How CAN we win the House in '06?

[CTyankee]

Folks, I'm depressed. I keep hearing that because of gerrymandering we don't have a very good chance of winning the House in 06.

Does anyone have polling data to suggest that we can get some traction in otherwise Repub. districts? What is the strategy to do this? And what is Howard Dean doing about it?

Here CT I don't see much chance to get rid of Nancy Johnson. MoveOn. org ran a pretty bad commercial against her with some over the top rhetoric (Dems may agree with it but swing voters were probably turned off). I haven't seen the latest polling on the Simmons race or the Shays/Farrell race (altho the last I saw she was doing well, but not overtaking Chris).

I would like to think there is hope but...

[AtomicKitten]

1. Where there is a will, there is a way.

And there IS a will.

[LittleClarkie]

9. At the least, don't make it easy for the bastards

I dunno if I have a chance to beat Sensenbrenner, but I'm gonna move like I have a chance. At least the assclown might have to spend a buck or two and actually campaign this time. He's gotten to the point where he doesn't even do that now.

[ShortnFiery]

11. Yes, we MUST win.

This is for all the marbles. This upcoming election will make the difference not only for us but also for our children and grandchildren, i.e., will set the tone for generations to come.

[skipos]

2. What can we do?

Spend as much of our time and money backing candidates who need our help and seem like they can win.

[Avalux]

3. Local work - get out the vote.

We've got to have feet on the ground and coordinated efforts to get people to the polls in local races. There is a disconnect between the low poll #s of Republicans in Congress and the constituents for each individual rep/senator. Plus the way lines have been drawn - yep, gonna be tough to pick up seats.

It is possible though. We have to do it where we live.

[OneBlueSky]

4. one of the great political puzzles of the 21st century is . . .

"Why are Democrats not making election fraud and the use of DREs THE major issue of our times?" . . .

they should be shouting it from the rooftops on a daily basis, and introducing legislation to return control of our elections to the people . . . as long as BushCo and their corporations control our elections -- and particularly the vote count -- the chances of said elections being honest and accurate are slim to none . . .

if Democrats don't realize this -- and ACT on it -- they are either unfathomably stupid or thoroughly complicit . . . take your pick . . .

[marions ghost]

20. it's too big ...

they're snowed under and don't have what it takes to deal with the Elephant in the Room right now. Especially as it's an issue their constituents aren't screaming about. They're letting Conyers forge along by himself, although Hillary and Kerry and a few others have paid lip service.

I honestly think it's because it's just too big a task and will take years of effort. Nobody wants the job. But not doing anything about it --for whatever reason --is complicity. I have no doubt whatsoever that they see the problem. The biggest efforts right now are coming from the states.

[flashdebadge]

5. I for one will be voting AGAINST Cynthia McKinney in favor of a new DEM.

In Georgia, we need to remove the distractions from the important issues and put in strong leadership that will advance our partys agenda.

[Odin2005]

6. We need to win back our state governments.

Then when the states are on our side we call a new constututional convention and FIX THIS COUNTRY!

[brentspeak]

7. The lack of responses on this thread shows why DU is so ineffective

The topic of this thread is of paramount importance, and discussions about it are pretty much what DU is supposed to be about. But instead, we have another upteen number of threads devoted to...Stephen Colbert's act.

[LittleClarkie]

8. Find out who your DNC Field Organizer is

Mine is named Andrea Nair. Find out if they are doing anything in your area.

I keep asking people if they know who their FO's are and if they know what they're up to. But my threads sink like a stone.

Move like you think you have a chance, and you just might. At least make the bastards spend more money than usual. It'll be less money than they'll spend on another campaign elsewhere.

(not trying to lecture, just pep talk)

[CTyankee]

14. I'm working for Ned Lamont for a Senate challenge to Joe Lieberman

but I have no problem with my representative, Rosa DeLauro, a liberal Democrat from right here in New Haven.

My issue is with the House of Representatives, since that body has been so disfigured by DeLay and his cohorts by gerrymandering to almost make it impossible to change.

My question was how do we change that. How do we appeal to the swing voters to vote with the dems, not the repubs? Gerrymandering made a lot of districts in a lot of states rock solid repub. How do we change THAT? What tactic do we use?

I get the feeling that this is a district by district, state by state fight. And it is the hardest way to win a war.

[ChiciB1]

10. I'm Sorry... But If WE WANT 2006... We The People Are Going To

have to do it. I've proposed an idea several times here but maybe it's of no use.

I think we really need to organize like the immigrants did and take to the streets. We don't need to "one issue" it, we just need a general message that most Americans can comprehend.

Something like... Marching For The Bill Of Rights. Or marching to let ALL representatives know that we have HAD ENOUGH! Maybe that could be the topic. We've HAD ENOUGH, we want representation, and we want them to speak up FOR US. Look at the coverage that was given to immigrants?? I know I don't know how to get this started or where to even begin, but unless we get out there, we are NOT going to win.

Unfortunately, there is NO hope of a 3rd Party so we have to vote for Democrats to rid ourselves of the Repukes! We don't have to be ANTI anything, just PRO Justice!! Show them how much they have let us down by not fighting for the rights of the common man.

I don't know, I'm sure there are better ways to explain what I'm saying, and I AM aware that they ignore us, but if we try to do something SIMPLE but MASSIVE and maybe 2 or 3 times BEFORE November we may be able to get those people who are sitting on the fence to join us.

A REVOLUTION, yes, but a REVOLUTION that has a POSITIVE message and one that MOST Americans won't be able to argue with.

Boots on the ground, that's the only way I think we're going to get attention! I don't have lots of money, but I WILL travel if I have to. I'm so serious about trying to reverse some of the terrible damage that has been done. It's going to take years and years as it is. WE NEED TO DO IT!!

[ShortnFiery]

12. I got ya. But we have ... we MUST work together to Keep it Simple

Somebody, i.e., KISS Principle!

We can't get bogged down, we must focus on, I suggest, bringing our troops home and Impeaching this corrupt Administration. IMO, those two foregoing issues should be the alpha and omega of these MASS DEMONSTRATIONS.

[ChiciB1]

15. I Don't Even Think Impeachment Should Be A Focus For What

I'm proposing. A REVOLUTION that doesn't pinpoint a one by one by one issue. Something that shows how Outraged people here in America have become about a WHOLE range of issues. How disgusted we are about Big Corporations, Big Oil, Big Tax Breaks even Religiosity as the only guide to American Values.

As I said, I don't think I have come up with a name for it, but it needs to be something that will turn the heads not only of Congress & the WH, but also middle of the road types who are now FEELING the brunt of the policies that now exist. The issues that are making it harder to make ends meet. Yes, it's gas prices, it's the War... but it also CORRUPTION and how these people have DIVIDED so many of us.

Enough with the wedge issues, let's look at the whole picture! There are so many of us here and I'm sure at many other blogs who can surely put heads together to find some way to clearly define how we feel about the neglect we feel.

Remember that "You, Talkin' To Me" phrase? Maybe we could say "We're Talking To YOU!" Or maybe (tongue in cheek here) a Nancy Kerrigan moment like "WHY?" or rather WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US? I think you get the idea, I'm just not that GOOD at it. It has to start somewhere, we can't just sit here and blog our way into 2006!!

[CTyankee]

16. I'd do it in a heartbeat but

there is a problem with getting lots of other people to leave work and go march. I am with you, though, in your great spirit.

It's going to be harder than that. Just going out and changing hearts and minds. And it's not just us, for all we can do. I feel that letters to the editor are effective and I write them, trying to dispel Repub lies and distortions. Lots of people read our local newspaper.

Work for change. That's a big one. I am, for Ned Lamont. We all have to, in our own districts and states.

[ChiciB1]

18. I'll Be Out Working This Week-End... But It HAS To Be Non-Partisan Here!

Cruella is my Representative... we don't have paper ballots in this county. Since the 2000 election, got rid of the "chads" and got touch screens. Well we TRIED before 2004 to get paper ballots, No, can't have them... we've been trying ever since! Still trying.

This week-end I'll be out sitting at a table trying to get people to sign a petition for PAPER BALLOTS! Do you know how hard it is to even get people out to sit at the tables?? Here's the kicker... we MUST state that this is strictly non-partisan, if we slip up, they kick us out!

How's that for Democracy? It's okay, I'll do it because this is important. And also, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to KNOW that it's either Democrats or Independents who are pushing the petitions! So far, it's my understanding we have 7,000 sigs. We have a long way to go. It's so Red here I've decided that I hate the color. It used to be my favorite. Guess It's "coral" now!!

I intend to do door-to-door, stand on corners ANYTHING! But mostly I want ACTION. I'm sick and tired of meeting after meeting, where you go and then they talk about ANOTHER meeting you can go to! Or maybe you can "pay" to hear someone give a talk! It's ACTION time! I write letters, sign petitions, phone people, sign more petitions, call my people in Congress (a JOKE) in the land of Jebby! I think some progress has been made, I think some people are beginning to see.... BUT I also know about GERRYMANDERING! To re-take either the House OR Senate is going to be a "long hard slog!"

I just think we need to be super visible. It might be because of where I live... I seriously doubt that letter writing will do it here. I have a hard time finding like-minded people and I think it's because many of us aren't aware of WHERE we are!

I have made up my mind to keep going to meetings, but I'm going to be pretty vocal from now on.... ACTION & VISIBILITY is needed here!

[meow2u3]

13. Give the pukes a taste of their own medicine

Suppress the fundie vote :evilgrin:

[Turn CO Blue]

17. We have to register the 20 million single women who don't vote.

and somehow get them to turn out at the polls. Women overwhelmingly vote Democratic. They don't vote for any number of reasons, but I've always thought that this is/was the key to winning.

[ChiciB1]

19. I Just Posted About Getting Signatures Here In My County...

Everyone that I've seen manning one of these tables is a woman! What's even sadder is that the coordinator says she would like to get more woman under the age of 80! I kid you NOT, most of them are elderly. Very few MEN!

She was so happy I agreed to help out! I'm trying to get more who under the age of 60!! The only plus you get out of ANY of this might be that something gets done. No guarantees even when you bust your butt! I suppose when you live in Repuke Land, small gains are electrifying!

[CTyankee]

24. Sigh, we tried that SO HARD in 04

Planned Parenthood Federation got funding to send prochoice volunteers into key states for door to door registering women to vote. They even had hand held little videos that told the prochoice story and how important it was to vote for a prochoice candidate.

I don't know how successful that was. With the black box voting and the sabotage of voting machines resulting in long waits on election day, there hasn't been any definitive report on the results of that effort. I do know a lot of people voted in that election, but I don't remember how big it was in comparison to other elections.

[Turn CO Blue]

27. I really feel your pain, sister.

I do know that getting people to turn out vote is psychological. If the emotions aren't engaged, then people don't register or turn out to vote. Their identity as a person has to be appealed to...

The right-wing stimulates the extremely religious to vote by using fear. They convince them using hate terms and fear terms or sanctity terms or religious identity that "omething "golden" is going to be taken away forever" if they don't do something about it. They whip them into a frenzy.

The recent Latino involvement has been whipped up by speaking to their sense of cultural identity, using strong keywords that motivate that voting bloc: dignity, honor, sense of duty, viva, sense of Latino solidarity. That is what gets them moving.

When the black civil rights movement was at its highest point of member involvement, they had key leaders who were outspoken and respectful/respectable, who involved their group by talking with keywords that group identified with: longsuffering, "we shall overcome", long rallies, sense of "church", focusing on what had been taken from them and what they were going to take back.

What are the keywords that motivate single women? I don't know. Who are the people in that group? Either strong, extremely independent, overly busy never-been-marrieds or else divorcee's, who are now single mothers with children, extremely put-upon, overly busy, with possibly bad experiences with authority figures and with men. You picked up that they're both overly busy.

(All of the above is extreme over-generalization - I'm just typing my thoughts outloud, so to speak, so I certainly don't mean to offend anyone.)

I think we need to try to understand what motivates single women to take an hour out of a 16-hour day to vote. It's not fear of losing control of the body, or else they would have turned out in 2004. I will be thinking on this alot in the coming weeks.

[CTyankee]

29. Boy , you really hit on the answer here!

So many of these women don't feel they HAVE any control over their fates. And they don't vote because they don't think anything will change in their lives. We need to translate that for them: this is what will happen if candidate X gets into office.

This is the reason I feel good when I see disenfranchised people in unions. I know they'll get a sense of solidarity and community with others who are voting. I'm talking about the service unions here. We desperately need a resurgence of the union movement.

[FrenchieCat]

21. Like Wes Clark said so well.....recently....

"Contest ALL districts in ‘06. We can’t just say, well, we need this many seats, so let’s target this many districts. It’s more than about even just winning seats. We have to get our message out there, everywhere, every state, every district, all over the country..." - Wes Clark
http://www.awesclarkdemocrat.com/2006/04/wes_and_george...

[Hippo_Tron]

22. There are some more districts opening up

We're seriously contesting Henry Hyde's district, Duke Cunningham's district, Tom DeLay's district, and Katherine Harris' district, so that's four right there that were rock solid last election. Republicans in blue areas are going to be more vulnerable this time. It won't be easy but some of the big analysts are for the first time in years predicting that we will take back the house.

[flaminbats]

23. I think Simmons is beatable..

Nancy Johnson isn't as vulnerable as Simmons, but she's in trouble this year. we need to run the same kind of ads Republicans used on the Democrats in 1994. We need to make her defend Bush's failures as Commander in Chief, make her justify going to war without an exit strategy, make her justify this administration's opposition to portable health insurance, and make her justify congressional votes for wild spending increases in the Republican budget. We can make her pay the price for running as a Republican.

here is a link to a Democrat running against Nancy Johnson..http://www.murphyforcongress.org/

If Democrats win back Congress..I believe Chris Shays will switch parties.

[CTyankee]

25. Don't you think that ad against Nancy hurt Murphy?

That "red handed" theme was not a good ploy. The point wasn't that Nancy Johnson was a crook. "Caught red handed" implies a criminal act. The points you raise against her are valid and THEY should have been the theme. I know they were mentioned in the ad, but the overwhelming theme was of criminality, which was a wrong slant to take.

I really don't know how the Simmons campaign is doing. He got popular in his district when the sub base was saved. A whole lot of people breathed a sigh of relief on that deal.

Interesting take on Shays. I don't know why he would switch parties, tho, even given that he has been critical of Bush's policies. There's this whole bunch of "liberal" repubs who pat themselves on the back as "prochoice republicans" going to fancy lunches in Greenwich while their nannies stay with the kids and the numerous maids, cooks and gardeners mind their estates. And they love Chris and get real mad if other prochoicers stick it to them about being a repub in the first place! (Been there, done that!).

[flaminbats]

26. Democrats need to demonstrate that Johnson can't be trusted..

If we've learned anything from the mudslinging Republicans, it's to force incumbents to defend their indefensible actions. If they don't, then they are blamed..if they do, they still lose votes.

If Democrats win a majority in Congress, we can encourage moderates like Lincoln Chaffee and Chris Shays to join our party by allowing them to keep the seniority they've gotten on the Congressional committees they sit on.

[CTyankee]

28. Don't know about Chafee but Shays' big supporters

and I do mean BIG, are mostly all Republicans. I think Chris would have a hard time with them if he bolted the party.

I agree with you about what Dems should do about Nancy, but that's not what they're doing. And that's a shame. Here in CT we've got Mother Rell and Saint Nancy. Drives me nuts.

Oh well, I've got Rosa representing me, plus wonderful Dick Blumenthat as my state AG.