Dems need to Focus on Election Reform, not Filibustering

[NightOwwl]

To tell the truth, I am so disgusted with this election I don't care who gets appointed to the Supreme Court. I don't care if the filibustering rules are changed. I don't care who has the upper hand when it comes to "moral values." I don't care about anything but election reform.

Dems don't even have to use the word fraud (although one of the reasons I am so disgusted is because they are too f-ckn chickenshit to speak the word aloud.) I swear to god, if no one joins Conyers in his call for an inquiry into the Ohio election, it will be very difficult for me to support the Democratic Party ever again. I've put my State Representatives on notice that this is their chance to redeem themselves from the 2000 debacle, and they better not blow it this time.

[Hailtothechimp]

1. I'm sorry, but the courts do matter. The dems must dig in.

Election reform is important, but we thought we had it after 2000 and we didn't. It only got worse. Whatever McCain-Feingold was supposed to reform didn't work either. Any reform will just be circumvented.

The dems must filibuster and do whatever they have to in order to prevent a more right wing supreme court. We're all doomed if that happens.

[AndyTiedye]

2. You Will Care

When the Court is packed with Scalia-clones for the next thirty years,
and everything that liberals worked for in the past century is lost.
When the freedoms enumerated in the first amendment are but fond memories.
When the Bill of Rights is replaced by the dictates of a state religion.

[yurbud]

3. NO! learn from GOP

Attack on ALL fronts.

Political capital is not finite and non-renewable.

If you fight for a just cause, you'll get more.
If you win on ANY issue by standing your ground you get a lot more.

The right isn't choosing their battles, they're fighting every one, and when they are defeated, they come back and hit the same issue AGAIN, even more ferociously.

Wouldn't it be great if we had a party that did that to defend the middle class, democracy, and a foreign policy that ISN'T the bitch of oil companies, sweatshop owners, and plantation owners?

We have to get our representatives to be impolite, to stand their ground, and not apologize for the New Deal that let most of us into the middle class.

If a representative or senator is unwilling to do that, they need to get the fuck out of the way.

[shraby]

4. The Dems need to fight on all fronts

to keep from being steam-rolled, but they need to do one more thing. Open up new fronts and put the Pugs on the defensive. Find their weak spots and hit them hard on everything so they have to defend themselves. The Pugs are so one or two issue oriented in order to stay on message that if the Dems would use a shotgun loaded with birdshot it might just keep them off kilter.

Dems are better at going all directions and they should use it to their advantage. We don't need a "message" our actions speak for us in the form of social programs for people.

Filibuster any and all appointments, fight the torture stuff, the ethics, the social security, the lack of armor, the 9/11 report that was supposed to be released, the CIA report on pre-war intelligence that was supposed to be release, and there are many more fronts to open up. Nail the Pugs asses to the wall and keep them there. Put them on the defense. Get them off message.

Remember when (I think) it was Clarke who came out with his book? Condi, Powell, and all the rest got on talk shows immediately and proceeded to contradict each other because they tried to stay on message with lies...it can't be done.

They've told so many lies about so many things, the Dems can start nailing them on their lies and throw them off message once again. Dems have got to start being super aggressive it's the only way.

[yurbud]

5. tsunami example

The tsunami was an example of something that got in the news cycle that they didn't start, and Bush's initial (and arguably current) response made him look like he didn't give a shit about brown people unless they're oil sheiks or on the board of an energy or defense corporation.

On a smaller scale, we saw this last year when in his state of the union address Bush said key provisions of the patriot act were set to expire, and dems applauded before he could say "which is why it needs to be renewed." Bush glared and shut up for a few seconds. He himself is especially poor at thinking on his feet.

If he makes it as far as the State of the Union this year, they need to do that if he mentions privatizing social security.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. Yep, we need an election system we can trust.

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Election reform can save this country!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm