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Democrats in Desperate Bid to Rally Voters
DEMOCRATS, facing a drubbing in tomorrow's mid-term elections, have urged supporters to get out and vote in a last-ditch effort to save critical seats and avert an electoral nightmare.
Obama warned on Saturday that if Republicans prevail in next week's congressional elections they could roll back his agenda, as he sought to rally fellow Democrats to the polls in a final campaign push. (REUTERS/Larry Downing) But there were conflicting signals about the strength of voter enthusiasm. While greater numbers of registered Democrats than Republicans had already cast their votes, according to early voting reports, Democrat rallies appeared to be struggling to draw crowds.
Even Barack Obama, two years after his euphoric presidential win, was not a big enough drawcard to fill a 13,000-capacity auditorium at Cleveland State University - about 8000 people showed up, a 10th of the number that cheered for him in the city two days out from the 2008 poll.
Grabbing breakfast in a Chicago cafe ahead of his trip to Cleveland, Mr Obama shouted to patrons: ''Everybody, remember to vote!''
But the signs are ominous for Democrats, struggling to convince voters to keep the faith amid a crippled economy and with unemployment stuck above 9 per cent. Voting is not compulsory and, typically, less than 40 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballot in mid-term elections, compared with about 60 per cent in presidential election years.
Pundits say the poor turnout will damage the Democrat cause because those wanting change will be more motivated to get to voting booths.
Also, a survey conducted by the Pew Research Centre revealed that those people choosing not to vote were more likely younger and more liberal, more typically components of the Democrats' demographic.
Political analysts expect Republicans to easily win the 39 additional seats they need in the 435-seat House of Representatives to retake control, just four years after Democrats took over. With latest opinion polls putting Republican support ahead of that for Democrats by 52 per cent to 42 per cent, most are predicting a Republican wave of between 45 and 60 extra seats.
Of the 100 most closely contested House seats, 91 are held by Democrats. Those Democrats most vulnerable are those who serve in districts that voted for Republican John McCain in the 2008 presidential race, and who supported unpopular big-ticket legislation such as the $US787 billion economic stimulus, the cap and trade bill and healthcare reform.
As a further pointer to the Democrat woes, the Pew survey showed that 61 per cent of people who said they intended to vote this week preferred smaller government that provided fewer services.
A Democrat wipeout of the magnitude being predicted would echo 1994, when Democrats lost 54 seats in the House and eight Senate seats at the half-way point of Bill Clinton's first term as president.
Like Mr Clinton, Mr Obama would face a similarly hostile Congress for the remaining two years of his first term but that reality could work in his favour when seeking re-election because a Republican-controlled Congress could lead to greater bipartisanship.
But in Cleveland, the President warned that Republicans could overturn his key reforms such as healthcare should they win in a landslide.
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101 Comments so far
Show AllTwain's three kinds of lies;
"the Pew survey showed that 61 per cent of people who said they intended to vote this week preferred smaller government that provided fewer services."
Pew must have surveyed at a Tea Party meeting.
People whom I talk to want smaller government dedicated to the soul purpose of providing services.
Perhaps the wording of the poll was such that "A reduce in Military" or "Restoring CEO Income" was categorized as "Fewer Services"
Disbanding the military would be a service to the planet and all living creatures, yes, even those useless over paid ceo creatures.
Yes. A whole lot more $ for promoting our general welfare, establishing justice, and providing for our common defense; and a whole lot LESS $ for fighting imperial wars of conquest & shoveling into the pockets of banksters & corporate robberbarons.
We need FDR's campaign for "the forgotten man".
The Democrats would not be facing this 'enthusiasm gap' had they given us, their real base, something to be enthusiastic about. Instead, we've been subjected to yet another iteration of the Clintonesque notion of 'triangulation'--which is, nothing more, than appeasement to the right for short term political gain. ENOUGH!
Paraphrasing that great DLC sage, Mr Rahm, F^@k That.
Voting for the bastards these days only seems to encourage them and confirm their contempt for, we, the voters--their base.
Had Obama actually delivered on the promised change, Tuesday's outcome would be a different prospect. Unfortunately, those Democrats we supported, electing them in two successful waves of enthusiasm in '06 & '08 didn't believe in us, and now they actually have the gall to ask us tp forget about it all and give them another chance---Outside of politics, that's the kind of stuff that would qualify as classic abuse behavior.
How do you stop abuse?
You get rid of the abuser, tell 'em to take a hike and we're not putting up with any more.
And, I'm not buying into that 'but the Republicans will be so much worse' bull shit---What could be worse than the disillusionment and disenfranchisement that the Democrats delivered upon a naive, hopeful, and optimistic new generation that turned out in waves to usher them into office?
"What could be worse than the disillusionment and disenfranchisement that the Democrats delivered"
Ahh, the old 'lesser of two evils' song. As an answer to what could be worse simply look at the direction the Tea Party is headed and the similarities between them and the brown shirts in budding Nazi Germany.
>"What could be worse than the disillusionment and disenfranchisement that the Democrats delivered?", response #2:
Having lived three years of my life in one of the poorest countries in this hemisphere, a country that was basically run by a handful of families who dictated 99% of the politics controlling the rest of the population, and who operated paramilitary death squads to eliminate those considered too politically progressive, well: frankly, my dear, I can envision things getting a LOT worse.
Man, my host-country friends would have been delighted to have to deal only with run-of-the-mill "disillusionment and disenfranchisement". At least in North America, the plutocracy isn't routinely 'disappearing' U.S. labor and student leaders, as they routinely did in that host country.
But they may start doing so soon if we continue pretending that could never happen here. I note the lead sentence in a NY Times cover story today:
"Republicans are signaling that they plan to push bills and strategies to undermine labor’s political clout and ability to grow."
So I respectfully disagree. Things can get much worse. Sue me, I am voting against those who so proudly and eagerly boast their willingness to further widen the economic divide in North America between the wealthiest 2% and the rest of us. We're a long way from curing the patient, but I'd at least like to staunch the herromaging first.
Donny-Don
Thanks for bringing some of the realities of the world to this discussion. That things routinely happen in other countries that make our whines seem childish.
...
Thank for that Donny-Don. I was stationed in such countries and witnessed this hell. Hope is a casualty and fear dominates.
Giving Repcons all power as revenge for what Blue Dogs and Big Money do is oxymoronic. Conservatives of all stripes think alike, no matter what party they belong to. And Big Money will subvert any movement if we let it.
Hoping (in the name of all people) to accelerate a revolution by accepting the shift to totalitarian dictatorship that Repcons candidly call for is giving up and adopting the "kill them all, let God sort them out" philosophy. But those adherents should not forget to include themselves, their families and their friends.
Sorry, but the corporate elite agenda will remain no matter who gets elected. Obama is just a particular phase of that process whereby those who own this country arrange and re-arrange the front office personnel for cosmetic purposes only. It's called marketing, and Obama is just another transient brand that will remain a viable brand for as long as the elite need him.
There is no evidence - none - that democrats are less willing servants of the corporate plutocracy and the MIC than republicans. What most of the people here point to in their disgust for democrats is the appalling continuation by Obama of the monstrous, psychopathic foreign policy of the US elites, and, in general, the corporate elite dominance of this country, as they pursue the sick, twisted culmination of their warped vision of the world whereby a corporate elite runs the planet in no uncertain terms, destined to take this country down and destroy it, with the elites enjoying a huge cushion consisting of everything they have looted.
The elites are TRANSNATIONAL - they have no allegiance to you and me and that quaint notion of "countries."
With Peak Oil, resource depletion and environmental degradation, things will indeed be getting worse and worse - everywhere - including the US, which is sliding into economic catastrophe as we speak. Has Obama done a thing to counter the corporate domination of this country and its totally corrupt political process?
I am thankful I had the privilege of voting for a Progressive Party candidate for the US Senate, and voted democrat in local elections where there was no better choice.
But as to playing that "lesser of two evils" game out of fear of the teaparty, I refuse to do so. We are headed for a Reckoning in this country regardless of the election outcome.
As James Howard Kunstler wrote today (didnt I see a post from you there?), "The proud winners of seats in congress and the senate might as well put on clown suits and little pointed hats on Wednesday morning and drive around the Washington monument in toy cars."
This is the Quote Of The Day, along with his observation that, "It's really too late for both parties. They're unreformable. They've squandered their legitimacy just as the US enters the fat heart of the long emergency. Neither of them have a plan, or even a single idea that isn't a dodge or a grift. Both parties tout a "recovery" that is just a cover story for accounting chicanery and statistical lies aimed at concealing the criminally-engineered national bankruptcy that they presided over in split shifts. Both parties are overwhelmingly made up of bagmen for the companies that looted America."
So dont worry, no need to be homesick, things will be sufficiently disasterous here in the US in a few years to match your vision of what is possible. And the evil clowns in Congress will continue to do their master's bidding. 2012 - if we make it - promises to be the biggest political freakshow in the history of the world, and after that? Third World America. Stay tuned.
I must, reluctantly, at the last minute, agree with you Don. I have finally blinked & flinched. The right-wing nutballs are thick in my neck of the woods. I cannot, in good conscience, open the door to them. There is NO choice on my ballot but R & D, no write-ins available (except mickeymouse), and a 3rd, right-wing party on the ballot to divide the right-wingers here (the majority). I'll throw these sorry-ass D's into the breach, while hoping a real peoples' party will surface in the next 2 years (slim chance; emergency martial law seems slightly more likely). People don't realize the global economy is about to blow like mt. saint helens, causing the entire world to descend into panic & chaos (followed by martial law which will be, initially , popular as it staves off immediate & deadly anarchy & chaos). Foodstocks are now being used to feed the hungry. Food production is falling. The real economy is failing as we try to save the useless "to-big-to-fail" financial system, which is why it's a jobless recovery (saving the ticks that are killing the dog). The system died in late july 2007 (when the japan carry trade ended). It has taken this long for rigor mortis to BEGIN to set in (such is the massive size of this Kraken-like global economy).
You're feeding the monster.
You're feeding the monster.
I'm throwing a dead carcass into the mouth of the monster. He'll take 2 years to chew & swallow, thus buying a little more time (hopefully). The R's will try to throw me and you into the monster's jaws as quickly as possible. In my locality, there is no other option. Maybe in 2 years time all these activist/scolds will come knocking on the door of average john Q. citizen and suggest building an alternative peoples' party. I hear only crickets chirping in my locality. The right-wing is in the slight majority around here, so I don't expect to see much leftism around here (2 right-wing parties on my ballot, to divide up the right-wingers apparently). No one is even running as a write-in. Any other write-in is a complete waste of time (might as well not vote).
2 right-wing parties = R's and a 3rd religious-based party, in addition to D's.
Donny-Don,
Good point: Things can get much worse. I will not vote for a state or federal candidate tomorrow, and yes, I realize that things can get worse.
Just 6 months or so ago I could have written what you wrote: That voting for the lesser evil is a strategy. Well, it isn't - it's a reaction, a defensive mechanism. Not that there isn't a place for defense, just that it's no way to move forward. And that is what the Democrats and much of the Left keep doing. Being an equal opportunity offender, I believe that most "progressives", including many here on Common Dreams, have no intention of doing much more than voting "their conscience." If I heard more than words against the bogeyman du jour (Democrats, Republicans, Corporatists, Capitalists, ad infinitum), I would take a lot more stuff here seriously. I don't, so I don't.
The problem with exhorting people to vote, and using fear as a tactic, is that it doesn't work. It doesn't work because the System doesn't work...at least, not for us. And more people are getting wise to that. It's a Ponzi scheme and the house always wins.
So, yeah, things can get worse. In fact, I believe things will get worse. I see no change in people's attitudes or habits to lead me to conclude otherwise. If people would declare what actions they now take, or will take soon, then I'd have reason to believe all this is little more than an illusion of gargantuan proportions.
Oh, one last thing: I grew up in some of the poorest countries in this hemisphere. I know how bad things can be for those with little or nothing. It is bad, but so is living in increasing fear of losing what one has. Both are terrifying. The difference is that in the United States we still have enough power and energy to affect changes through organization and work. And that work has little to do with the voting booth.
Last week Harry Reid finally made some noise about changing the filibuster rules. There would be a whisker of a chance of slowing the fall if the Democrats kept both houses and the filibuster was abolished. Make one of the windbags talk till he or she drops. Then, perhaps we could get something done.
But, probably not. The House Finance Committee is in the pocket of Wall Street. The Appropriations Committee is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Military Industrial Complex. The list goes on and on.
I don't see a bright future.
Yes, I agree. Obama is a right winger and an abuser. He is a fraud and a plant. The Democrats have surrendered to treachery. Both parties are thoroughly corrupt and voting for either is like voting for cancer. The evils of the right will rise and run their ugly course. The Democrats had all the tools and one chance to change the course of this country and they sold out for a few coins. Now we must face the horrors of the extreme right. On election day, don't vote, and fly your flag upside down. As an American Indian I knew this day would arrive for you, but I am deeply saddened to witness it.
Stone
What makes you think for one minute that the republicans will be allowed for one moment to go back to business as usual?
Why wouldn't you consider that we couldn't benefit from them (if they did) just as they benefitted from Obama?
Why wouldn't you consider that thyere is a good chance to trade off and achieve many things in any case? Is a dictatorship needed to achieve goals? It's not as evidenced by Civil Rights and many other things.
Its not the right thats winning here in any case, the defeat of the democrats is being accomplished by others, not the republican party.
And why is the defeat of the democrats so bad? They were doing so well???
Fiscal reality is just as real for the other side as it is for us and the rest of the countries in the world. We can still win in many ways. All Americans are in the same boat, so hold off on flying that flag upside down. Let's see how this play's out tomorrow. ( I may be dead wrong about the Tea Parties, the republicans and this election, if so, then we will know tomorrow)
I agree too.
Well said.
Actually, should the GOBP take the house, and if the Senate doesn't cave in, Obama will have a veto the Republicans can't overcome. So it isn't the end of the world unless Obama goes along with the bums.
You are right, the Democrats allowed the 60 vote cloture feature to continue, when they could have changed it down or eliminated it. Therefore, they did not deliver for their base, and instead ended up denigrating the left.
They (and us) will be taking a beating for it Tuesday.
The Dems have sharpened their message.
"A Vote For Us Is A Vote For LOW-FAT IMPERIALISM!"
Thank you for calling PolitiChoice®
These are intended to sharpen the Dems' message, defining what they stand for and how they’re different from Republicans.
1. "We Surrender."
2. "Please don't yell at us, we're frightened."
3. "Would you like us to roll over on our backs now, or do you prefer that we remain on our knees?"
4. "Let's bomb Iran."
5. "We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the President."
6. "We stand for rule by a kinder, gentler military-industrial complex."
7. "What's good for MobilExxon, Citicorp, and Northrop-Grumman is good for America."
8. "If you like venal cowards and betrayal, vote for us!"
9. "Please don't ask us to stand up to the Republicans. They get very angry if anyone opposes them -- and it's really scary!!
Whonnnnnngk.
Click.
Beep.
(crackle) Thank you for calling PolitiChoice®. Your call is important to us, so please stay on the line.
...
If you would like to pursue reform from within the Democratic Party, press 1.
If you would like to effectively counter the DLC within an existing mainstream political party, press 2.
If you would like to help with DFA, press 3.
If you miss the seventies and want to join the DSOC/DSA discussion group, press 4.
If you would like to feel "underground" from the comfort of rightward-drifting centrism that calls itself "left," press 5.
If you don't know which button to press, press 6 and you'll be directed to the appropriate caucus.
...
Thank you for calling PolitiChoice®. Please bear in mind that internal reform is the only permissible focus...
only permissible focus...
only permissible...
-Thank you
... (crackle, click)
I think we need to do something about Hal.
Gosh, if only you had written this before I cast my ballot...
Still, very well said.
LMAO!!!!!!!!
mcoyote; have't stopped laughing yet. Tony
RVWalker,
You hit the nail on the head.
Democracy Inc. it's good business.
I knew we were screwed during the primaries, when the favorite tactic of Obama's supporters was to call their fellow Democrats racists.
Buck Obama!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2OIg56mfT0
The Pew polling report only shows two things.
1. As usual, most republicans oppose "big government".
2. As usual, republicans delude themselves into thinking that their party will actually shrink government.
If you look at the polls at
http://www.pollingreport.com/institut.htm#Government
You will see that for a very long time about 50% of Americans have said that the wanted small government.
Yes, but such generalized sentiment is meaningless, and as often reflective of public misperceptions about what government actually does as of actual tangible political beliefs (polling always shows, for example, that people believe foreign aid consumes a large portion of the budget; it's share is actually microscopic).
To get to what this means, in practice, you have to get into the more detailed polling.
---
Left Hook!
http://lefthooktheblog.blogspot.com/
Considering Tea Parties monolithic is a continuing mistaken characterization presented on CD. This is a huge political miscalculation.
That they are opposed to stat ism proposed by Obama in their view goes without saying. But they are just as angry with republicans. They disliked Bush (and even more Dick Cheney)for expanding government, profligate spending, bailing out the banks, nation building, etc.
They are just as unhappy with the right as the left.
Fiscal conservatives have replaced social conservatives so the TP's may have salvaged the republican party after it was restored to life by Pelosi/Obama and could provide a home for small government conservatives and liberals.
Forget the Sarah Palins who are desperately trying to attach themselves, this is not their show. To any honest appraisal it is readily apparent that this is a real grassroots movement...no matter the desperate democratic rhetoric and propaganda.
It really represents no more than a rank and file revolt against what many Americans say is a conspiracy of the governing elite against ordinary working Americans.
The continuing mistake is viewing this election as "business as usual" It is not in my view. It's obviously a repudiation of both political parties and their extreme elements over the last two elections if this is half as bad as predicted and I believe it will be worse.
Failing to properly access the opposition is a foolish mistake and one asssociated with losing.
This could very well be that seminal moment when popular rage against the political and social elite change the nature of our political parties and our democratic choices.
We will find out tomorrow if its to be an America, parroting the old left and right lines or one that is ready to move forward.
mightydustmite sez: "..It's obviously a repudiation of both political parties and their extreme elements over the last two elections ..:
No, the Koch bros. astro-turf, tea for brains, enraged old whites are simply the unknowing front men for the uber rich. They are not a repudiation of an extreme element, they are an extreme element.
That is the democratic line Kontroller, It just doesn't tally with what I see and hear nor the real facts that are more than evident.
One of us is right. Fortunately, it will only be one more day to find out which of us it is. I won't mind being wrong, I just don't believe I am.
P.S. The quote you used is of course only good if this election matches or exceeds the repudiation of the republicans. Those are the two elections I am spesaking of...I didn't make that clear when I used a past tense for "elections"
Nice try, but if the Dems lose it doesn't mean the tea baggers are mainstream. There are a lot of reasons the Dems may lose, most are enumerated again and again and again in this thread and others like it. The Dems have lost support due to the economy (where they didn't do enough) and by talking left and governing to the right. If they had actually implemented real healthcare reform (single payer), aggressively addressed the recession by pumping a lot more money into the economy, held the banks/brokerage houses to task for the mortgage/housing crisis (and helped stop the foreclosure tsunami), reversed the erosion of civil liberties, closed Guantanamo and held Bush and Co. accountable for war crimes, their chances tomorrow would be a lot better.
As for what you see and hear, if it hasn't been on Fox it isn't in your world.
Read more carefully.
In any case we simply disagree as to what we see. I have followed that movement closely and am confident of my read on them.
Sound bite analysis to form opinions gives you what the elites of each party want...your belief that they are telling you the truth.
Tomorrow you will know if I am right or you are. If you are there will be no Tsunami of defeat at the poll's for the democrats. If the Tea Party folks haven't been verbalizing the concerns of the majority of Americans, then the democrats will still be in charge and Obama will be re-elected.
Ask the republican esytablishment if these folks are their friends. The answer they will give you is no. Confusing the other side as some monolithic group is just plain silly.
When the unwashed masses head to voting booths tomorrow, every poll shows they don’t like any part of either party. The degree of that dislike will be the political hangover that begins Wednesday morning after the votes are counted.
This election is not about Republicans or Democrats. It's about people who don't like what has happened in the last 10 years – and about Obama, who has moved them from anger with Bush to fear for the future.
I appreciate your civility as usual.
Here's another thought for the brilliant elite to make fun of.....I'm not sure that the Tea Party folks and those they are verbalizing for don't detest banks and wall street more than the left does.
I would point out that the Bankmeisters have little to fear from Obama in case you hadn't noticed.
mite, are you denying that the tea baggers are useful idiots for the right wing corporate media that created them, devote grossly disproportionate coverage to them and absolutely adore them? Are you a tea bagger, or just a tea bagger apologist?
I say let em burn!
More crap about enthusiasm. There is a big difference between a lack of enthusiasm and being totally and completely pissed off.
Democrats are still suffering from the delusion that changing demographics gives them an advantage in elections when in fact any serious analysis of who actually votes will show that white voters will continue to be the dominate force in these elections and they are overwhelmingly conservative and republican. The last poll I saw on this shows a 62 to 38 percent spread. Race is still playing to the republican's great advantage in midterm elections.
"...a Republican-controlled Congress could lead to greater bipartisanship."
What a hoot!
Y'know, I originally favored John Edwards in the 2008 primaries. I liked his "Two Americas" message, and my gut told me that we didn't have the strength to battle RepubliCorp AND American racism at the same time.
Yes, yes... Edwards' indiscretions would have been a disaster, but after Obama gave his "More Perfect Union" speech, he had my full support. Why? Because he convinced me that IT WAS TIME to tackle both challenges at once.
RepubliCorp has always drawn political strength from racism. It cost Lyndon Johnson's Democrats dearly, but America became a better place for it.
We're going to pay a similar price for electing the first AA President. We just weren't ready to fight the war on two fronts. RepubliCorp will enjoy a short-term gain, But if we respond intelligently, we can continue to inflict blows on their racist, tea puppet underbelly.
I think of the Dems impending losses as an investment in the future.
I like things about Edwards too--at least he could utter the word "poor"--but he was not for MEDICARE for all.
I never heard a peep from Edwards about capping drug prices either or shrinking the US Military.
We could have had a smaller government with single payer health care, wiping out the war spending, and reversing privatization from a liberal/progressive government but we didn't get that and now the Democrats are panicking. Sorry people but they have to motivate the voters long term. Last minute rallies won't save them. They wanna buy sand for their hourglass but the voters aren't selling any !
Once the republicans have the power our economy will improve: Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, Iran.
Cicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
Come on. The DLC Dimocraps aided and abetted every one of Bush's bloody, botched, unaffordable occupations, helped them gut habeas corpus, cover up for torture, enact full-spectrum warrantless surveillance, and expand these pointless wars (via special ops and drone incursions) into Pakistan, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, and god knows where else. Team Obama has refused to investigate ANY of Team Bush's war crimes because ranking Democrats were on the committees that knew about and covered up for so many of them out of fear of being labeled "unpatriotic." Instead of investigating any of those war crimes Obama has interpreted the State Secrets privilege as an all-purpose blanket to through over any civilian judicial attempt to scrutinize ANY aspect of the oil/terror wars. A former Bush II White House council recently said he thought Obama was going to far on State Secrets. That should tell you Dem enabling Golmers something. Obama recently signed waivers to allow continued U.S. funding for bloody regimes in the Congo, Sudan and Chad that use child soldiers. What makes you imagine in your worst wet nightmares that the Dimocraps wouldn't march right along in lock-step with any military/spook or Republican generated false excuse to bomb Iran? Do the words Tonkin Gulf, 'Saddam's tanks rolling up on the Saudi border' or WMD mean anything to you?
Metal,
Well stated.
*Comment deleted by site administrators for violating our Comment Policy*
see: http://www.commondreams.org/comment-policy
"I can hire one-half of the working-class to kill the other half."
--Jay Gould, Gilded Age rail tycoon and real estate speculator
Many of us who have posted regularly on this site have used worse language than I used in the flagged post above. What the flagging of that comment says to me is that CD's got their marching orders to carry "last ditch" scare tactic articles from large, pro-DLC donors. When net neutrality itself is gutted these CD election time step'n'fetchits for the DLC will no doubt bemoan the fact that they didn't help authentic progressives who rose to their senses and got over the failed DLC Dimocrap Party to persuade others to do the same thing. Get out and organize around the failed Dim/Rethug Machine while you still can for your loved ones' sakes before this entire country rips itself to bloody shreds.