FrenchieCat

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Tue Sep-09-08 02:33 AM
Original message

In Close Contests, poor Democratic morale was Enough to Swing the Election

That statement in my headline was written on Monday, Dec. 02, 1946
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,887240,00.html?iid=chix-sphere

A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true.

Although examples of such prophecies can be found in literature as far back as ancient Greece and ancient India, it is 20th-century sociologist Robert K. Merton who is credited with coining the expression "self-fulfilling prophecy" and formalizing its structure and consequences. In his book Social Theory and Social Structure, Merton gives as a feature of the self-fulfilling prophecy:

“ The self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behaviour which makes the original false conception come 'true'. This specious validity of the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error. For the prophet will cite the actual course of events as proof that he was right from the very beginning.”

In other words, a prophecy declared as truth when it is actually false may sufficiently influence people, either through fear or logical confusion, so that their reactions ultimately fulfill the once-false prophecy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-fulfilling_prophecy

So all of the Chicken Littles out there........just keep on complaining, and all of your dreams may come true....BUT FIRST, read stuff:

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=its_his_party_08

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3952119

http://www.prairiestateblue.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4509

IN THE END, WINNING THIS ELECTION WILL BE UP TO US.

This is what Barack Obama has contented all along. That we are who we have been waiting for. Sitting passively and publicly critiquing the campaign (which is all that you are doing when crying on these boards) is not going to win the election. Winning won't depend on how many of us "predicted" a win or a lose. Rewards will not be given to those who claimed beforehand that the campaign strategy was all wrong. You will get nothing for buckling under a tide of manipulative polling and media reports skewed to report an election narrative that they were praying you would buy.

IN THE END, WINNING THIS ELECTION will be based on our attitude and our enthusiasm; on whether we believe that we are going to win or not. The more we say we are not going to win, the more likely that this is what will happen.

SO since we are part of the activist base of the Democratic party, if we act and speak as if we are demoralized, then we become one more loose chink in the armor of this election. and so in fact, we become the problem simply by deciding that telling everyone what's wrong is the priority in this election.

Got a problem with the campaign? Write to them. http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/contact /

For those of you who believe you have a legitimate concern......certainly you have every right to proclaim publicly all you want what you think is wrong with the Obama campaign. But you must keep in mind, in doing so, you are actually helping the McCain campaign, not the Obama campaign.

The media is watching, and negative sentiments against the Obama campaign are being noted, and will be magnified, because that is what the media does. So, yes.....the media is looking for people exactly like you; the ones lacking fortitude and confidence, i.e., those who are scared to death based on past election results, that they are willing to spread their defeatist attitudes to weaken those of us with resolve, and worse still, to those who are still trying to decide who they will vote for. You are the ones that they have been waiting for, and you have a choice of giving them what they seek, or telling them to go to hell. In otherwords, you really do control your own future, and possibly the future of the rest of us, including our children.

Added note: As far as racism and those with concerns about it in this election; racism is an idea, a thought, that manifests itself via attitude, then to words and can lead to certain actions. The more we buy into this idea that the media has sold us that White people are more racists than not, the more we make the issue of racism more real than what it has to be. Please resist. Do not let melanin become the issue in this election.