Correct me if I am wrong Scotty

[Darb]

But every politician that ran away from their party's sitting President lost, at best, and got trounced mostly.

Barack Obama lead the Democratic Party to a decent majority via hope for a change, then they decided to abandon change (maybe Obama didn't push enough too, but, really, they never had a true, loyal majority) and now they are the minority to a lunatic, far-right Repugnant party.

Thanks for nothing.

Whomever advises the Dem Party are suspect. They have been on their heels since '09.

The Democratic Party needs to rethink their direction.

The voting booth is private? Oh for fuck's sake, you deserve to get trounced by the turtle.

And thanks to all the purists, you got what you wanted. Now what?

[elleng]

1. Party needs better tacticians.

[Darb]

2. Copy that.

Who? This ridiculous political game that is played in Washington, and everywhere else for that matter, is full of professional asshats.

Please, someone, step up!

[elleng]

4. Howard Dean, but

he may not be interested.

[Darb]

6. It's amazing how fast Dean got marginalized by the party.

Screw them, bring back Howard.

[elleng]

8. Right, amazing,

but hubris knows no limits. Rahm for one hated him, and I suspect similar attitude by bubba and hrc.

[Darb]

11. I am a loyal Dem voter, but give me something to pull for.

Obama could have been a game changer but they let the haters rule the day. Now, who's next?

[elleng]

14. Wish I had a good answer,

as Eliz Warren has said she won't run, and hrc's 'anointed,' but anointed by the 'party' that's screwed up so nicely.

[Darb]

19. "Annointed" by this party's braintrust might

not be worth jack squat.

[elleng]

21. Running in primaries is very difficult

without support of party, braintrust or whatever.

[Darb]

27. True dat.

What to do, what to do.

[Scootaloo]

36. To be a party loyalist is to be self-exploited

Be a loyalist to ideas and principals. If the party lines up with those principle, that's great. If hty don't, find candidates who will.

[oh08dem]

3. More Paul Wellstone's, less Joe Manchin's ...

By more "Paul Wellstone's" I mean, someone with heart and spine to fight the good fight. Someone that isn't ashamed of being caled a liberal and not afraid to tell other people why they should be one too.

And by less Joe Manchin's I mean, someone who is willing to sell out every progressive idea in order to get a few votes because they're too cowardly, too lazy, or too paid-off to challenge the voters to make a change.

[Darb]

5. Nailed it. Thanks for posting.

What's needed is courage.

[angrychair]

7. Dems want to lose

Women voters didn't matter.
Young voters didn't matter.
People of color voters didn't matter.
Dems didn't vote. Apathy ruled the day.
Didn't get my pony so "fuck you".

Great job. Way to put the Dems out in the cold.

Fuck the fucking rethugs. All hail our corporate masters.

[Darb]

9. I like your contempt. Count me in.

Who? There is someone out there, but I don't know who.

I will vote Democratic, but come on, give me something to love.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

20. Oh, we knee-grows were told that we didn't matter. We were told that Bill Clinton needed to be

sent to Kentucky, Colorado, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida because no one wants to see a "black Muslim from Kenya" in the South. We were told that black voters don't matter as much as capturing the disaffected white male voter who seems to be whining about knee-grows and the "war on women".

When your base is told that they don't matter, guess what? That base becomes alienated.

Blacks, women are the most loyal of the Democratic base. When Democrats feel the need to use the Clintons to drive a wedge through the Democratic Party, well...they can't expect blacks and women to come out and vote.

We were told right here on Democratic Underground that the Democratic Party had the black vote "in the bag" and that what we really needed was the white male vote.

Look what happened?

When you take us for granted, you just might get a Baker win in MA or shockingly a Hogan win the bluest state of Maryland.

When the Democratic Party establishment eschews its own president who has a record to run on, what do they expect black voters who still support him to do? Turn our backs on him? Ain't gonna happen. We'll stay home as we did in Lexington and Louisville.

Keep fucking with us and see what happens to the Democratic Party.

Ya'll think Hillary is a shoo-in? Think again!

[butterfly77]

30. Ditto!

[Scootaloo]

37. Add youth and latinos to that list

Milk us then bilk us.

Threaten us - threaten us! - into voting? "Oh well, yeah we're not progressives, but we're what you'll settle for, because you don't want a Republican, do you!?"

we're good enough to vote for the wealthy white middle aged and geriatric establishment. we're good enough to send our money to them. Sometimes we're even good enough to be used as props in campaign photos, lucky us. But are our ideas heard by the party? Are our voices wanted?

What do you suppose it'll take?

[hollysmom]

10. you obviously do not see my facebook where people irrationally insanely blame Obama for everything

it is nuts, but I want to see what people ar thinking so I don't unfriend any of them. You can probably blame the unrelenting endlessly repeating all using the exact same phrase and drum beat - the blogs, the radio, the TV and the media.

They beat it into their heads and they will have to die to get it out. But under it all is the he is black.

Now mind you I have never been a fan of any president `100% because that is just the way it is no one is perfect, gut thie hatred is pure in its evilness.

We just don't have the money to counter it and selling out to wall street is not going to help.

[Darb]

13. True, I too have been exasperated at the pure hate,

which cannot be backed up by facts, yet that doesn't matter. It is relentless, weirdly so even. How do you explain utter hatred based on fallacy?

Race is a good start.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

22. When I and other people of color here at DU tell DUers that we've experienced racism in the

Democratic Party, we are attacked; are asked to provide proof of he racism in the form of links and other forms of evidence; are told to "stop exaggerating," etc.

We need good folk like you guys willing to stand up.

Honestly, many of us people of color are very tired. We are defending this president with every breath we have because we are sick and tired of him being blamed for shit that's not his fault. I mean, outrageous shit.

You should have seen the Washington Post article today. Horrible! Doesn't hold Republicans accountable for shit. Blames Obama for every single fucking thing--even for the ebola crisis!!!

It is fucking ridiculous!!

And yet, we expect so-called liberals here on DU to have our backs.

And then wonder why black folk still didn't show up in large enough numbers to help Democrats.

Honestly, like Hispanics, we're sick of this shit!

Don't fucking take us for granted. We WILL stay home.

Hillary Clinton: Are you listening? You do not have this thing in the bag. We will stay our black asses at home in 2016 if you and/or your husband and/or your surrogates come with the racist bullshit like ya'll did in 2008.

Honestly we've had enough. Quite enough!

[Darb]

25. I would not have showed up if my incumbent ran from Obama.

They expect you to bail them out at the same time they run from Obama? I'd say go fuck yourself.

[butterfly77]

32. My sentiments exactly!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

15. I don't care what anyone here on DU says. I don't care what any Democratic pundit says.

I don't give a shit what anyone says.

BILL CLINTON WAS NOT TREATED THIS WAY!! He simply was not!

I have never seen hate directed at one man as I have when it comes to President Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.!

Never, ever!

I agree with you 100%!

I repeat: No other Democratic president, including Bill Clinton, was ever mistreated like this.

Yell, scream, call me names, I don't give a flying fuck, DU!

I haven't seen it. There are a lot of people who agree with me.

Hell, even a conservative Republican who voted for Obama twice admitted to me that the level of hate and blame directed at this one president is nothing he's ever seen before!

[Darb]

17. Word.

I see it daily. Pathetic.

[butterfly77]

33. You are on a roll!

Taking the words out of my mouth,Thank you!

[hollysmom]

38. but here is the thing, would people really have done better by hugging the president?

people are being blamed for not declaring themselves and Obama Democrats (a phrase that does not appeal to me because that is being too nice to republicans) but that would be like diving into that hate and rolling around in it, would that have helped democrats more?
My sister (she was a a poll volunteer in North Carolina for years now) said she was trying to encourage people to vote the straight democratic tickets in presidential years ago and was told by many people they were there to vote for Obama and no one else. Sure enough her area went for republicans and for Obama. How do you fight that mentality? that is democrats saying that.Democrats who do not vote regularly. How do you get democrats to value their vote every time? If democrats do not come out to vote, why blame the candidates for all of it, why not turn the mirror on people with the mentality they only have to vote for president?

Personally, I came from a family which pressed the vote in every election into my bones, but there are people who think it only matters with he president. How do you convince them that the guy down the street on the school board is screwing over your children? How do you make it local and if these people are not going to vote, how do you get any of the hate Obama vote? I don't think hugging the president would have worked very well either.

And it does not help for people being criticized for being against the president when they never said anything anti-Obama, but simply denied they were his puppet and yet democrats crucified them for that here and in other places. There is a spot between love and hate. Some people did say hateful stuff against Obama, but others did not and got pasted with the not total devotion to Obama stick by their opponents and by democrats as well. Hell someone here criticized me for writing about Obama several times and not capitalizing his name ONCE, just once, in a post that capitalized his name all other times. Like AHA you are a hater I caught you so this one time invalidates every thing you have ever said - give me a break!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

12. Here, here! Blaming Obama worked. Looked how that turned out for us?

Absolutely correct! For those here defending Grimes, Udall, Hagan and all the others who ran away from the president, what now? You all were convinced of this winning strategy. You all were fucking wrong, just as I and others predicted!

What now?

Oh, I know. It's all Obama's fault.

Yeah, I get it.

Yawn...

[Darb]

16. I am patiently waitng for the Obama blame crowd. shouldn't take long,

they must be in bed already, sleeping cozily with their Obama blame to keep them warm.

[JDPriestly]

18. Actually, Obama leads the party and is responsible.

Obama offered too many compromises. He wanted too hard to be the president for everyone. Our country is very divided. It is impossible to unite it through compromise. You can only unite people by taking strong stands that are really right, that make sense to a lot of people and that benefit the whole country.

Obama's stance on Social Security, his signals that he might lower cost of living adjustments, wasn't right, did not make sense and promised no benefit for the whole country.

I know Obama was just trying to strike a compromise, but he made a huge, huge mistake there.

Also, Obama's administration's failure to really back labor unions in Wisconsin and in the bail-out, his support of charter school take-overs, and his administration's failure to prosecute more bankers all add up to not much excitement among Democratic voters. It's just the way it works.

People want a president who fights for them, not for compromises with those who favor corporations' interests over the interests of working, middle-class people.

The American middle class, working people including real small business owners rely on Social Security and need relief when it comes to student loans and minimum wages. Obama has not established a strong enough reputation with regard to taking the right side on those issues. He just isn't loud enough. He isn't confrontational enough to get headlines.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

23. The whole thing you wrote = BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!

[butterfly77]

34. Damn you keep saying..

everything I was going to post so all I can say is DOUBLE BULLSHIT!!!

[Darb]

24. One overture regarding SS does not bring this about, but I won't say you are

out of bounds. I too believe Obama should have played hardball from the get go with those fucks, but I also believe he had to try to compromise. Just think how fast he would have been labeled "angry", and you know what I mean.

Regardless, the Repubes have been rewarded for ratfucking. And we let it happen because we thought Obama could deliver what was not possible. It wasn't just the utter hate from the other side, it was our side not taking the initiative that was handed them by is victory in 08.

We lost the chance of a lifetime, now we got lunacy. why?

[JDPriestly]

26. Obama was elected by pretty good margins

.And people, including white people, were HOPING he would be as angry as they were/are. Obama read the vote wrong. People did not vote for him because they wanted him to compromise. They wanted a liberal. Nothing wrong with being angry at injustice. Nothing wrong with it at all.

[Darb]

28. I wanted more too.

I agree, I wanted heads on pikes. But I think he was limited by the fact that he was the first black President. He couldn't lay waste, he had to be a decent, pragmatic, compromising president. He is too fair, too pragmatic, too decent. Also very concerned with how he and his legacy would be taken. he is trailblazing, he couldn't be an asshole. Hillary would not have been one either. Dean maybe.

[JDPriestly]

29. Obama was elected because he was black, not in spite of the fact that he was black.

He did not have to be anything other than what he was. That is the secret to being a member of a minority. Do not be inhibited or limited by what YOU THINK is the stereotype about your race. Just be yourself. You will come across as a more genuine, sincere person and win a lot more friends and get a lot more done.

Obama looked like a guy who was black and could get things done and stand up to the powers that be. After all, it took a lot of courage for him to run considering the expectations of black people about the stereotypes about them. He found the courage. He ran. And you are saying that after he courageously ran, he succumbed to a fear of being stereotyped as an angry black man. I hope you are wrong. I think you are wrong. I think he just isn't as angry as the country needs him to be at this time. He is basically, a very moderate, even right-wing Democrat with just enough progressive thought that he got us to vote for him.

I don't think he has won many right-wingers to the progressive or even Democratic cause, and tonight's results prove it.

At best, he has maintained the status quo in terms of support for Democrats.

[Enthusiast]

35. +1 You nailed it.

[rpannier]

31. The Guy running for Governor of Maryland didn't run

and he lost in a deeply blue state

Wins and loses don't necessarily translate to one thing