Where should our planning/concentration be ('04,'06,'08, etc..)?

[sabra]

I have seen several posts such as Boxer '08, Gore '08, etc... I haven't seen that much about 2006, which in mind is just as important. Some of us are still thinking about '04.

At this point where should we be concentrating our efforts?

[justinsb]

1. Focus on Issues, right now

if we can't change the debate it doesn't really matter who wins the elections.

[John_H]

11. The entire poll is irrelevent

if the same strategists, operatives, and spokespeople remain in place. We'll lose them both no matter what "approach" we take.

[crispini]

2. You asked where as a time period, which race, but IMO,

all our concentration, regardless of race, should be LOCAL.

We should, each one of us, be engaged in building active precinct-level organizations, working on local races (we've got city council races in May), building bonds between activists, strengthening local organizations, and building bonds between progressives and the communities that we live in.

Do that, and the races will take care of themselves quite naturally.

[sabra]

4. Thanks for the post. I guess it seems like time and race is on people's

minds these days...

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

3. Big Elephant with a target on its back for 06 in PA

And the dreams of taking down the big trophy elephant keeps me from thinking too far beyond 06 right now.

[AntiCoup2K4]

15. You mean Dogfucker?

And is he pressuring for electro-fraud machines in every precinct? ;)

[Darknyte7]

5. We gotta win back Congress if...

we hope to impeach these clowns. Like Randi (Rhodes) has been saying for about a week now. "Four years? Look, I can get this thing done for you in two! Two years!"

[No Mandate Here.]

6. Call me optimistic, but

I think we can target:

25 House races that are not safe Rethug and gain a fair number of them.

5 or 6 Senate seats, with L'il Ricky Santorium as #1, and do everything we can to win them.

Lay a good foundation for 2008 by following up on the Dodd/Conyers election reform V.O.T.E.R.S. Act, and see if there are enough reThugs with a conscience to get it through. If it doesn't pass, we need to hold them accountable and make it actually look like what we know they are doing- disenfranchising large numbers of people.

We cannot let * completely frame the Social Security debate. Call him on governing by polls, with his insistence that they are not PRIVATE accounts. ...


etc...

I'll be interested to see reactions to this...

[sabra]

7. Can you define, "do everything we can to take them" ? :-)

[No Mandate Here.]

8. Win them in a free and fair election, NOT Diebold style.

I will work very hard to elect the Dem. candidate for Senate, in PA in 2006

My wording was a bit ambiguous, wasn't it. Sorry. I'll edit, if not too late.

[demnan]

9. Other - 2005

Governor and Lt Governor races in Virginia. Got to gear up now.

[saltpoint]

10. I'd like to see a concerted, well-publicized effort to --

-- threaten to withhold blue state federal taxes which are re-distributed to red states' infrastructures until the red state Chinos and other Bushlickers are made to reconsider their support of hate legislation.

You want that highway project? Then you honor the Bill of Rights.

[in_cog_ni_to]

12. We should be focused on getting rid of evoting machines.

With those in place, everything else is a waste of time, money and effort. IMCPO

[snippy]

13. 2006 including placing a strong emphasis on state legislative races.

The republican party poured money and manpower into state races in 1996 and 1998 with the goal of winning enough state legislative seats to have incumbent republicans control redistricting in as many states as possible after the 2000 census. That strategy worked extremely well and they will be repeating it in 2006 and 2008.

Democrats can't ignore or take lightly any competitive federal House or Senate seats in 2006 but there likely will be too few of either of those to regain either house of Congress. Democrats need to fight for every seat they can and to reduce the republican majorities in Congress but they absolutely can not allow the republicans to increase their control over the next redistricting.

[Raised_In_The_Wild]

14. Are you kidding? It doesn't matter who runs, it doesn't matter how you

vote, it only matters that Diebold and EES count the votes. We have not had a legitimate election in this millenium, so, why do you worry about the next election? What makes you think they are going to suddenly start counting our votes again? Why should they? We let them get away with a fraudulent pretense of an election in 2000, 2002, and 2004, so, what makes you think it matters at all what you do in 2008? Don't be silly.

[Eric J in MN]

16. 2005. Get pro-Bush mayors out-of-office.

Such as the pro-Bush mayors of New York, NY and St. Paul, MN.

(Ranall Kelly, mayor of St. Paul, claims to be a Democrat but endorsed Bush in 2004).