I changed my registration back to "Democrat" after 8 years today

[EFerrari]

and I want to tell you why and see if you agree with me.

Most of you know that I switched my reg to Green after the Senate did not stand up with the Congressional Black Caucus when Al Gore was ripped off -- and, more to the point, when tens of thousands of black voters were ripped off in that election. I was in a blind rage and that was the only gesture I could think to make.

Fast forward to last summer. Remember when so many DUers were upset or disappointed because Cindy Sheehan was running against Nancy but not as a Democrat in the primary? I remember hoping she would change her mind so that the same Democrats that voted in the new majority could have a way to show Nancy that she's let us down, big time, as far as pushing back against the BushCo bloody war profit machine.

Well, last week I met Shirley Golub. She IS challenging Nancy in the primary as a progressive Democrat. So, I'm asking for all of you guys who want this war to stop and who want Nancy to remember why we funded and worked for a majority, and who still have an ounce of energy left to please support Shirley. All the posters who wished Cindy would run as a Democrat -- I have a Democrat for you right here.

There is no doubt that Nancy Pelosi is part of the Democratic establishment or that she is the most powerful woman in Congress. She's so powerful that she hasn't bothered to hold a town hall in this district for two years. So powerful that when her constituents disagree with her, she just brushes us off. We are hostages, in this district, to Beltway cronyism. And California is one of the states that leads the nation in fatalities from this illegal, immoral "war".

Thanks, Nancy!

I met Shirley on Friday. She's a very grounded, practical person. No visible piercings, lol, and as organized as you'd want for someone running a progressive challenge against the Speaker of the House. She asked me to consider switching my registration so I could vote for her and I was saying "yes" immediately, even before I made my usual long winded speech about my little protest.

Progressives: we have a Democratic challenger in this race now. Can we PLEASE push back via her campaign? Petraeus is shortly to facilitate the bombing of Iran by all accounts -- just as us local folks tried to tell Nancy. And she was deaf as a post to us. She didn't need us any more, I guess.

Can you help take our district back one way or the other? If we lose San Francisco to the Beltway, what can we expect for the rest of the country? Please help us push back now.

www.shirley08.com

[suffragette]

1. Glad to K&R this

[Jim__]

2. I agree with you - n/t

[conscious evolution]

3. KICK

[Quantess]

4. I switched from Green to Democrat a couple months ago,

so I could vote in the primary.
I really don't know what Pelosi's problem is. She's become a Stepford wife.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

5. Bravo

In many ways it seems that we have a congressional Democratic Majority in name only. I have often faulted the Republican legislators I watch with speaking in a moderate tone but voting the corrupt party line, or worse. Within the last year, more than a few Dem legislators are hearing the same complaints from me, including Dem "heroes" like Pelosi, Reid, Schumer, et al.

What boggles my mind is how these "heroes" keep doing as they're doing, not even able to learn a lesson from the jackass in the White House who sits in denial that his administration has been the biggest, most damaging and offensive regime in our history. A year of Dem silence is a year lost to almost every opportunity, and that, my friends, is nothing but complicity.

[EFerrari]

7. It has become complicity.

None of this is simple. I believe at first, when the Clinton nomination seemed a foregone outcome, Pelosi tried to play ball and keep the word "impeachment" out of the conversation.

And that was the wrong choice ethically and because that campaign was really only a shoe in if you discount actual voters.

Pelosi has thumbed her nose at her constituents for years now. Please help us push back in any way we can.

[samspade.]

15. DINO Majority?

After the way the disgraceful way the Democratic majority has behaved, I can't see it being merely cowardice or incompetence. I can't escape the conclusion that these people are acting upon their convictions.

IMO, the Democratic party has been infected with the creeping corporatism that so badly afflicts the GOP. The best start to turning this around is in the House, given the shortness of their terms.

Go Shirley!

[EFerrari]

16. Welcome to DU, samspade.

Maybe you can help us track down our MIA values!

[samspade.]

22. Thanks sfexpat2000 {n/t}

[EFerrari]

30. It's so much my pleasure.

:)

[EFerrari]

6. Thank you, DUers!

:loveya:

[ooglymoogly]

8. KR Have been on Shirley's wagon since she put herself on the table.

You go girl.

[EFerrari]

10. Shirley is a modest if determined person.

I'd like to see her break out, I'd purely love that! :)

[Cant trust em]

9. Any Democrat that is happy with Pelosi should have their head examined

She's too weak right now.

[EFerrari]

11. Petraeus is going to brownnose our way into Iran in the next few weeks.

I sat there with Dan Bernal and asked him about it and he very politely blew me off.

We've had enough of that, imho.

You can't be a little bit pregnant, can you?

[Cant trust em]

12. The centrist dems don't give a shit about the left-wing of the party

These guys probably think I'm carrying a copy of the little red book in my back pocket. Who would have thought that being anti-war is such a far out idea?

[EFerrari]

13. The centrists are watching jobs go missing, loans go missing,

let alone their neighbors' kids go missing.

It's pretty hard to be a centrist these days. It might not matter so much if your neighbor is one of them homosexuals if your businss is going belly up and you can't afford to care for your aging parents.

Let's see how we do.

[Cant trust em]

17. Sure, my point is that the things that the left has been shouting about

aren't just for the left. They're good for all of us. I guess since I want impeachment then I'm just too crazy to be brought into the conversation.

When I say centrist dems, I'm talking about the leadership. Not average citizens. Citizens have enough crap to deal with right now. The Dems in congress have had a year to get some work done. If not legislatively, then at least with the power of investigation.

[EFerrari]

23. But we're all supposed to be satisfied with CSPAN Theater!

I know.

Nancy has to either get the message or go spend more time with her grandchildren. I thank Code Pink for helping me clarify me position.

We were bringing up young kids in the early eighties. I couldn't tell you a thing about that time except I voted for Carter after he was declared the loser.

I thank the universe for Chris locally and for people everywhere who hang on to enough of their values and their conscience to keep moving forward. For Shirley.

[Cant trust em]

26. It's funny. She was mocked by the RW as representing SF values

She actually doesn't represent San Francisco values. That was the inspiration for my old sigline. Are you involved with the SFDCCC and that whole scene?

edit - the old sigline used to be "These are my San Francisco values".

[EFerrari]

28. I haven't been a Democrat for the last 8 years, so no.

I have come out for local progressive Democrats but that was more for the "progressive" part of their resume. :)

[Cant trust em]

31. I want to get more involved, but not sure where my avenue is

Chris and I have been talking about leaving the party if Clinton wins the nom via superdelegates.

[EFerrari]

32. Well, I guess we have to find out how sold out things are.

I do have faith in the grassroots. We've done great work in the last 8 years.

Even the party paternalists can't really overlook that.

[Cant trust em]

35. I'm really conflicted over the disdain for party apparatus vs. political involvement

I hate having to sit in on the endorsement process and so much of the behind the scenes things that go on. I think that you've got the right idea. Sticking to an issue like election reform and working on that.

[EFerrari]

37. I think I'm about ten years older than Chris.

And I went through the same soul searching that you seem to be describing now.

This may not be the right answer but, what I decided was that this needs to be a way of life. Not a party affiliaton, not even an issue-oriented stance.

To try to break things down into the workable, yes. To support social justice, yes. To be pegged by party or ideology, not so much.

But, that's just the peace I've been able to find, or, the hell I need to keep raising.

lol

[Cant trust em]

40. My whole life seems to be about soul searching right now

Stay in fundraising or go work more in politics. Keep working or go to grad school. Stay in San Francisco, or move somewhere else. My life is so wide open for the next few months. It's a strange combination between freeing and maddening.

[calimary]

36. Hey, I want IMPEACHMENT, TOO. I've said that flat-out to any Democratic party fundraising call

that comes my way (usually in the evening when we're relaxing and decompressing from the day). No IMPEACHMENT? No money! Not a dime!

But you make an excellent point - about the basic difference between Dems and republi-CONS. People on the left tend to agitate on behalf of things that are good for the vast majority of people. People on the so-called "right" tend to agitate on behalf of things that are good for a select (wealthy and privileged) few. THEY'RE the "Me" generation of politics, when you think about it. "Me" versus "We."

[EFerrari]

38. Nancy has pursued a course that has played into the bomb Iran hands.

We need to get her attention.

[Cant trust em]

39. The GOP has done a great job of marketing themselves through deceit

by talking about being anti-taxes they speak to everyone who's ever looked at their paystub. But what they don't say is that the tax cuts they espouse are not going to benefit most people. The entire RW platform is based on telling people what they want to hear, though it may not be the truth, or what they actually need.

[fascisthunter]

60. She's so Weak She's an Enabler (nt)

[stimbox]

66. I agree. I've had more than a few people snap that they like Pelosi when I hand them a flyer.

Maybe I should hand them a referral to a psychologist instead.

[flashl]

14. K&R

[Richard Steele]

18. K&R

[MzNov]

19. Yes you do!! I think she's great.

I wish I could vote in that district but I'm stuck with Eshoo. McConnell's new BFF. :grr:

We need a real progressive, NOT PELOSI !!!

:bounce:

[MzNov]

21. oh yeah and K&R

[EFerrari]

24. Thank you, our Calendar girl!

:hi:

[MzNov]

27. !

we're just not sure WHICH calendar. :rofl:

:hi:

[EFerrari]

29. LOL! I want the calendar YOU are on!

:rofl:

[MzNov]

41. OK sfexpat2000, was that you climbing the GG Bridge?

I can't quite tell, the people are so small, but just sayin :rofl:

[EFerrari]

49. Not that time.

:rofl:

[wellstone dem]

20. I'm kicking and then I'm r'ing

thanks for posting about true progressives and welcome back to the party!

[EFerrari]

25. Shhhh! I don't want any extra attention from our mods!

lol

:hi:

[mike_c]

33. I'm not in Pelosi's district so I'm staying green until the dems...

...end the damn war! Best wishes to Shirely Golub!

[EFerrari]

34. Thanks, mike.

:)

[samsingh]

42. welcome back

[EFerrari]

43. Thanks, sam!

:)

[Fireweed247]

44. I changed mine back because of Kucinich in 2003

And now I want to do whatever I can to help take back the Democratic Party
www.peacecandidates.com

[LWolf]

45. K&R

I can't vote for her, but I'll support her all the way.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[EFerrari]

46. Thank you, LWolf!

:hi:

[mmonk]

47. Yes. I'm aware of Shirley.

When there's a chance to change the party from the inside towards progressive values, take it.

[EFerrari]

50. She's out there every Thursday, in front of the Federal Building

where Nancy has her offices, putting things on the table. Like herself.

:)

This is a very smart person. She knows exactly what she's doing. What a relief that is!

[G_j]

48. K&R!

[FlyingSquirrel]

51. K/R

:thumbsdown: to Pelosi

[question everything]

52. Um... this is Democratic Underground, not Green Underground

what have you been doing here all this time, expressing opinions on Democratic candidates, trashing other DUers who disagree with you, even bringing to their banning?

And you went to a Democratic primary and voted for a Democratic candidate even though you were not registered as a Democrat? How would you have felt had many Republicans marched into a Democratic primary and voted for some off the wall candidate?

[bleever]

53. I bet I know

how she feels about that.

[Name removed]

54. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[fascisthunter]

63. Admit it... You Just Don't Like the Poster

it has nothing to do with political affiliation but the poster's point of view you can't stand. This Democrat like's the poster's point of view and welcomes the poster back to the Democratic Party. I'd say this poster was more suited for the party than many corporate posers hangin' here at DU.

[stimbox]

69. Read rule #2 Question Nothing.

2. Who We Are: Democratic Underground is an online community for Democrats and other progressives. Members are expected to be generally supportive of progressive ideals, and to support Democratic candidates for political office. Democratic Underground is not affiliated with the Democratic Party, and comments posted here are not representative of the Democratic Party or its candidates.

sfexpat2000 fits the bolded description to a 'T'

you just seem to have an axe to grind with her and any other progressive.

[LSK]

55. I thought the California primaries were over???

:shrug:

[EFerrari]

58. The congressional primary is June 3.

(I had to look it up!)

:hi:

[jdadd]

56. K&R.....

[lonestarnot]

57. wootie woot woot!

:applause: Good on sfexpat2K!

[Kurovski]

59. WHAAAA?!

I mean...welcome back.

K&R.

[EFerrari]

61. I think you'd like this lady. I call her "Intrepid"/.

lol

:hi:

[Kurovski]

64. If you're not intrepid these days, what's the point?

:hi:

I'd also accept: "like a dog with a bone".

[fascisthunter]

62. I'll Do My Best....

and welcome back! We need you...

[EFerrari]

68. Thank you, friend!

:hi:

[Kurovski]

65. A kick for Shirley Golub.

:kick:

[Nutmegger]

67. Kick!

:kick::applause:

[stimbox]

70. Bounce!

:bounce: