What the Dems are doing is vindicating the GOP and moving the country to the right

[Cali_Democrat]

Issue after issue we see Dems pretending to be Republicans. They think that this is somehow the ticket to getting elected in 2014. One prominent candidate won't even say if she voted for Obama...as if somehow this will win her brownie points.

Everything from immigration reform to gun control to clean energy. Democratic candidates for office are channeling the GOP. Obamacare has helped millions of Americans get coverage, yet so many Dems are acting like it's a socialist experiment gone awry.

Clearly they never listened to Harry Truman:

The people don't want a phony Democrat. If it's a choice between a genuine Republican, and a Republican in Democratic clothing, the people will choose the genuine article, every time; that is, they will take a Republican before they will a phony Democrat, and I don't want any phony Democratic candidates in this campaign.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman

Truman said this over 60 years ago and it's still true to this day. This is why GOPers are poised to win this Novemeber. Why should Americans vote for Democrats pretending to be Republicans? Americans will vote for the genuine article, every time. They will pick the Republican before they pick the phony Democrat pretending to be a Republican.

Democrats need to listen to this guy:

[VanillaRhapsody]

1. wtf are you talking about?

The largest caucus are the Liberal Democrats...most of the Blue Dogs got taken out in the last Midterms.

THIS constant criticism by Dem leaning Independents is what is turning people OFF!

It proves the meme..."both parties are the same" which also suppresses the vote.

[Cali_Democrat]

2. Dems running for office are acting like Republicans. That's the problem. nt

[VanillaRhapsody]

3. No that is just the constant background noise

From Independents.....they THINK that anything they dont support is automatically Rightwing. Its a bullshit meme and I an sick as shit of having to hear it on D U


It makes people apathetic

[G_j]

4. I don't think there are many

who are really concerned about what you are sick of.

[VanillaRhapsody]

7. and I dont give a shit that you dont care..

[Scootaloo]

29. That must be why you seem so full of the stuff all the time n/t

[840high]

36. Wheee!!!!!

[Union Scribe]

5. Don't worry, I'm sure your delightful people skills

will win back any voters lost by DUers expressing their opinions.

[bigwillq]

9. bwah!

[VanillaRhapsody]

10. I am glad that Indepedents dont appreciate my

"People skills"...just you even saying that tells me that I am making my points count.....

[LondonReign2]

15. What people skills?

[sabrina 1]

48. Like Torture, you mean? Airc, someone on DU recently stated that those 'left leaning' Indies

who are against torture, were making things hard for REAL DEMS. I remember asking if a 'real Dem' supports torture, because that was a kind of shock to THIS DEM.

You must be aware that Dems cannot win, see 20010 when those left leaning Indies refused to vote for Blue Dog phony Dems, if they do not get the Independent vote. And yes, left leaning Independents are very concerned about issues like Torture, and SS, you know, like the old fashioned REAL DEMS. And being that Indies are the biggest voting bloc right now, they sure won't vote for ANYONE who isn't clear on these issues.

[grahamhgreen]

52. Is the new war right or left?

[Scuba]

21. No, what's turning people off is the lack of a non-conservative platform.

[MontyPow]

39. This!

[hifiguy]

6. And it has ben going on ever since the DLC was formed.

This bullshit HAS to STOP.

[leftstreet]

11. It won't stop til Hillary's reig...term ends

The DLClinton machinery wants its final fix.

[merrily]

13. It won't stop then, either, unless we make it stop. Wish I knew how.

Progressive Policy Institute, Third, Way, Center for American Progress, No Labels. All those think tanks are still thriving.

[theaocp]

23. wolf-pac.com n/t

[Dustlawyer]

26. Wolf-pac.com is one, Bernie Sanders is another. Bernie has said his number one issue is

eliminating campaign contributions in favor of publicly funded elections. By doing that you take away the main tool the Plutocrats use to control the government. After we regain our Representative Democracy we can work to end the revolving door between government and the private sector, eliminate the oligopolies in media and banking, and finally deal with the other big issues facing our country that cannot be addressed while corporations control our politicians, judges, and use the media to brainwash the electorate.
None of this will happen until enough people see through this and are fed up enough to do something about it! As long as Democrats are willing to believe that people like Hillary are going to represent them, and that the rest of us are spoilers, or out in left field, we cannot address things like climate change (and the clock is ticking)!

[unblock]

8. imagine the best place for a shop on the beach -- right in the middle

now imagine two shops. what's optimal, what's stable? both right next to each other, right next to the middle.

one serves the left side, the other serves the right side, split down the middle. neither shop can benefit from moving.

now suppose the shop on the right moves way down further to the right. the people on the far right are very happy.

where does the other one go? business is booming, but they can do better by moving right up next to the other shop even though that shop it still far to the right.

why? because now the entire left half *and* a everything to the left of the other ship is now closer to the "left" shop even though the "left" shop is now very nearly as far right as the "right" shop.


this all works until the "right" shop realizes the error in its ways and switches to the other side, trying to serve the pissed off people way over on the left who by now are very far away from either shop.


republicans aren't likely to do that dance any time soon, but one never knows when a major realignment will come....

[daleanime]

22. It won't stop.....

until the flow of money is.

[kentuck]

12. Basically true....

However, there is no way in hell the Republicans should have been able to make this election about Obama rather than about their own reckless abandonment of government. The entire Party, including the President, are to blame for not defending the positive accomplishments of the Administration and for letting the Republicans define them as failures and incompetents.

[merrily]

14. Today, Morning Schmoe said, given a choice between a real Democrat and a fake Democrat,

people will vote for the real Democrat every time. Or something like that.

When Dean mentioned that Truman had said something similar, Joe pretended never to have heard Truman's quote.

[LondonReign2]

16. I hope you don't take this the wrong way

but I completely agree with you.

I'm not sure what to make of that, since I don't think it has ever happened before.

[BrotherIvan]

17. I was a little taken aback as well

Stopped clock theory.

[Cali_Democrat]

20. Really?

You don't believe in immigration reform?

You don't believe in clean energy?

You don't believe in single payer?

You don't believe in hiking the minimum wage?

You don't believe in extending unemployment benefits?

You don't believe in increasing taxes on the wealthy?


Because I believe in all these things.

[MontyPow]

40. You didn't read DU memo (TOS). It's not about quality, but quantity.

[sabrina 1]

49. I was a bit shocked also as I don't think the OP and I have agreed on much either.

Including this btw. Maybe more people ARE waking up to the real problem. I hope so, because the more people understand what is really going on, the easier it will be to do something about it.

[democrank]

18. Harry Truman was onto something.

I still vote on issues, not personalities. Like I`ve said so many times here.....You can`t point to a pile of dog crap and tell me it`s a strawberry sundae. And, I don`t have to be a closet independent to say that. In fact, all the old-time Democrats I know are disappointed in our party leadership right now. These old timers are the ones who marched against the war in Vietnam, worked for the Civil Rights Movement and the Women`s Movement, and spoke out tirelessly for economic and social justice. They, like me, have decades in this party. NONE of them are independents. They`re disappointed, frustrated Democrats who want our party to get back to basics and stop acting like they`re on the right flank of a Frank Luntz focus group. All these old timers, by the way, still contribute to and volunteer for Democrats. So, all this hogwash about being closet independents is just that....hogwash.

I don`t have cheer to on the invasion of countries, support torture, glorify the "free market", be against single payer health care, support fracking, genuflect to Wall Street and clap whenever there`s a back room meeting where Big Pharma is helping write a new law to prove I`m with the new in crowd....The Third Wayers.

I`m also old enough to understand pragmatism and compromise. Those are both good notions....when called for. What I`m not for is a sell-out to the point that I match any random Republican. In my old mind, there are still things worth fighting for.

~PEACE~

[treestar]

19. The Rs likely say the same thing

There's a lot to be upset about if you are a conservative. Lots of things you don't want happening.

We had this argument over Blue Dogs. They come from Red States. Democrats in Kentucky are not going to be wildly liberal, because few people in KY are.

People aren't going to turn into liberals because someone gets up and speaks about how things should be. It takes longer than that. If it worked, Kucinich would be President and there would be a Congress with majority of Graysons.

We have to get away from this unreal fantasy that the right single person can sway all to our way of thinking. We have to do it every day ourselves.

[Rex]

31. LOL nobody has to turn into a liberal, that is such a tired canard let it go.

The OP is just asking for moderates to be moderates. I can't understand the hatred for liberals, seems some in both parties act just the same toward the Left.

[treestar]

46. You're making the liberals into helpless victims

Who are so unlucky they can't find a real leader. Not self governing people who are part of the process.

[Rex]

47. You make them out to be without a leader. Probably don't even notice.

Liberals always have high numbers in elections and did so for Obama or did you forget?

[MontyPow]

42. Except that they are. Democrats simply refuse to point it out.

[sabrina 1]

50. Who cares what the Right says, does or thinks? Why do people even mention the right

when Dems are trying to talk about OUR OWN PARTY. I have no clue what the Right is 'talking about' regarding this issue. I care ONLY about OUR PARTY, period, and nothing the Right is saying or doing has any relevance whatsoever to this subject.

Attempting to dismiss voters' real concerns has grown very old. You can't do it, no amount of talking points or personal attacks or bullying, is going to do anything other than make those voters even more angry. I don't know who is responsible for these constant attacks on VOTERS, blaming THEM for the failure of those the voters elected.

[RufusTFirefly]

24. This is a Red Letter Day, Cali_Democrat. I actually agree with you!!

Following Harry's example, I used to refer to "New Coke" Democrats -- in honor of the soft drink fiasco when Coke changed its formula to taste more like Pepsi and people decided that if Coke tastes like Pepsi they'd be better off drinking Pepsi!

[pansypoo53219]

25. THE GNEWZ MEDIA is making them because they sytill are under the spell of ronny raygun.

add fux gnewz + hate radio and OMG! look look! amerika hates obama. never mind INFORMING the sheeple how the GOP has COCKBLOCKED THE CHANGE YOU VOTED FOR. w/ HELP from the teevee gnewz sucking reagan's balls. OF COURSE THE dems go rite. all for WALL STREET.

[Scootaloo]

27. Cali_Democrat...

some months ago, weren't you on the other side, yelling at those of us who were saying this exact same thing, going on about how we "just hate obama" or whatnot?

What brought on the change of position?

[Cali_Democrat]

28. Which position did I change specifically?

Immigration reform? Gun control? Obamacare?

Can you be a little specific?

I've been pretty consistent actually. It's the Dems now who are running to the right on various issues.

[Scootaloo]

30. I was specific

You were exceedingly unpleasant to those of us who have been criticizing the Democratic party's constant move to find "middle ground" with the right. I want to know what, precisely. changed that position of yours, so that now criticizing democrats is okay?

[Cali_Democrat]

33. You have got to be specific about what issue you're referring to

"Middle ground with the right" on what issue?

I really don't know what issue you're referring to.

Can you point out when I opposed gun control, immigration reform and clean energy? I've always been opposed to Keystone.

[Cali_Democrat]

54. Scoot?

You seemed to have disappeared.



Was my question too tough?

"Middle ground with the right" on what issue? Got a link by any chance? When did I demand that we seek middle ground with the right on a certain issue?

[Scootaloo]

55. You seem to have a difficulty with readinghere, Cali_Democrat

You have, in the past, taken great exception to anyone who has criticized democrats.
here you are, criticizing Democrats.
What has brought about this change?

[MontyPow]

43. Probably.

[MannyGoldstein]

51. Thank you.

I was about to ask for a referral for a psych eval after reading the OP. Either I'm not nuts, or we both are.

The OP has a history of going back in time and self-deleting inconvenient posts.

[Cali_Democrat]

53. And you have a history of saying you voted for Reagan.

Not only that, didn't you also say you'd overturn the 2008 election in favor of McCain?

[truebluegreen]

32. I don't think they are pretending to be anything.

Generally speaking--there are a few exceptions--they are the kinder, gentler wing of the Republican Party.

If this is the best the country can do, then imho the whole place has collectively gone insane.

[Rex]

34. If only moderates would be moderates, we wouldn't have this problem.

Of course someone already came along and played the Liberal card...sad since it is now a canard.

[stupidicus]

35. I've thought that since early in the BC admin

and became convinced when he signed welfare reform and especially the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

The MSM has increasingly become little but a state lapdog since

[jeff47]

37. We screwed up in the 1980s.

The right was forming a coalition between older GenX and younger Boomers - both groups tended to be conservative. Today, it's the core of the Republican party/Tea party.

Liberals? We never quite got to forming a coalition to counter them. Older boomers, who tend to be liberal, didn't team up with younger GenX, who also tend to be liberal. From the perspective of a young GenXer, it looked like the older boomers couldn't be bothered to care about our issues - it's not like "College is expensive and student loans are huge debts" is new.

(And I'm fully aware I'm biased there - I was the one paying the loans. I'm sure older Boomers have reasons they didn't form that coalition too.)

As a result, young GenX gave up on politics. Older boomers weren't a large enough block to counter the conservative juggernaut. So all of our politics shifted right.

So who's running today? People who could get elected in our right-leaning environment. Because you don't go from Jane Citizen to successful Senate candidate. You've got to win lower office races first. And the pool of Democrats in those lower offices are right-leaning, because that's what won.

We need to shift that lower officeholder pool to the left. That's going to take time, and require a lot of work on our part. But we will never fix the problem by focusing on only the upper part of the ballot.

[Recursion]

41. Younger Gen-X is also a tiny cohort

It's people like me, born in the mid 1970's or so:



There's another small cohort being born (or, well, not being born) right now. I don't know that we're apathetic; there just aren't that many of us.

[jeff47]

45. We aren't the baby boom, but older boomer + young GenX

would have the numbers to counter younger boomer + older GenX.

Keep in mind all the political types are now talking about attracting Millenials, and look where they show up in your graph.

[Hutzpa]

38. If the dems are moving to the right

then why is it that the republicans are working overtime to disenfranchise legitimate voters?

[MontyPow]

44. Because slow walking to the right takes longer

Better to just jump to the end of the book.