Meanwhile, in Michigan...

[EarlG]

Joe Lieberman has been making the cable news rounds this morning talking about how the Democratic party has lost its soul to "far-left extremists." Never mind the fact that a sizable portion of moderates obviously voted against him.

You can't lose an election like that if your only opposition is a crazy cabal of bloggers and whackjobs on the Internets. Yet according to Lieberman, more than 50% of the Democrats in Connecticut are now to be considered "fringe." Careful Joe - you're going to need those extremists in November.

But Lieberman must have missed the new poll out today which shows that 60% of the American people are now against the Iraq war. It's no longer a fringe position - it's mainstream opinion, and the Democratic party would do well to note that this year. Lieberman's dire, Bush-style warnings of a weak-on-security Democratic party also went unheeded by the voters of Connecticut.

It's clear from last night's results that Democrats have finally grown tired of their own elected representatives sucking up to Bush's failed policies. After all, how often does an unknown come out of nowhere and beat a three-term incumbent Senator?

Meanwhile, in Michigan...

Last night, Republican voters ousted first-term congressman Republican Joe Schwarz and selected Tim Walberg as their new nominee in Michigan's 7th Congressional Disctrict. Walberg is a former pastor who ran on an anti-abortion, anti-gay platform, which was lapped up by the Republican base in this rural district.

Since 1999, George W. Bush has done everything he can in word, if not in deed, to pander to the religious right. John McCain, clearly planning a run for president, spoke recently at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. And Joe Schwarz - the losing candidate - was endorsed by both George W. Bush and John McCain.

So if you want to talk about extremists, take a look at the extremists who have been backing the Republican Party for the last six years. Because they're not sticking with Bush any more - he's losing them, just like he's losing the moderates.

The Republican party is in a serious pickle this fall. The bottom line is that George W. Bush is electoral poison, and as the Republican base turns away from Bush and his policies, moderate voters are also turning away. This is a recipe for disaster.

Where now for the Republicans? The anti-gay, anti-abortion crowd will no doubt continue to usher in candidates which match their positions, as seen in Michigan last night. But until now, the Republican party has been able to retain a grip not just on these voters, but on moderate, independent voters as well.

Should Republicans turn to the center, hoping to cow Democrats and recapture the middle by continuing to play the Iraq/terrorism card? Last night's ouster of Joe Lieberman indicates that that train has left the station.

Should Republicans turn to their base, climbing back into bed with the religious right and risk further alienating disgusted moderates? Last night's ouster of Joe Schwarz indicates that right-wing Republicans no longer trust their Washington-approved candidates.

The past six years has seen a great coalition of right-wingers and moderates voting for the Republican party. The GOP has held this coalition together by pandering endlessly to the religious right while simultaneously scaring the crap out of moderates with threats of terrorism and war. But the coalition was always a tenuous one, with both sides happy to look the other way if it meant that they kept winning elections.

And they've been winning elections. But what else have they won?

The Republicans have controlled all three branches of government for most of the past six years. Is the right-wing happy with the results? There's no Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Roe vs. Wade hasn't been overturned. Even the great straight Rick Santorum just signed on to a statement "affirming that his office does not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity."

Are moderates happy with the results? Iraq is a disaster. People don't feel any safer. Goverment spending is out of control. The middle class is feeling the squeeze while the super-rich get super-richer.

If the Republican coalition comes unglued this fall, it will make a tremendous ripping sound. With the religious-right turning away from Bush on social issues and moderates turning away from Bush on fiscal issues and foreign policy, the door is wide open for the Democrats to step in and clean up with a strong, unified, national message.

Of course, the fact that Joe Lieberman is now running as an independent against the Democratic party pretty much demonstrates just how much he cares about this great opportunity for a new direction in the fall.

[MissWaverly]

1. I am from Maryland, I was surprised Bush's pick lost in your state

esp. when McCain also stumped for him. Paging Mr. Mehlman, please review Michigan results.
Bush has also been here stumping for Michael Steele (R) running for Senate from Maryland.
Maybe the magic of Bush will not work this time.

[kwolf68]

2. Yep...

And the media has said SO MUCH about this Walberg guy. the incumbent was acutally ENDORSED by Bush.

Anne Coulter endorses Leiberman and we vote him out

W Bush endorses Schwarz and they vote him out

[MissWaverly]

3. I think there is a strong anti incumbent movement starting

I think that the Tom Delay followers and Bush bots are in real trouble.

[citizen snips]

4. Are you guys going to get rid of the Lieberman avatars?

Because he is not a Democrat anymore.

[EarlG]

6. Give us a chance

It's been less than twelve hours since the results came in :)

My guess is that we will get rid of the avatars since he's now running against the Democratic nominee.

[citizen snips]

7. Thanks EarlG

:hi:

[izzybeans]

5. Same thing happened in the republican primary in Indiana

my state rep. was voted out (a quasi-centrist) in favor of a bigot who supports public flogging, and refuses to read the paper or watch the news. You bet he's an anti-choice/women/people of color homophobe.

I can only hope that it sparks more democrats to the general election than in times past.

[MissWaverly]

12. we have to turn this around

I have heard about people advocating public beheading for pedophiles, the clock keeps ticking
backward. There does not seem to be a boundary for the right wing extremists, now the politicians of old, were always calculating how things would play to all their constituents back home, but like those who supported the Terri Schiavo fiasco, this movement is emotion driven.

[izzybeans]

14. This guy seemed shocked that not everyone believed as he did.

Emotion driven is exactly right. I suspect that his democratic opponent will be given some extra support from the "fiscal conservative" crowd around here. They are getting real fed up.

[MissWaverly]

18. I think that is why the founders were so keen on a secular state

surely the Salem witch trials was something that was not unknown, these men were gentleman
aristocrats eager to be widely read in classics, legal matters, science and history. They
wanted a government and laws based on reason and not emotion.

[izzybeans]

20. Yep. Now we put these very books (contemporary examples anyway)

on "most dangerous" lists.

John Dewey is dangerous all right. :sarcasm:

[MissWaverly]

23. what did John Dean say

He had a quote that "secrecy is for losers." If we as a society have to live with constant
censorship and secrecy then we don't have a democracy.

[izzybeans]

24. That was precisely Dewey's point.

He was worried about the rise of bureaucracy, the overwhelming necessity of expertise, and the challenge that an increasing division of labor would create for democracy. The solution was well rounded public schools that could popularize the necessary knowledge needed so that the people would have the tools with which to govern. Tools and knowledge that had been monopolized by the ruling class by virtue of class distinction.

The point was that with the division of labor in a class divided society an unequal distribution of education leads to the type of secrecy that makes democratic processes unmanagable. Precisely where we are today and have been for quite a while.

Without open access then power shifts steadily into the hands of professional politicians all of whom circulate among the networks of the ruling class.

The rightwing movement has built its foundation on the angst of common people but have done so by destroying the ideal of an informed democracy; the attacks on Dewey are precesily because of this.

I suppose the only reason this is dangerous is because community control over the government and economy would be too devestating to the ruling classes pocketbook. Plus all the hooey over socialism/communism to make sure that the working class not want to be like those bookish wimps.

[MissWaverly]

26. You are so right and No Child Left Behind

Is to replace education with filtering and regimentation

[izzybeans]

27. Exactly

NCLB uses that idea as an advert. and then fails to deliver the substance. That is why Kennedy supported the program. Unfortunately it puts the only profession dedicated to the goals of popular education on uncertain grounds. The testing isn't for the children its turning into a measure for judgement of a school and its teachers. Meanwhile the class distinction problem persists with absolutely no attention.

Teachers struggle especially in low income districts struggle uphill and then face termination (increasingly) because of the cherrypicking that goes on by critics of their profession. Bad apples make headlines but the bloody knuckles of dedicated professionals goes unnocited. Beyond teaching they act like social workers dealing with absent parents, abused children, absenteeism, and the mobility of the renter population. My wife comes home crying too often for this political environment to be worth it.

Full federal funding could be had that leveled the playing field in terms of resource distribution. And over the long term this is the best fix that could be had. The money is there already appropriated for corporate welfare and war machines-a symptom of why it is such a danger to fully educate the population, imo.

[MissWaverly]

28. yes, but that is not going to help

This country is suffering from mental stagnation, it's well trained elite adopt catch phrases
and use them over and over again. One company comes up with an innovative idea and 20
companies build replicas. Where are the Westinghouses with their hundreds of ideas, it
may be by providing access to education to all levels that we can jump start our economy
again.

[izzybeans]

31. I do agree.

Education is necessary for innovation. But it is more than an idea generator. For an idea to become accepted it has to fit into the mindset of the people, save for that someone with access to the cash and political apparatus necessary to innovate without popular support. There are a lot of great ideas in the dustbins-"before their time"-where the people were unprepared for their realization.

If you were to divert money away from the DOD budget into education it would freak out the paranoid factions that think that a forward stationed military is everything other than offensive; an idea not fit for the times. If only we had someone with the cash and political apparatus necessary to innovate like that without popular support, then the damned dangerously informed demos might rule like the name suggests.

[MissWaverly]

35. well, I think the war machine is cranking on empty

I am not talking about our brave soldiers but the weapons industry that is consuming our money
for extremely expensive pork projects with no practical use. Our drive for alternative fuels
will create innovation as well as more fuel efficient projects to heat our homes and cut down
fuel consumption. I also think that we will integrate our lives, rather than spend our life
in commute, there will actually be habitable communities where you can work. It is slowly
happening here in Baltimore.

[gulfcoastliberal]

8. If Joe said if he knew then what he knows now about Iraq, he'd have not

voted in favor of war, he'd have probably won the primary.

Hillary refuses to make that statement, too.

[Strawman]

9. Yeah, funny isn't it? Walberg is far more "extreme" than Lamont

I would contend that there is, in fact, nothing extreme about Lamont at all while the likes of Walberg are most definitely extreme. Certainly, the level of coverage of the CT race in comparison to the MI-7 race has something to do with the fact that Schwartz is a first term House member and Joe Lieberman is a high profile 3 term Senator who has run for President and VP, but it's defnintely odd how the real extremists on the right are causing no alarm in the MSM. In the larger scheme of things, Republicans of Joe Schwartz's stripe are a much more endangered species these days than centrist Democrats. And Schwartz had no high profile transgressions against the activist base of his party in the national media like Lieberman did. He wasn't out there scolding his fellow Republicans in the press for their views. It was just a pure ideological litmus test by the pro-life fundies that ousted Schwartz. Menawhile, a pro-life Democrat just won a Senate primary in PA. Which party is truly dominated by ideological extremists? I guess it's "extreme" to be opposed to a war that 60% or so of Americans want ended ASAP and it's not extreme to oppose a a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy when she is raped. Or perhaps, the punditocracy is, yet again, completely full of shit.

[meganmonkey]

10. For the record, Schwarz' district

(which I just moved out of last week) isn't really all that rural as far as the population goes. It includes Scio Township, which is essentially an extension of Ann Arbor (where Repubs usually don't even bother running for city positions because it is so overwhelmingly Dem) and Chelsea which is well on its way to becoming an extension of Ann Arbor as well. While geographically it goes on and on, quite a lot of the population is in the Ann Arbor and Chelsea areas.

I have a feeling that Schwarz lost mainly because most people don't vote in primaries, and the Walberg-loving-fundies actually did - not because it is all ultra-conservative.

Additionally, based on my experience in that district (living in a teeny town in Jackson County) - the reason Repubs win there and Dems lose has little to do with gay rights and abortion, but more to do with the 'Ann Arbor liberals' invading their space and insulting their intelligence. The Dems (at least the ones in Washington and Ann Arbor) don't understand rural, low-income communities and never will. They are sick of 'liberals' moving out to their area and telling them they are poisoning the land with their family farms and they should all go Organic, or making fun of NASCAR, or whatever the issue may be.

Funny thing is, 'we' have many common enemies with 'them', but those enemies (corporate whore politicians) have succeeded so fully at convincing us that the republicans voters are evil and vice versa, and it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. On both sides. There is way more common ground than those who never leave their comfort zones will ever realize.

[noonwitch]

17. The dem candidate will probably win in the fall

Joe was an old-school Michigan repub, like Milliken and Ford. He could probably run for Governor in 4 years and win, if he won the GOP primary.

[knitter4democracy]

38. I'm not sure of that.

I live in Battle Creek, the far western side of the district. We were hearing weeks ago that it really looked like Walberg was going to win. Heck, one of his radio ads told everyone that the liberals would be switching sides to vote for Joe (yeah right--we had two good liberals running in the Dem primary). Walberg is seriously certifiable, and yet he won by a decent margin.

Sharon Reiner won the Dem primary, and I'm not sure she can beat Walberg. It helps that she's a farmer, but it doesn't help that she can be a bit of a loose cannon and forget what she's said before. It doesn't help that she can get nasty if asked pointed questions. It doesn't help that she's an Ann Arbor kind of Dem (organic farmer). She comes off nice if you only meet her once or see her ads. Those who've worked with her say otherwise.

Walberg had hundreds of thousands of out-of-state money, and that money isn't going to dry up anytime soon. Joe spent over half a million dollars himself but didn't win. Walberg has a huge warchest and isn't afraid to fear-monger and play dirty. Sharon doesn't have that big a war chest, and she lost the last election rather handily.

*sigh* It wasn't a good day here. A great candidate for county commissioner lost, too, and that was because the county Dems worked against him like they were Republicans or something.

[noonwitch]

46. I always forget about redistricting since I went to WMU in the 80s

that district used to be democratic, and contain parts of Lansing, Battle Creek and K-zoo.

[knitter4democracy]

48. Oh, yeah, it doesn't include K'Zoo anymore

or Lansing. It has Battle Creek, Jackson, and south of Ann Arbor. It's more rural now, and we've lost ground there.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

11. I don't follow when you suggest that "the train has left the station".

You say

"Should Republicans turn to the center, hoping to cow Democrats and recapture the middle by continuing to play the Iraq/terrorism card? Last night's ouster of Joe Lieberman indicates that that train has left the station."

As far as I can see, the fact that the Democrats have decided to go with Lamont rather than Lieberman suggests that they're less interested in trying to capture the "centre ground", making that a more, not less, viable strategy for the Republicans that it would have been if Lieberman had won - although I suspect that's not what they'll do.

It was only Democratic primary voters, not the electorate as a whole, who decided not to go with Lieberman.

[EarlG]

13. Well, what I mean is that

Since 9/11, the Republicans have played the national security wedge issue extremely successfully. They've made the case to voters that if you vote Democratic, then Osama bin Laden will drop a dirty bomb down your chimney. Also that they're the only ones capable of dealing with the Iraq situation.

The Democratic reaction to this - among elected officials most of all - was to panic and think, "OMG, Bush and the Republicans are so strong that if we stand up to them, we'll look crazy and we'll never win an election again." So they lay down, tried to play both sides of the issues, and the country moved further and further to the right. And the Dems still didn't win any elections because the voters figured that if it was a choice between Republican policies and Democrats kinda-sorta supporting Republican policies, they might as well vote for the Republican. Hence the distinct lack of recent election success.

So what happened last night was a repudiation of that. Lieberman consistently tried to play the "If you vote for Lamont we'll all die in a fiery fireball" card during the campaign, and it didn't work. It's an indication that Democratic candidates and voters are no longer confused and frightened by the GOP's BS accusations that they're un-American terrorist-lovers. That's an important step.

[erknm]

34. Your point is a good one,

primary voters are normally not indicative of the electorate overall. The moderates (from either party) normally do not vote in primaries in the same percentage numbers as do the extremes of each party. Lieberman knows this and stated the same. If the election stats are correct, less than 8% of voters voted for Lamont with the difference in the numbers likely being small enough to call for a recount were this the actual election. Thus, an upset it is, but it is not clear that it will mean a Lamont win in November.

Meanwhile, the discussion of how this helps the republicans has already started.

It seems that the democrats might actually get lucky in spite of this primary in that the republicans have in Schlesinger someone who was considered a weak candidate, a sacrificial lamb against an obvious winner. Now things have changed and the republicans want Schlesinger to step down to allow for a stronger republican candidate, but he will have none of it. This is very similar to the scenario playing out in Florida where Kathleen Harris (a longtime friend of DUers everywhere!) is risking an election in which the republicans feel they have an opportunity to win in November.

This reminds me again of the California Governor's election when a split republican party voted for the more conservative candidate in the primary, only to see him lose to Gray Davis in the state election.

The democrats in CT need to get moving. Lieberman has the signatures needed to get on the ballot, he feels that the party has left him behind, and he is much more dangerous to progressives in CT now than he would have been had he won the primary.

FH

[Rose Siding]

15. Gee, the Republicans didn't mention WI at all in today's press release

Republicans’ Counterassault
The Republican National Committee moves quickly to define Lamont’s Connecticut victory, with a pre-7 a.m. press release casting the results as a sign of the Democratic Party turning soft on defense. “From FDR to Ned Lamont,” the headline reads: “The Democrat Party’s Transformation from Strength to Weakness.” The statement traces quotes of Democratic leaders, from Roosevelt’s defense of World War II to the Connecticut primary victor’s attacks on the Iraq War.

In remarks prepared for delivery this morning to the City Club of Cleveland, Republican National Committee Chair Ken Mehlman said that “like the proud history of so many Democrats before him, Joe Lieberman believed in a strong national defense. And for that, he was purged from his Party. It is a sobering moment.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2006/08/09/counter-assault/

The projection technique of blaming opponents for their own shortcomings, as refined by Karl Rove, has been codified. The GOP is coming off its spools as dems unite, so what do they do? Point and say "Look! THEY'RE conflicted"

[fuzzyball]

16. Best post of the day, EarlG!! n/t

[StClone]

19. Lieberman may not have said it

But the wing nuts have opened their Crayola box coloring outside the lines again. The likes of Rush are calling Holy Joe's loss proof that the Dems have been taken over by wacky Jew haters.

[femrap]

21. Have the Moderate Pukes sold their collective souls

to the Fundies and neocons? Is there a Moderate Puke movement at all? I don't think McCain is moderate anymore....since visiting Falwell's university and deciding to kiss *'s ass. How rare is it that a Puke votes against his/her Party? It's like COMMUNISM! Did people forget about one-party rule....that's COMMUNISM!

I would think that all the Moderate Puke Voters would be voting for Dems in '06, right? Or are they just going to stay home and not vote? Don't you think the voters have wised up and seen that this war is making terrorism worse? And given the state of our economy, healthcare system, and lack of educational opportunities; how many Pukes are going to continue to worry about gays and women not wanting to be mothers? Didn't any of these Pukes' grandmothers tell 'em that IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!

[HeardOnTheHill]

22. Also in Michigan

To further your point, Michigan gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos has been seen carousing with the likes of Ted Nugent, whom DeVos called "a passionate, passionate Michiganian and a great, great advocate of Michigan's outdoor community." In case you aren't familiar with Nugent's racist, chauvinist, hateful, pedophilic ideology, http://www.michiganliberal.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6159">here is a great diary I saw over at Michigan Liberal that sums it up nicely. Maybe DeVos has never heard that you are the company you keep.

[lmarcotty]

33. Even scarier

The idea of DeVos becoming governor of Michigan is far more frightening even than the idea of Walberg winning the House seat for the 7th district. There's only so much damage one rep out of however many Michigan has, and however many there are in the House, can do - but the governor of a state can completely destroy it (as witness the last Republican governor's work - Engler really screwed up Michigan and left the mess for Jennifer Granholm to deal with).

L-A

[vanboggie]

36. Even scarier

...The new ES&S optical scan equipment throughout Michigan (at least it is ES&S in our area), coupled with former Bush campaign co-chair Terri Land as SOS and Betsy DeVos' buddy-buddy relationship with Rove.

If we get by the machines, and Jennifer Granholm is re-elected as she should be, let's just hope Dickie DeVos' mercenery brother in law Eric Prince doesn't swoop in with his helicopters to take Michigan militarily. (I just have to get that unholy alliance in as a reminder to all.) :grr:

[knitter4democracy]

40. Scarier than that--it looks like he could win.

All Michigan Dems need to donate and volunteer for Granholm. She's in trouble, even with Dems, here in Battle Creek, which I find quite scary. People are believing those ten million dollar ads and actually saying that DeVos will bring jobs to Michigan (he even outsourced his ad campaign to Maryland, not to mention the massive Amway outsourcing he's done). :eyes:

[HeardOnTheHill]

47. The race can go either way, but...

I agree that MI dems need to not only strongly support Granholm but also get the truth out about DeVos' extreme views and support of the far right, his connections to a failing Administration, his unethical and anti-Michigan business practices, and his failure to provide any insight into how he intends to run the state. I don't even understand why he wants to be governor, as he left the State Board of Education (the only position to which he's ever been elected) after two years of his eight year term. Maybe he doesn't understand that the job actually requires hard work and dedication.

[knitter4democracy]

49. He wants to be Bush.

I'm working on getting the word out, believe you me. He already owns devosforpresident.com, so he's pretty much planning on being another Bush--rich kid starts running his dad's business (badly, too--outsourced tons of jobs, etc.), buys the governorship of an important state, and then buys the presidency.

[Doctor_J]

51. These things have to play themselves to their conclusion

with big money, big media, and hate radio all whoring for the GOP, the situation in MI will have to hit bottom under the Reich Wing, just like the US will have to bottom out before we can remove the Repigs from office. Let DeVos run his pyramid scheme in Michigan and after a couple yeears people will come back to their senses.

[knitter4democracy]

56. Things already have hit bottom.

Our unemployment is far above the national average, we're fatter than the average American, and we're definitely in a recession. How much worse do you want us to get?

Engler screwed up our state badly enough, and people are turning on Granholm because she hasn't been able to fix things quickly enough for them (and they forget she has a Republican state congress fighting her every step of the way).

In bad times, people tend to turn to faith (at least here they do), and many of the churches are telling them to vote Republican. That's something we need to fight.

[knitter4democracy]

39. Um . . . have you ever heard his wife?

He lives with crazy everyday. Interesting how we haven't seen hide nor hair of her for months now . . .

[Symphony of Freedom]

25. If God exists...

The people of that right-wing Hellhole will be buried alive in a ferocious blizzard this winter.

[Pathwalker]

29. No blizzards in Michigan anymore, not since

global warming. We have much milder winters now. Michigan is not a right-wing hellhole, either.

[knitter4democracy]

42. Excuse me?

I live in Michigan, and it's anything but a right-wing hellhole. Why the nastiness?

[carl_pwccaman]

45. Ideology is as Ideology does, you were in crossfire

Feels weird to be near an ideological bullet, doesn't it?

[knitter4democracy]

50. ????

I seriously don't get your posts. I was "near an ideological bullet"? What the heck does that mean? Calling my state a hellhole is an ideological bullet?

[Pharaoh]

30. What A fucking idiot

Devoid from reality ...................

It's all about Joe, is'nt it Joe?

[lmarcotty]

32. MI 7th district

I live in MI 7th also, and actually voted in the Republican primary rather than the Democratic yesterday because the idea of Walberg winning was so horrifying - any Democratic candidate would be fine, whereas the choice between Schwarz and Walberg is like the choice between day and night. Our only hope now is to get out and try to convince the staunch old school Republicans in this district that the Democratic nominee is closer to classic Republican principles than Walberg is. Walberg makes it easy in some respects - he pushes decreases in taxes and increases in military spending. Duh.

Also, I think the neo-cons managed to paint Schwarz as pro-choice, which he actually isn't. He is a classical Republican in the federalist sense - he believes that whether abortion should be legal, a personal right or a crime is a decision most appropriately left to the states and the federal government should butt out. One person I know, when I asked whether he (a Repub.) would vote for Schwarz, said, "absolutely not! He thinks abortion should be free on demand and taxpayers should pay for it!" Oh, the power of misinformation. :(

So many people are so misinformed - both because they listen to the MSM and because people strenuously resist taking in new information, especially when it's inconsistent with what they believe they know. I get the feeling that a lot of people who live around me could actually be persuaded to vote for a progressive, but it would take a couple of hour-long conversations face to face. Even then, the power of resistance and denial is likely to trump the power of accurate information - but we vote one by one, right? Guess I'd better get out there and start soft selling my neighbors on the Democratic candidate for November. :)

One nit-picky comment in response to post no. 21 (I think that was the number) - a one-party system is totalitarian, not necessarily communist. Communism has, thus far in (recent) history, only been attempted in countries with totalitarian and oppressive governments, but communism is an social/economic system, and doesn't necessarily have go hand in hand with totalitarianism. I'm sorry, this is one of my pet peeves (and please don't give me information that contradicts my belief ;) ) - communism is reviled in this country primarily because people identify it with cruel, totalitarian regimes. Of course, they'd revile it anyway, but not as much so, I think, if they were aware of the distinction.

Talking through my hat once again...

L-A

[knitter4democracy]

41. Why not vote for Strack?

Strack was a much better candidate than Joe. I voted for him--he's a vet, he works hard for a living, he knows the issues, and he was willing to take on the Republicans.

So I guess Walberg wasn't crazy after all: he warned in his radio ads that liberals would be voting for Joe in the primary and that anyone who believed in family values should make sure to vote for him and overrule the liberals.

[lisainmilo]

37. I agree with you Earl

As an average citizen there is a huge platform of issues for the Democratic Party to stand on, I just hope we will get the best democratic nominee in office to fix these mass of problems created by this administration. They will certainly have their work cut out for them.....by the way, is that a tea bag I spotted...lol.

:dem:

[WestMichRad]

43. Some basic dirt on current Michigan politics

I live just a few miles west of the 7th congressional district in MI, and know enough to be able to verify that Walberg is a bona fide fundamentalist nutcase.

This fall’s election in Michigan will be very interesting, to say the least, because the rural areas of the state (i.e., most of it) is dominantly conservative, and moderate Republicans here have a demonstrated history of holding their noses and voting party because they can’t bear the thought of voting Dem. So it'll be interesting to see if the stench from their own party is enough to make some change their ways.

Another dynamic strongly influencing MI politics this year is the candidacy of Amway DeVil (oops, my bad, DeVos) for governor on the Repub ticket. Will moderate Repubs back this clearly Corporate Satan as he panders to the anti-abortion, bible-thumping crowd? Right now the race between DeVos and Gov. Jennifer Granholm is pretty much a dead heat, despite her term-long efforts to truly reach out and govern for the benefit of all the citizens of Michigan. (Early in her term, Betsy DeVil (satan's spouse) chastized her for listening to what the citizens had to say instead of making hasty decisions!)

Keep your eye on Michigan, it will be a bellweather indicating the success or failure of the pro-corporate neocon Repubs in leveraging this christian fundamentalists so-called base to get elected.

One correction to an earlier post - Joe Schwartz does/did have some past baggage that I'm sure the MisAdministration hasn't forgotten. He was John McCain's Michigan campaign manager for the 2000 primary election, and helped deliver MI and its delegates to McCain who surprised Dumbya in that primary.

Let there be peace.

[knitter4democracy]

52. Right on post here!

You've got all this right on!

Oh, and Joe did have some problems. It didn't help, either, that he was a bit of a jerk as a doctor. I know my hubby wasn't the only doctor to not vote for him, and I know many nurses who would didn't vote for him, either.

It really will be interesting to see how things go this fall. Our county party here in Calhoun County is so messed up right now that I'm pretty sure we're not going to make any gains. If how they attacked good fellow Dems in the primary is any indication, we're going to do badly. *sigh* They're not even phonebanking or anything for Granholm, and our state senator seems to be distancing himself from her. Sick.

[Doctor_J]

54. DeVos will win a landslide

Granholm can't beat billions of dollars and 100% media onslaught. Let it play out. Let DeVos run the state as a pyramid scheme for awhile until it's broke and broken, then it can start to recover.

[knitter4democracy]

55. I'm not sure of that.

I think it'll be close. People here are upset about lost jobs and are down on Granholm right now because of that. The Granholm campaign was waiting until the primary was over, and things are going to start heating up.

Letting DeVos ruin the state so we can then recover is like letting Bush run the country until it's broken. How is that working out for all of us? Btw, Engler already did that. The reason things have been so hard for Granholm is that she's still fixing Engler's messes with a Republican state congress against her. We're already broken enough, thanks.

[carl_pwccaman]

44. But Independent v Democrat struggles are an improvement

When Republicans are demonstrating such weakness, independent moderate to conservative candidates will serve to further weaken the Republican candidates.

I.e., Lieberman will be a downer on the Republican candidate I'm sure.

[Doctor_J]

53. Isn't it funny how the MSM keeps calling Lamont's win

a victory for the left-wing kooks, while the win for this Walberg character, a died-in-the-wool fascist, isn't mentioned at all?

can't wait for the civil war.