Are Progressive and Centrist Views In Conflict or in Concert?

So the Democratic Party is about to do some soul searching. I don't have a lot of the answers, but I think that this is a start.

For the first time in recent memory, the Democratic Party was unified and got out to vote. Fell short, yes, but got together and organized.

Can we hold that together? Only if the Progressives and Centrists can come together and craft a new unifying agenda. These two wings must come up with a single, unified ideal. They must stay together by finding out that upon which we agree and then putting that together into a coherent message. A "mission statement" if you will.

So that's the challenge, what is the mission statement of this unified base? What do we agree on? I'm not going to try and figure out which few issues we need to "switch" on to pick up a couple of states. I'm talking about taking this amazingly organized group of people and LISTENING to them, finding the true common ground based on our shared values. Fuck the Republicans for stealing that word. We won back patriotism from them in this election, we can win back values too.

Comment away, I'll try and pull together what I see is the same and draft up a unified one from this group and post it. Read the rest of this post...

Hey Pat Robertson - Go Cheney Yourself - We got a lesbian sheriff on our side

Looking for good news - from Texas of all places? From Reuters:

Dallas County, the home to some of the biggest conservative supporters of President Bush, made history Tuesday night by electing an openly gay Hispanic woman as its sheriff.

Democrat Lupe Valdez, 57, pulled off one of the biggest surprises in the Texas races by defeating Republican Danny Chandler.

'Dallas is an international county,' Valdez told reporters. That is what I want to represent.'

She will be the first Democrat to serve as Dallas County sheriff in about 30 years. Valdez boasted that she has worked on law enforcement at a local, national and international level.

Now that is good news! Read the rest of this post...

Gag me, now

AP:

The day that dropped the curtain on the 2004 presidential race raised one for the 2008 contest, with Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards jockeying for advantage among Democrats and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist the first on the stage for Republicans.

Hillary? Yeah because we thought Kerry wasn't unappealing enough. We wanted someone who REALLY ticks off people in the middle as much as they galvanize the right. Thoughts? Just me, or is Hillary not our best option here? Read the rest of this post...

Evening Open Thread - Where do we go from here?

Sorry, but between blogger being kooky and me being exhausted, we haven't posted a lot today. Tomorrow will be back to our usual hyper-posting :-)

In the meantime, a few thoughts for an open thread:

What went wrong? Did we lose, did they win? Was it our message? Our lack of one? Too liberal? Too conservative? The war? Terrorism? Is Bush really that loved? Was Kerry the wrong candidate at the wrong place at the wrong time? Could Howard Dean have won? Bad turnout? The gays? Gay-baiting?

And what do we do now? Fight back harder? Be coniciliatory? Move to the left, move to the right? Throw out our leaders?

What went wrong and what should we do to win in the future? Read the rest of this post...

OPEN THREAD

I'm sure folks could use a little venting. Read the rest of this post...

ALERT: Contact Senator Dodd NOW, we need a STRONG Democratic leader like Sen. Dodd!

UPDATE: Some of you had mentioned Dick Durbin (D-IL) as a possible Senate Democratic Leader. He would be acceptable as well. We simply need someone who is actually a Democrat rather than a crypto-Republican, and someone who has the balls to stand up to the Republicans. Harry Reid is not that man.

FURTHER UPDATE: Please also contact Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND). Dorgan is head of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, and highly influential on the issue of who the next Senate Democratic Leader will be. Please call (202-224-2551) and email Senator Dorgan and tell him that Senator Harry Reid is the WRONG choice for Senate Democratic Leader. You can also call and leave messages for the following Democratic Policy Committee staff - be polite but firm that Harry Reid is a big mistake:

- Brian Hickey (202) 224-3232
- Todd Webster (202) 224-9890
- Barry Piatt (202) 224-2551

You guys wanted to know what we do next? Here it is.

WE NEED TO MAKE SENATOR CHRIS DODD (D-CT) THE NEXT DEMOCRATIC LEADER IN THE SENATE.

But the only way it's going to happen is if you act NOW.

Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) is the frontrunner to replace Tom Daschle as Senate Democratic Leader (as you know, Daschle lost his re-election yesterday). Harry Reid would be a disaster. Reid makes Daschle looks bold in comparison. Reid is basically a nice quiet mild-mannered conservative Democrat who doesn't make waves and really likes Republicans, and making Republicans happy.

The talk of those supporting Reid is that the Democrats lost this election because - get this - we were TOO mean and too combative with those nice Republicans! Yeah, I wish. Did you know that we needed to practically break Reid's arm to get him to sign on to ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (proposed legislation to make anti-gay job discrimination illegal)? This guy is no friend to gays, and he's no friend of mainstream Democrats.

The man we need is Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut. Chris Dodd is smart, telegenic, speaks well, knows how to fight hard and smart, and he is the only man even being considered who will campaign for our values as Democrats, and who will kick the Republicans in the ass when they need it (which is more often now than ever). We need a Democrat who ISN'T AFRAID to be a Democrat, and who isn't afraid to kick the Republicans where it counts. The last thing we need is more of the same wimpy wussy milquetoast pseudo-Democratic crap that we had to put up with Tom Daschle and the rest of the Democratic establishment in this town.

Please call Senator Chris Dodd's office NOW and urge them to tell their boss WE WANT HIM TO RUN FOR SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER. We need a strong courageous Democratic running our party in the US Senate. Dodd is reportedly considering whether or not to run for leader. He will supposedly announce tomorrow his decision. PLEASE call his office immediately, and ask your friends to do the same. Simply politely tell the staffer answering the phone that we need Chris Dodd to run for Senate Democratic leader.

Again, you folks wanted to know what to do today? This is an important first step. Let's finally get the leaders we deserve.

NOTE: I understand the voice mail box is full this evening (Wednesday) - call again on Thursday after 9AM eastern when a real person is there to answer, but in the meantime, use this Web form to send an email.

Chris Dodd's office phone number in DC:
(202) 224-2823

I would prefer folks don't use email or Web forms to contact the office. They need to hear from us now, and it's not clear when they'll check their email. Having said that, it's now after hours - so it can't hurt to use the Web form to contact them tonight while also trying the phone - they may have the answering machine on, leave messages.. Please call and simply tell the person at the front desk that you urge Senator Dodd to run for Senate Democratic leader.

I understand the voice mail box is full - call again on Thursday after 9AM eastern when a real person is there to answer, but in the meantime, use this Web form to send an email.

Thanks everyone, JOHN Read the rest of this post...

Did Gays Cost Kerry The Election?

Certainly, the one in five of gays who VOTED for Bush didn't help. (What were they thinking?)

But gay marriage bans passed in 11 states, and the harshest one passed in Ohio and helped drive evangelical voters to the polls. And that is one major factor why Bush won that crucial state.

So did gays cost Kerry the election? No. Gays and lesbians did not push the issue forward and did not press Kerry to be more forthright. It gained national prominence because of court rulings and the natural desire of U.S. citizens to claim their basic civil rights. The Bush campaign played on hate and bigotry -- constantly making gay slurs about Kerry and Edwards, passing out fliers in some states that lied and said Kerry would allow gay marriage and ban the Bible, going back on his word and pushing a Constitutional Amendment that for the first time would take away basic civil rights of Americans rather than bringing new people to the table and the list goes on. Gays didn't lose Kerry the election. But hatred and bigotry against gay Americans certainly helped Bush win.

Blaming gay Americans who believe they deserve the same basic civil rights as everyone else for losing the election is like blaming slaves for the Civil War. Gays aren't too uppity. Bigots are too backwards. And they are the past. Every look at young Americans demonstrates that they don't blanche over mixed race relationships (like their parents still do), don't think being gay is a big deal one way or the other (it's just the way people are). And BOTH Presidential candidates said they supported civil unions for gays. (Not that Bush will lift a finger to make that happen.)

The future is clearly on our side, no matter how many Supreme Court justices Bush may appoint. It's just, for now, that the present feels like a step into the bleak and narrow past.
Read the rest of this post...

Is The Bush Win A Mandate?

Well, yes, but a very tepid one. It's a big mandate for Republicans in general -- they gained in the House and the Senate and held on to the White House. They now dominate State legislatures, Governors, the House, the Senate, talk radio, cable news, the Supreme Court and the White House. It was really unhealthy when the Democrats dominated everything for many years and it's going to be just as bad now that the Republicans do.

But a mandate for Bush? He won the popular vote. (Hey, if at first you don't succeed...) But it came down to one state. One state. If one state had flipped, if Kerry had won Ohio OR Florida, then he would be the President. One state is not a stirring mandate.

But Dick Cheney is quoted in Bob Woodward's book as saying in 2000 that the idea that they should govern from the center because they'd lost the popular vote "last about 30 seconds." They're certainly not going to change now.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Ronald Reagan beat Walter Mondale in 1984, winning 58.8% of the popular vote versus Mondale's 40.4%. Now THAT'S a mandate. Read the rest of this post...

Media now investigating Ohio fraud

It seems we scared the freepers shitless last night with our photo proving Bush-Cheney partisans got control of ballots for 40 precincts. They tried to spam this blog with comments about how the photo evidence (in a post below) is photoshopped. But of course, being the Fox News lackeys they are, they don't realize that REAL news people like me check multiple sources. Let's all say it together: Multiple sources. There were 6 to 7 witnesses who saw the truck with the Bush sticker, and the same witnesses saw the photographer take the photo, so both are verified.

Seems we scared the freepers good. Which is proof that a good camera is your best weapon against these guys.

And oh yeah, several major print and TV news organizations are already on the story. Thanks to you-know-who out there who sent me the info on this story :-) Read the rest of this post...

What happened? Buy this book...

and find out. It's your President's election and governing manual.



It's here on Amazon. Read the rest of this post...

Off With Their Heads

No, not the President's - that would get me a visit from the Secret Service. :-) Off with the heads of the Democratic leadership.

They've led us into another disaster of an election, and it's time for them to go. The head of the DNC, the congressional leadership, all of them. The only good thing about Daschle losing is that it was Daschle himself who lost. The time is over for the Democratic party having leaders who act like Republicans because they represent Republican-leaning states. Daschle is the man whose idea of countering Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut - back at a time when NO ONE in the country wanted that tax cut and Bush had no mandate at all - Daschle said "how about $1.3 trillion instead?" Yes, that's our idea of a tenanacious leader. So while I don't want to lose a Democratic seat in the Senate, if we had to lose one, I'm glad it's Daschle.

I'll be talking more in future posts about what's needed to change this party. But the very first thing is Terry McAuliffe, the head of the Democratic party, must resign and make room for new blood. The same old losers can't keep running our party, and quasi-party, organizations. It's time to clean house, and hire some people who talk and think like Democrats but fight like Republicans. Read the rest of this post...

I'm back - blogger has been down, sorry

Ok, back now. Kerry just finished speaking. Give all of us a second to write some updates. Read the rest of this post...

It's 3 a.m. In Ohio And PEOPLE ARE STILL VOTING!

Yep, ABC News just reported at 3 in the morning that people are still lined up and voting in at least TWO precincts in Ohio -- including predominantly college students at one polling area. With cell phones and portable cameras, it's startling to me that we weren't seeing LIVE FOOTAGE of people lined up and voting in the most hotly contested state in the country, but there you are.

Ohio is STILL casting ballots and there are provisional ballots AND overseas ballots AND absentee ballots. I am disconsolate at this moment that it was even close, much less that Kerry is trailing in the popular vote. But is it too much to ask that we count every vote or at least wait until people have stopped voting in Ohio before calling it a day?

Laughably, a Republican lackey just insisted that it was outrageous that Kerry's people wanted to wait until all the votes were counted and claimed the Democrats were gonna try all sorts of legal wrangling and that the American people want their leaders chosen by voters and not by activist judges. Amen, brother, but where the hell were you in 2000?
Read the rest of this post...

Possible evidence of voter fraud in Ohio

I just received a photo a Cincinnati poll manager took this evening, and it seems to be proof of some fishy actions with ballots in Ohio. Bottom line: Note the already-voted-with ballots in the back of the truck with the Bush-Cheney sticker in the back window. Does this prove fraud? Well, it certainly doesn't look good in a state that's already had lots of problems this election.


Click here to see the larger image.

In a nutshell, Stefan Skirtz is a poll manager for the Kerry campaign in Cincinnati. His precinct is heavily made up of minorities and students (i.e., leans Kerry). One of the duties of the poll managers, Stefan told me in a phone call minutes ago, is to follow the poll workers to election headquarters as they drop off the ballots and ballot boxes. Stefan followed the poll workers who didn't go directly to the election headquarters. Instead, they went to a local public school where workers put the ballot machines into a semi trailer, and then the poll workers handed off the sealed bags containing the ballots to someone Stefan assumed was with the county board of elections.

The first problem he noticed was that there was no sign off of the transfer of the ballots. Nothing was written down and given to the poll worker as proof that the ballots were passed off to the county employee.

What's worse, Stefan noticed the pick-up truck of the supposed county board of election - the truck the ballots for 40 precincts were loaded into - had a big Bush-Cheney 2004 sticker in the back window. Stefan did say that he followed the truck to the election headquarters, though he didn't see what transpired after the truck pulled into the election hq parking lot.

As Stefan explains it, the poll managers had such an extensive list of voters rights and regulations that they had to follow, including it being illegal to have any partisan buttons etc. in the polling place, yet the ballots for voters in over 40 precincts were put in the hands of Bush-Cheney partisans.

I don't know whether the Bush partisans did or didn't play any games with the ballots they received, but it sure doesn't look good, and I wonder whether it's even legal. And let's not forget, this is a state that was already well on its way to becoming the new Florida of GOP election fraud.

Stefan says he has 6 or 7 witnesses who also saw the sticker on the truck. I have Stefan's contact info for members of the media. Read the rest of this post...

Kerry wins Michigan - holy shit

Ohio is the new Florida. As you'll recall, there were a lot of problems with Ohio this time around. Lots of potential lawsuits. Recounts etc. And I just heard that the provisional ballots can't be counted for ten days. Read the rest of this post...

Headlines tomorrow (today)

Here's what I think the right headline is:

HERE WE GO AGAIN

What do you think, comment away. Now I'm going to bed. Read the rest of this post...

UGH - OHIO = FLORIDA

What the fuck - it's green on the TV, here's it's purple - either way another question mark. I'm going to bed. From CNN.

Read the rest of this post...

Ok, Ohio is suddenly getting very interesting

Ok, this is getting interesting. We WERE down 150,000 votes in Ohio with 87% of the precincts reporting. A few minutes ago, with 94% reporting there we were only 100,000 down from Bush. We gained 50,000 - cut our deficit by a third - in the past few minutes. Now to the provisional ballots.

The Ohio secretary of state says that in 2000 they had a little over 100,000 provisional ballots, 90 percent of which ended up being good ballots. They're projecting 150,000 or more provisional ballots this time around in Ohio. Again, if 90 percent are good, that means 135,000+ votes outstanding.

If we get 2/3 or so of those votes, and the other states we need, we could still win. It all depends where those provisional votes are from, and how we do with the last 7% of the precincts.

This is still not clear how it's going, but it's not over yet. Read the rest of this post...

Republican Coors lost in Colorado Senate race

Thank God. Read the rest of this post...

IF we lose, watch the blame game tomorrow

It's already starting. Carville was on CNN talking about how the Democrats need to figure out how to win the rural vote. True, but I think I'm hearing "let's go more conservative" in that comment, and that troubles me.

Kerry is not having problems because he's perceived as too liberal. He IS very liberal, but that monicker never stuck. Kerry's biggest negative was being perceived as wishy-washy. While George Bush is conservative as hell, people liked that they knew where he stood on issues (or at least perceived that they knew). This is something I've been arguing since Gore lost in 2000. Namely, that Dems lose not because of what they believe in, but rather, because of the perception that they don't strongly believe in ANYTHING. That's what happened in 2000 with Gore, and I think that's our problem tonight, win or lose. (And note, that the same bs about the party needing to move towards the middle was talked about after we lost in 2000 - again, failing to realize that wasn't the problem.)

And the biggest danger we face as a party is our "leaders" totally misinterpreting the election results. There will be calls to move more to the middle, get more conservative, become more like the Republicans in order to win more votes. But, of course, that shifting of position, trying to portray ourselves as someone other than who we are, will again make us look waffly and weak because we won't be truly standing for our convictions. Rather, we'll be shifting with the wind.

In the end, most of the American people don't care WHAT you believe. Sure, they don't want you to be a communist or a terrorist, but short of being that kind of a wacko, it really doesn't matter if you're conservative or liberal. They want you to be likeable and to believe strongly in something. That's it. Our problem as a party and a movement isn't that we believe in the wrong thing, it's that we don't know what believe in - or rather, we're afraid to believe in anything or to be perceived as believing in anything.

And until this party grows a set of balls and gives as good as it gets, it's going to continue to struggle. The worst thing we can do is to wake up tomorrow and decide that we need to change our message while keeping the same wimpy messengers in charge of the party. It just doesn't matter if you're a liberal-dem waffler or a conservative-dem waffler. If all you change is the message and not the messenger, nothing is going to change.

That's it for now. Tomorrow we'll talk about how, if Bush truly wins, we're going to immortalize Mary Cheney as the biggest gay Benedict Arnold in the history of homosexuality. I hope she's proud of herself. It looks like her and her father's and her president's gay-baiting may have cost us the election. Read the rest of this post...

NEW HAMPSHIRE FLIPS - KERRY PICK UP

Believe that John Kerry could win the Electoral College and lose the popular vote? WTF?

He won New Hampshire, a flip and pickup for Kerry. Let say he loses Ohio but wins NV, NM, MN, IA, WI, MI and HI.

That's a 269 269 tie. Ugh. Read the rest of this post...

CNN still not calling Ohio

Only 116,000 vote difference. Maybe it's 2000 again but we win Ohio this time the way they won Florida in 2000? Read the rest of this post...

IF we lose, watch the blame game tomorrow

Oops. Only half the post posted, you really want to read this entire post here.

It's already starting. Carville was on CNN talking about how the Democrats need to figure out how to win the rural vote. True, but I think I'm hearing "let's go more conservative" in that comment, and that troubles me. Kerry is not having problems because he's perceived as too liberal. He IS very liberal, but that monicker never stuck. Kerry's biggest negative was being perceived as wishy-washy. While George Bush is conservative as hell, people liked that they knew where he stood on issues (or at least perceived that they knew). This is something I've been arguing since Gore lost in 2000. Namely, that Dems lose not because of what they believe in, but rather, because of the perception that they don't strongly believe in ANYTHING. That's what happened in 2000 with Gore, and I think that's our problem tonight, win or lose.

And the biggest danger we face as a party is our "leaders" totally misinterpreting the election results. There will be calls to move more to the middle, get more conservative, become more like the Republicans in order to win more votes. But, of course, that risk Read the rest of this post...

Here's what I don't understand...

Look at the total votes right now. They are still predicting about 120 million turnout. Over 1 in 10 are new voters, and they broke almost 60% Kerry. There must have been a HUGE Republican turnout who did not vote last cycle. Read the rest of this post...

It all comes down to Ohio

We need Ohio, or we're toast. That's the update. No news at ALL on TV. I still think Florida is a bit fish - lots of absentee/provisional ballots to be counted. But obviously, it ain't looking good. Still, remember last time - Bush's prospects didn't start looking up until about this hour. More to come. Read the rest of this post...