch took after progressive taxes, the woman's right to choose including contraceptives and voting rights and union rights and fair taxes and.....

    If a repub is elected as President,  we are screwed. As a matter of fact if the Senate turns repub we are screwed.

    I WANT THE DEBATES AMONG DEMS AND I WISH TO SEE AT LEAST THREE OF  THEM.

    But we, as other countries, depend upon coalitions.

    The Senate race in Kansas scares the hell out of me.

    Oh, Orman is better than nothing, but if we lose the Senate, we end up losing Orman anyway.

    I am so depressed about the elections just a month away that I would hope we end up 50-50 so that Joe Biden can once again become Senator Biden.

    Just random thoughts. 

     


    Richard, I'm scared to death about losing the senate, too.  I can't believe we'll lose the House again, but the pundits all seem to think it's a done deal.  I will never understand why this keeps happening.   In a sane world, there would be no Republican party after what they've pulled for so long.

    Look what they've done to this countryj!  And they keep winning.  It looks like Snyder will be governor again in Michigan and he's done everything but murder somebody at high noon.  We may get a Dem to replace Carl Levin but it's only because the Republican candidate is so gawdawful even the Republicans can't stand her.

    I don't get it and I never will.  And I'm tired of hearing how the Dems don't try hard enough.  We have good candidates with plenty to offer and crowds of good people out there knocking on doors and manning telephone banks, but no matter how hard we try we can't convince enough people to vote for the Democrats.

    It can't all be about fear and paranoia and ignorance.  Can it?

    So depressing.  So, so, so depressing.


    After you posted this, I thought I better take a look around with google at the Senate races.  So I started to follow closely what is happening now in those races.  I am not ready to clutch my pearls yet.  

    SD Senate race could be a black swan.  The favorite to win this one has been Republican Mike Rounds in a three way race in an open seat that was held by a Democrat.  But Rounds is being dogged by scheme to sell off EB-5 visas to the highest bidder so his friends can make money on them. Democrat Rick Weiland is trailing as well as the former Republican Senator from SD Larry Pressler who is an Obama supporter and now independent.  Pressler don't have much money but has been picking off older voters who still likes him.  DSCC has just spent a million dollars on adds for Weiland and MayPac has also just spent a million dollars also for Weiland.  Two million dollars is a big buy in SD.  RNC is busy defending other races and is reluctant to spend money on this race that they see it as theirs.  DSCC now sees the potential for a pick up with Rounds poor campaign effort and controversy. Here is one of Weiland ads from this this summer.  Keep in mind this is retail politics in SD.  

     

    Here is the one that they just released.  It is a great improvement over the first. 

     

     

     

    In Kentucky McConnell is worried because his numbers are falling behind Grimes. He may have made a big campaign mistake by going on a popular sports talk radio show.  He showed how arrogant he is and would not answer the soft ball questions he was asked.  This is the number one sports talk show in Kentucky.  In the last couple of weeks the trend has been moving towards Grimes and she is now showing a lead in the last 3 poles.  McConnell would not have gone on that show if he was not worried.  He only agreed to debate Grimes once and that debate is coming up. This race is far from lost and Big Dog has been in there swinging for Grimes.  He did some ads for her.  Since they have been aired the voters have been moving in her direction. He is popular in Kentucky and people don't want to lose their health care that they just got.  

    The Bancock Street  Project has been working over time on GOTV for Michelle Nunn.  This is a toss up right now.  Predue may pull it off but if GOTV gets their votes out in the Atlanta area, we will be dancing on election night if they do.  

    One other point, minorities and women have a lot at stake in this election.  They know they have to get out and vote.  


    Do you realize the sincere irony of you're what saying ... minorities and women have a lot at stake in this election ???

     

    They're the people politicians and the machinery prefer to neglect because they think their impact is too small to measure and change the outcome. That coupled with political-religions that dictate the wife follows her husband's advice and other such oddities, chances are they may be right.

     

    It would be nice if all the money they paid out for focus groups to hone their messages does the exact opposite of what they're expecting.


    The phrase, "sincere irony", is stuck in my head like an ear worm.


    When I was in the military, I was a non-commissioned officer. And the US Naval Academy had  coined a phrase about non-comms at the end of the 19th centurty ... they're sly, devious and cunning, and bear considerable watching.

     

    There's a conservative manager I work for who likes to blame "liberal democrats" ... as if there really is such an animal ... for all the country's ills. I gave him an obscure book of mine to read ... Unreasonable Men. So far, he's an incredibly   s...l...o...w   reader and has only penetrated the first two chapters. But he's already challenging the authenticity of the contents ... which I show him the reference pages in the back.

     

    The point is ... there's not too much that's going to change anyone's opinion unless there's an immediate danger for everyone to focus on and the President takes actions that the public expects. That's why ebloa and ISIS can easily become political talking points that sway the election ... the President/Democrats aren't doing enough to protect YOU from THEM.

     

    And Bu$h was quite effective in using the ploy and it's active today if you listen to the political talk.

     

    The issue for Democrats is they don't have an agenda to fall back on ... ObamaCare is a done deal and it's not the panacea the public really wanted ... a Medicare/VA medical program for everyone. No clear focus on the economy, creating jobs, manipulating businesses to plow money into the business instead of shareholder equity, forcing businesses to pick up their fair share of the tax burden and so forth.

     

    And the Republicans were able to push their agendas between 2001 and 2007 with nothing more than a simple majority. 

     

    See where I'm going with this ???


    Women and minorities have awakened to the fact that they have to vote in the states that have completive races.  That it is important because Republican would cause unlimited hardship if they get control of the Senate.  There may not be much that will get done but at least they won't be able to impeach the President and pick more Judges that are sub standard.

    There is a lot going on locally and in states right now that has Democratic voters engaged.  I live in Florida and the turn out will be high for a mid term because people want Medicaid even the elderly needs and wants it for long term care.  We also have medical marijuana on the ballot.  

    There is an agenda there but you have to listen to people like Elisabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown and other liberal voices.  They are wanting to limit corporate power and hold them accountable and pay forward to society in taxes so that there will be a future for other generations. Legalizing marijuana and allowing hemp to be grown again in the country is an agenda.   Raising the minimum wage and reducing the debt that college education  causes is an agenda. Sustainable clean energy is an agenda.  Breaking up big banks is another. Fixing our infrastructure that is falling down.  There are bills in the Senate that is being worked on that address this.  

    If I knocked on the doors of everyone on my street and asked them to tell me about what they know about ISIS they would  give me mostly a blank stare.  Most of us don't have cable or the time to watch it.  I live in a poor community.  But they will tell me all about the cops that are underfoot all the time.  Or tell me how they were making a legal right turn on red and all the cameras that now hang on all our stop lights and street posts took pictures of it.  Then the private company that owns the dam things sends you a letter explaining you have been given a $125 dollar ticket for turning illegally because you pulled over the white line and did not stop there. You can not see to turn behind the white line so we just sit there now and wait for green.  We don't have the money to fight the ticket or get many of them.  The county has been trying to mine us for revenue that they need because of cuts.  They can tell you how hard it is to get their kids to the bus hubs so they can finish the rest of the way riding the bus because the county schools have cut bus service in favor of bussing kids to private charter schools.  They are struggling on minimum wage part time jobs and have had their food stamps cut.  They know about Ebola but they worry more about getting meds from the VA and the health department to cover their chronic illnesses.

    The only party that has been here to ask for our votes is the Democratic Party.  Will some of the people that  are registered to vote show up at early voting. Probably yes a lot more then in 2010 because of the fact they closed all our voting poles and we now have to go to the suburbs to vote on election day.  Early voting is on bus routs and closer. Our turn our was high in 2012 and that is why the poles were closed to make it hard to vote.  I know for a fact that if you feel your right to vote is threaten you will go and vote just for spite.  Some will go because of the cameras or losing school bus service or because the cops are always running dogs through your car at night looking for pot.  Even I have had to put up with that.  

    So there is a lot of motivation in towns like mine in Republican run states and not so much because of ideology but  for reasons like what I just pointed out.  I am sure there will be some surprises in November that the national media didn't see coming.  Nate Silver says the quality of the polling is worse then 2012.  

     


    Momoe, here I am, many days later, just now seeing your comment.  I'm so sorry.  I would like to hear more about the private companies that take care of traffic fines.  I don't know if they do that here in Michigan, but since they're privatizing everything, I wouldn't be surprised.

    It's disgusting that they will try anything to take money from poor people.  My cousin was in jail for a third-offense drunk driving sentence and he had to borrow a couple thousand dollars to pay for court costs and everything he used in jail, because if he didn't, they would have put him back in jail.  A privatized debtors prison. 

    He, of course, lost his job and had no money, but that didn't matter.  It also didn't matter that he had a heart attack while in jail and had to be hospitalized for a portion of his sentence.  When he got out of the hospital he went back to jail and incurred even more costs.  But that's life in the oppressive 21st century.


    These are the things that make people wake up to the fact that they have to vote.  It is the hardships that they are causing.

     I am going to go out on a limb here and state the Republicans are going to get some of their asses kicked in Nov. The GOP is not going to gain much. The over poling by poor quality pollsters have been pointed out by both Sam Wang and Nate Silver in this election cycle. That they underestimate by 1.5 % on the average, the Democratic votes in the recent past elections.

    The Bannock Street Project has kicked in now in full force in the competitive Senate races with GOTV.  They aren't here in Florida but there is a big GOTV effort from the Crist campaign.  It is on the same scale as 2012.  The Democrats in this county has an office in a dead strip mall and for the last month that empty parking lot has been full of cars.  I drive by when taking the big kids to the university. I am sitting this one out this year because of time, money and health reasons.  It looks like there is more participation then in past cycles.      


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