Obama gave the GOP the greatest gift of all
When he idiotically proposed to cut Social Security benefits by means of adopting a chained CPI, he gave away the Democratic Party's hard-earned 80-year-long status as the party which promised to protect Social Security against all attacks from Wall Street billionaires. Now, for the first time ever, Democrats seeking office or fighting for reelection can't really claim that their Republican opponents are seeking to dismantle or weaken Social Security without also being vulnerable to counter-attacks that it was the Democratic president himself who actually proposed similar measures to cut Social Security.
Have you seen much talk from campaigning Democrats on the issue of Social Security and how vital it is to prevent Social Security-hostile Republicans from getting into office? Not really. A massive weapon in the Democrats' campaigning arsenal has been surrendered -- by the party's own leader. It does not matter that Obama eventually dropped talk of the chained CPI; he never disowned it, and it's a matter of record now that the Democratic president supported it.
So, in sum, the New Democrats who have finagled their way into controlling the Democratic party have succeeded in giving away almost all of the Democratic party's traditional strength and appeal to the American people:
-- By enabling "free trade" agreements such as NAFTA, CAFTA, MFN for China, KORUS, etc. they have shrunk union membership -- a major chunk of Democratic support -- as well as giving away the party's claim to protect and strengthen the middle class.
-- By joining with Republicans to do away with things like teacher tenure, they have severely diminished support from another major component of the Democratic rank-and-file: the nation's teachers.
-- And by openly accepting GOP policies to begin the process of undermining Social Security, the New Democrats have toilet-bowled one of the defining differences between the Democratic and Republican parties.
Do you see how utterly important it is for the Democratic rank-and-file to once-and-for all remove the corporate Democrats and their flunkies from party leadership?
= new reply since forum marked as read
"Ratfucking is an American slang term for political sabotage or dirty tricks. It was first brought to public attention during the Watergate scandal investigation that during the 1972 presidential campaign the Nixon campaign committee maintained a "dirty tricks" unit focused on discrediting Nixon's strongest challengers.
According to Woodward and Bernstein, Nixon aide Dwight Chapin hired fellow USC alumnus Donald Segretti to run a campaign of dirty tricks (which Segretti dubbed "ratfucking"
against the Democrats in 1972. The purpose of the operation was to create as much bitterness and disunity within the Democrat primary as possible. One notable example of Segretti's wrong-doing was a faked letter on Democratic presidential candidate Edmund Muskie's letterhead falsely alleging that U.S. Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson, a fellow Democrat, had had an illegitimate child with a 17-year-old."
And I have to ask how old are you if you're not familiar with the term?
stop trying it on. (I believe it was Thom Mcan who said that.) 
Rat-ophobia is a divisive wedge issue this close to the election.
Pretty much the only group that consistently support Free Trade Agreements are libertarian and their neo-con/liberal friends.
and once the last red state democrats are defeated, then the republicans will allow all sorts of liberal goodies to pass through. Since red state dems are the problem.
but more like:
Make them suffer. that will teach them! Then they'll know to never vote against liberals ever again.
And thanks for an injection of reason.
and WELCOME, staggerleem!
Welcome to DU!
The optics on this were terrible and all of us 'lefties' that were shouting "NO!!!" and that the rethugs would beat Democratic candidates with it the next election cycle were told to be quiet, that the adults had this under control, and that it was only a proposal.
Well, guess fucking what......? 
