OK....Who is still in the Democratic Party ??

[kentuck]

With all the discussion about who's who and who's what, how many have deserted the Party for the Greens or someone else ? I look at all this as a intramural squabble within the Democratic Party for control of the Democratic Party. Why would a real Democrat leave the Party unless they thought it was no longer worth fighting for? The sad truth is that we all belong to no organized political Party - we are Democrats. Let's fight like hell but let's fight for the only Party that actually challenges the status quo...Stay with the Party but fight for the direction you think our Party should go. I think finally we are starting to act like real Democrats. :)

[dave502d]

1. Count me in.never voted for pug in 52 years.n/t

[AllyCat]

2. Deserted for the Greens a long time ago

Conservative Repub fiance did the same...we have stopped fighting and found common ground in the Green Party :D

[autorank]

14. Welcome to DU...that's Democratic Underground

Do like what the Greenies are doing in OH and I have them $$$'s gladly. I'm was all for a summit between the Democrats, Greens, and Libertarians until I looked at the Libertarian web site. Wacky! Good luck to you and your husband. If things work out as they normally do in these sorts of things, your children will be Democrats!!!

Corporate America controls the media and we get manufactured news.
Corporate America now controls the voting machines and we get manufactured elections.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

[AllyCat]

19. That said, I voted for one Repuke in my life...

...when I was voting absentee in college and my brother assured me this Rep was running for DA in support of First Amendment rights. The guy was elected and immediately turned around and started busting adult bookstores and shops that sold "offensive" magazines. I haven't voted for one since.

In the last election there were no Greens to vote for in my district except Cobb, but the Greenest vote this year was for Kerry, although I am enamorate of what Cobb and Badnarik are doing in Ohio. Ex-Repub fiance voted for two Repubs, 4 Dems, 3 Greens, and a Lib in Madison. He said he's never voted for so many Dems in his entire life.

[autorank]

21. Good for hubby!

So he can sleep inside this Winter? If I'd been in Oregon, I would have voted for Wayne Morse, a Republican, or in Alaska for Ernest Greuning, another Republican (both voted against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution). You can foster the Dem-Green alliance. That one really needs to happen and I think Cobb should be a player at the 2008 platform committee and before. Elsewhere, I've shot off my mouth saying that it's taking the Greens and Lbertarians to but the deomcracy in the Democratic Party!

[AllyCat]

22. Hear hear! Auto..

I completely agree. Here we have the DNC laying down as people speculate this is a shrewd political move, while the Greens and Libertarians, in a bipartisan action, fight to help us regain democracy.

[UL_Approved]

3. I'm still in

I am a Democrat. I will be for the rest of my life unless something drastic changes. The people who are abandoning ship are a bunch of morans. Seriously, how else are we going to remove al-Shrub? Are we going to do it by running to 10 or 20 different parties, each of whom has NO chance of getting a President elect? We all stand together or we all hang separately. Remember that.

[Maat]

8. I'm still in .... it's just that I'm in the LawStudentMom wing...

and I'm not sure with whom my wing is going to cooperate. Give me a year or two. Just kidding. Give this weekend. My attitude will improve by Mon. Unless I didn't pass the California Bar Exam ... then I will still be very depressed on Mon.

[saracat]

17. Good Luck on the Bar! Thats a toughie!

[Imperialism Inc.]

49. I guess you missed the fact that we didn't remove anyone?

Since repub-lite is losing anyway, what exactly is the point of not voting my heart? And, you do realize how long the repub-lites have been using that tired old line right? I for one have officially had enough. If we are in the minority then fine. I have to say I am not surprised. I've lived here all my life , I know the average American is none too bright when it comes to politics.

I voted for someone either too chickenshit or too blind to notice our tendency to fix all problems with bombs simply doesn't work. Someone who supported our constant intervention against democracy in the western hemisphere. Someone who everyone told me I had to vote for to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good but then threw out support for Kyoto because it wasn't perfect (and his die-hard supporters didn't even notice). Supported Israel's expansionist , racist policies. Was against universal health care. Etc etc. And still didn't win! Now these same people are telling us we need to abandon more principles to try to win over fundies. I'll pass.

[juliagoolia]

4. Fighting

Yella Dawg

[Imperialism Inc.]

5. It really depends on what happens in the next couple years.

I considered Nader in 2000. Didn't consider anyone but Kerry this year, even though I really didn't care for him much. Another nominee like Kerry will probably mean I will vote another party. If we are going to lose anyway I might as well help build an alternative.

[madfloridian]

6. I am in the party, but with DFA and other progressives.

Still a party member. Just working in a different direction with different folks.

[Maat]

10. I'm really with you and the other Deaniacs..in the Progressive

Wing of the Democratic Party.

[Philostopher]

11. As someone said on here, early in Dean's campaign.

I consider myself to be a member of the 'bite me' wing of the Democratic Party. The person was also a Dean supporter, if I remember correctly, though I don't know if s/he is still around -- so many left during the acrimonious mess just after Iowa. I just thought it was a great line -- described how I felt about it, as well.

And I, too have decided to focus more on local/regional stuff, if I can, and support DFA. Thus far, it's still a movement to get Democrats elected -- it's just closer to the ground, and geared more toward getting people moving and encouraging progressive candidates.

[Angelique]

7. Here.. I'd crawl through battery acid to vote for my Democratic party

[autorank]

9. 56 years old, never, ever once voted for any Republican! I'm IN!

Corporate America controls the media and we get manufactured news.
Corporate America now controls the voting machines and we get manufactured elections.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

[Ivan Zero]

12. I look at it this way ...

Say you're on a big ship in shark-infested waters, and the captain is steering you toward an iceberg:

Do you abandon ship and try to build a new one while the sharks are circling ...

Or do you fight to take the wheel away from the bastard who's heading in the wrong direction?

I opt for the latter.

[RafterMan]

13. I'm still an Independent

But until the Democrats can get their head and their ass wired together and get these Bush bastards out of office, I'm going to keep fighting for a more effective Democratic party.

Solidarity, brother.

[troubleinwinter]

15. In California, I am duly registered as "Decline to state"

In other words, NO party can claim me.

[Mojambo]

16. I will be supporting the Greens

I think it's very possible that the Democrats become a very successful center party. I wish them great luck, but I support a more liberal platform and the Greens provide that.

Why shouldn't I leave?

[DELUSIONAL]

18. The Democratic party left me -- the leaders all seem to be

GOPig light.

The final straw was the election of Senator Harry piglite Reid as minority leader.

I will NEVER vote GOPig -- but I now consider myself a liberal Independent.

The GOPig lights (calling themselves democrats) seem to believe all the Rove propaganda about liberals -- Liberal has been turned into a bad word -- and accepted by the brain dead general public.

However if the grass roots democrats toss out the "leadership" and take back the democratic party and return to democratic values -- then there is hope for a two party system.

The issue is vote fraud -- and counting every vote -- if democrats won't fight this one major issue -- the democratic party as it stands is DEAD.

The GOPig party was more interested in block democrats from voting -- and in spite of this there was a huge turnout -- so what did the GOPigs do? THEY claimed that people were showing up to vote for bush. And the democratic leadership did nothing to point out the complete illogical GOPig message.

It almost seems as if the democratic leadership is willingly rolling over on command -- it is as if they want this to happen.

Right now I don't see much evidence of a democratic party -- there are grass root party members -- but I see no evidence of real democrats in the leadership positions. The democratic leaders have gotten too fat and too comfortable kissing GOPig asses.

The democratic leadership rolled over when they were targeted with Anthrax, they rolled over when Wellstone was assassinated and the rolled over when the 2002 elections were stolen and they are again rolling over with the votefraudgate of 2004.

[choicevoice]

20. I'm still here unless someone threw me out while I wasn't looking

Being a southerner in a red state who is pro choice and for gay and lesbian rights and being very far left of center I'm staying a Democrat.

So you tell me, am I still welcome?

[hedda_foil]

23. I'm in the Dean wing of the Democratic party.

I no longer have any loyalty at all to the party per se, though I have great respect and admiration for a large number of Demcratic Senators and representatives ... those not of the weak-kneed, limp-dicked, pink tutu variety.

[pacalo]

24. As long as the Democrats look out for ALL citizens, I'll be a member.

[greenohio]

25. So now the greens start coming out of the wood work.

Where were you guys when I was getting pummeled on these boards for contemplating not voting for Kerry. The vulgar cattle prods came out and branded anyone who wasn't a lockstep Kerry voter. The hatred toward Nader was really astonishing. In the end Nader wasn't a factor. He didn't even make the ballot in Ohio.

[Historic NY]

26. Hell yeah, never surrender!!!!!!!!

To leave is to admit defeat. Here's a plan for the 06 & 08 elections everyone go out and recruit just 2 new Democrats. Of course you have to make sure they go and vote. If we got out over 53 million this time imagine if each person who voted brought in 2 new ones. I'd dare say the Democrats would rule.

[NoPasaran]

27. Democratic wing of the Democratic Party here!

No pink tutus allowed!

[Rowdyboy]

28. Have been a Democrat for over 30 years and so I remain

I refuse to fall for the 3rd party bullshit. Its simply a tactic to weaken our chances against Republicans.

[ScreamingMeemie]

29. Honestly, I'm on the fence. When I see the party I was once so proud

of take down one of its own, pander and consider dropping those that we have always gathered in...it breaks my heart. It's not something I wish to be involved with if it continues. Equal rights, equal pay, right to choose...or I'm gone. We cannot turn our backs on the things that made this party as great as it once was. If we do, I'll do all I can to support the viability of a third option. If we eradicate the DLC and all the harm it has done, I'm in! :hi:

[Forkboy]

30. After 20 years as a Dem I no longer feel they even care

I'll be a Green by the midterms.The difference between the Dems now and when I first started voting is so drastic,and they have sunk so low in their attempts to whore themselves out for any corporate dollar,that I personally dont think they are even worth fighting for anymore.

I will still help them locally,as well as any progressive,but nationally they are devoid of principle and leadership.

[WilliamPitt]

31. Still in

[Q]

32. Q= (D)emocrat...

...but I reserve the right to give hell to the party leadership. We will NOT allow them to form a second GOP.

[SammyWinstonJack]

33. I'm not leaving!

Ever.

[T Town Jake]

34. I am. eom.

(n/t)

[AntiCoup2K4]

35. I'm exactly where I was at after the 2002 election embarrassment

Fed up with the DLC throwing the fucking game :grr:

Only Howard Dean kept me from leaving then. I'm with DFA, not DLC. Which way the Democratic party goes at this point determines whether I stay in or not.

[Cheswick2.0]

38. I have voted straight D ticket all my life

I intend to continue to do so. However I will be part of changing the party or I will take it down with me.

[greenohio]

39. How did the DLC throw this election?

I'm sorry, but Kerry played right out of the Deaniac playbook. Wrong war, wrong time, wrong place. Dean campaigned more for Kerry than any DLC player (Clinton was ill).

DLCers brought the last 2 victories. Blame Gore dropping the New Democrat label that has brought us to this point.

[Walt Starr]

36. I'm still registered as a Democrat

I cannot honestly say how long that will last.

[JCMach1]

37. If anyone but Dean is DNC chair I am out

and I will stick to that statement...

[greenohio]

40. Do you want political implosion

for the whole party?

[AntiCoup2K4]

61. OK, I'll say it..... HELL YES

If this party will not stand for something, then it deserves to implode. :nuke:

[PurityOfEssence]

41. Zell and I

although, I still suggest we throw him out.

We still aren't getting beaten by much; even with the outright thievery of Texas, they couldn't even pull a percent.

Yes, four seats in the Senate have gone, and that's not to be sneezed at, but the bonehead, hate-filled and deluded Confederacy is precisely what it seems to be. Our best course of action is to keep engaged there, but presume we can't take a single state. Florida, unless their institutionalized vote-stealing can be exposed, is probably not within reach.

Thus, we need to consolidate gains elsewhere, take the rest of New England by firming up New Hampshire and Maine, exploit possibilities in Colorado, work on certain other close states, and move on. The right has no shame with the regional lines being drawn, and the South is singing Dixie and savoring their revenge; we should have no qualms about pouring all energies into areas that can be won, while trying to remain competitive.

There are certainly some possibles down South, like Arkansas, but we should operate as if there aren't.

It may very well be quite funny next time, when there's a Southern Democrat running for President, and all he/she can take is Northern states.

[Harlan James]

42. Still here.

And I will remain here even if I don't get my way.

[m berst]

43. I am in

I stand with kentuck, saracat, madfloridian, hedda_foil, Cheswick2.0, Q, DemocratSinceBirth, Nordic, robbedvoter, eridani, Carolab, Eloriel, SoCalDem, BeHereNow, Sugarbleus, KoKo01, salvorhardin, starroute, EOTE, Ladyhawk, xultar, progressivebydesign, and SemiCharmedQuark and a few dozen more I am forgetting right now.

Couldn't ask for better company.

[tavalon]

44. There isn't an easy answer for me

Yeah, I'm registered as a Dem, and I will continue to fight to make this organization look a bit more like the way I want it to. OTOH, there isn't a party out there that really represents my more populist, socialist tendencies. The Dems are the best game out there for now.

[newyawker99]

45. Still here!

:hi:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

46. I am still in...for the time being.

How I vote in the next presidential election will be determined completely by how the Democrats handle the next four years.

If they continue abandoning the things that should stand for our party and lurch further rightward, I will cast a third party protest vote in the 2008 election.

I simply don't know how else to get their attention.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

47. Here. Always. eom

[kentuck]

48. I'm ready to take back our share of the Party...

We seem to have given everything to the DLC "triangulators" and kept nothing for ourselves. I'm not ready to give up. I would prefer to fight for the Party. We have more power than they might think and we don't have to leave the Party to prove it.

[floridadem30]

50. I'm still here and proud of it

[Blue_Roses]

51. I'm still in and not going anywhere

:kick:

[Zhade]

52. I became an independent in 2002, just before the elections.

The corporatist nature of the DLC is one of the things that drove me away. Plus, I don't do party line, period.

[CAcyclist]

53. I keep my eye on the ball and I will use whatever avenue

furthers my goal which is to bring back the old democratic ideals of universal human rights .

The Democratic party has stopped being a vehicle for this goal since the DLC took over. This isn't strange - I've noticed lots of once active and productive organizations lose their drive once they grew too large and too chummy with the opposition. It's just the way things go. Blind adherence to a party is risky, IMHO.

If you want change, you have to constantly grow the grassroots, which means new small organizations.

I am a Green and I do have reservations about the party - I won't vote for a candidate who doesn't seem like they will be effective and I won't vote for a candidate that threatens a needed Democrat. I am sensitive to the charge that the republicans are behind the creation/ propagation of the Green Party and I think it may have merit, but, used carefully, the Green Party is a great tool for getting an influx of new blood and for refocusing on liberal goals. Greens and Dems can and do work together and our goals should be mutual.

I do not think the Greens can replace the Democrats because the Democrats have far better organizational structure and contacts. But I think it's harder for the republicans to fight two parties than one party. And I think that when republicans not happy with their party see the Green Party grow, they are more likely to feel like they can revolt themselves and join the Libertarian party or some other party.

[lancaster liberal]

54. well put

the democratic party is weak, it takes too much shit and doesnt deal it back. its time the stood up and said we are right and you are wrong. im a democrat that is tired of being pushed around

[baltodemvet]

55. Of course. nt

[hansolsen]

56. There is a battle on for the soul of the Democratic Party. I am a warrior

in that battle. I am in for the duration.

[blackangrydem]

57. I'm one of 89% of blacks

who is still a democrat (but an angry one).


B.A.D.

[DemExpat]

58. Still in with Dems.

:kick:

DemEx

[missouri dem]

59. I am a Yellow Dog Dem. But I am angry. We need to work hard to

Reform the party. The DLC needs to be brought to heel and we need to return to our roots as a party of Progressive Populism. Stop our addiction to corporate money and being republican lite.

[ulysses]

60. sure.

Why give up the ongoing opportunity to annoy the centrists? :D

Besides, we got Cynthia back. :thumbsup:

[aprillcm]

62. Proud Democrat Here :)

I think our party needs to stay a Party only we need to make sure people understand as Democrats we have a right and an obligation to be extremely angry right now and say so! We are not wimps and I refuse for the leaders of our Party to let us continue to look like wimps, It is time for us to take the gloves off and fight, Fight for OUR Country and ALL its People again!!!!

[Pushed To The Left]

63. I just joined the Democratic Party!

All the time I have been posting here, and for most of my years as a voter, I have been an independent. Last night, I went to the post office, got a voter registration, and sent it in the mail with the Democratic Party as my chosen party. I will be very proud to be a Democrat! :bounce:

[bermudat]

64. Not me.

After the election, I changed my affiliation to Independent. If I hear one more Democrat say on some cable news whore's show how they personally like bushler and are willing to work with the repugnantcans, I am going to vomit. Has anyone heard any Democrat come out and say busholini is a LIAR? Not even Kerry. I want to be part of a party that fights, and if attacked, FIGHTS BACK!

[johnnyrocket]

65. I want an 'independent' to explain a GOP vote they might make...

it makes no sense! If you claim to be 'independent' , how could you EVER vote status quo?? The corrupt, evil, bullheaded status quo. It's an anachronism.

[nevergiveup]

66. I have always considered myself an Independent but.......

this year the choice was so clear I actually found myself telling people I was a Democrat......and I am going to work in the party because I truly believe the fundamentalists are taking over the country and I can't afford to be an independent any longer.

[johnnyrocket]

67. I'm leaning that way, too! I'm registered 'no party' but...

I think the Dems need numbers and loyalty.

They're all we've got! The Democrats are America's only hope against this facism...lets hope they're up to the challenge.

[GingerSnaps]

68. It's called distraction and disruption

I can't believe the amount of negative message threads from people I don't recognize.

I sticking it out because the issue is also about our rights in this country. The freepers don't realize that someday that this issue will affect them.

Wait until the draft comes. Who are they going to blame this time "Clinton"?

[welshTerrier2]

69. in for now ...

if i think i, and others on the left, will be heard, i'll remain a democrat ... but if I get to watch my party roll over for bush on his next little invasion, i'm outta here ...

the debate i'm currently having with myself over this issue comes down to something like this: if i can fight for the issues I believe in and work with Democrats, Greens, Democratic Socialists, Democracy for America or whatever, that's what I'm going to do ... if my energies go to support candidates, local candidates, in another party, then so be it ...

for me, leaving the Democratic Party will not mean that I won't vote for a Democrat on the national ticket ... almost any Democrat is way better than the crap republicans offer ... but if Democrats leave me with no hope, if Democrats turn their backs on the left no matter how hard we fight to be heard, in short, if there's no reason for me to be a Democrat, then I'll find a party affiliation where I can make a difference ...

The Democratic Party has been a massive disappointment to me over the last 30 years ... I really don't think they get the "anti-corporate" thing ... I hated Clinton's free trade and globalization garbage ... and worst of all, Democrats have lacked a winning strategy ...

so, right now, I'm just waiting and watching ... I'm active in a local group called Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts (it's not affiliated with Kucinich's PDA) ... I suspect many active Democrats are evaluating their allegiance to the party right now ... I hope party leaders measure up ... I'd be very pleasantly surprised if they do ...

[69KV]

70. Yellow Dog Democrat here, and not leaving

I'm still in.

I really don't get the mindset that says they are going to leave and go the third party route.

We have two major parties and one of them - the Democrats - is a party in which progressives can have a voice and affect mainstream politics. There are no other parties which are a force at the national level. To leave the only major party where we can have a voice and affect public policy is to consign ourselves to the fringe. 2% of the vote split 8 ways = 8 losers.

There are very few exceptions on the local level - Sanders and Jeffords in Vermont, and the Greens in Arcata, California, or voting for Democrats on the Working Families Party line in New York. Occasionally a strong third party candidate has gotten elected governor, like Lowell Weicker in CT and Jesse Ventura in MN, which in both cases was because of their individual popularity and didn't result in any sustainable, major new party. But I have yet to see where a third party on the left has any potential to become a major force nationally. The two independents in Congress only have a chance to affect national policy because they caucus with the Democrats.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

71. I'm a Democrat

period.

[uncertainty1999]

72. I am seriously thinking about leaving the party.

I would love to see the progressives take over the dem party, since the organizational machinery is there in place and ready to go. However, I really question whether that can happen. Perhaps progressives (including myself) should leave the Dem party and force the Dems to woo the LEFT for votes!! We are the most active component of the party --- we are their "evangelicals." Are all of those Kerry voters in Iowa and NH really going to precinct walk and do voter registration????

[eridani]

73. I've gotten to like the local grassroots people in my area

National leadership is another kettle of fish. I think that with more effective local organization we can eventually change the national leadership.