The left needs to figure out how to get leverage over the WH now

[BurtWorm]

Or we're in for two more years of their licking republican boot while kicking us in the ass!

Any ideas? Moritorium on financial support for Dems?

[HuckleB]

1. Who and/or what qualifies as "the left?"

That may be the real problem right now.

One thing we all forget: Either the Dems maintain control of Congress, or the Repugs push tea party goons into power now, thus, making their hope for 2012 go down the tubes.

[BurtWorm]

8. Fuck that shit! I'm sick of watching this administration bend over backwards to coddle

Republicans and shit on the left and then expecting us to like it. Fuck that shit. They're rapidly turning my minimal enthusiasm for their electoral needs from rank and file democrats into fury toward them for their patent cowardice (at best) against republicans.

[HuckleB]

10. Tantrums might feel good, but they don't tend to accomplish anything positive.

Please try again.

[villager]

12. nor, as it turns out, does unconditional surrender masked as "centrism"

Please try again.

[HuckleB]

13. Nice ad hominem BS!

Congratulations!

[villager]

60. "Nice ad hominem BS!"

Do you realize how much of your posts could be quoted verbatim... to describe your posts?

Congratulations! (on the projection...!)

[BurtWorm]

32. How about you suggest something other than 'like it or lump it?'

Hmm?

You like having the White House lower the bar for "hope" with every passing day? How is this strategy going to work for them when the people they kowtow to only hate their guts more and more and they piss on the desires of the people who voted for them? What are the Obama people doing to keep tea party thugs out of Congress?

[babylonsister]

2. I'd prefer the left, including the WH, figure out a way to call

the rethugs on their constant distorting of the truth and obstruction so the rest of the country won't be so clueless.

[HuckleB]

4. It's time for Obama to create the institution know as "The President's Questions."

Put him on TV versus the GOPers every month or every week. The GOP will be dead within the year.

[babylonsister]

5. He sort of does that via youtube on Saturdays, but that doesn't

seem to be getting much traction.

[HuckleB]

6. Do you remember when he really did it last winter?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/jan/29/barack-obama-republicans

He should have pushed for this type of meeting on a regular basis. He needs to do it, now!

[rpannier]

9. Behind you on that one

Preaching to the choir day-after-day isn't really all that effective

[RandomThoughts]

3. There are two options.

Find people that you can support for elections.

Or think of the system as broken and completely change it. If it is electing lesser of two evil self proclaimed lords or monarchs, then voting is not the fix anyways.


I think there are some good people in many places, so figure it is possible to fix things still.



Funny side note, some people think when I say fix, that I mean sterilize, although some think sterilize actually means clean. Funny how that is.

[BurtWorm]

21. I'm in Charley Rangel's district. Think i'm excited about this election?

I'm not. I'll vote for Jonathan Tasini in the primary, but he can't win because he doesn't know how to relate to Harlem. I'll vote for rangel in the general. I used to be proud of rangel. I like his snark toward Obama and his condescending abd unsubtle remarks about ending one's career gracefully. But I wish Rangel had cleared a path for new blood. But he didn't.

[Uzybone]

23. "I like his snark toward Obama"

no wonder the RW sees so many lefties as fools. We need to get serious.

[BurtWorm]

38. I wonder if Obama dealt with Rangel personally, or if he just let his 'hint' do the dirty work

If the latter, he deserves Rangel's snark.

[phasma ex machina]

41. +1 "I think there are some good people in many places"

Probably more people than we realize.

[iamtechus]

7. Start search for 2012 alternate presidential candidate?

- Get really serious about forming a new progressive party.

- Donate time and money to only individual progressive candidates.

- Unsubscribe from all Democratic party mailing lists.

[babylonsister]

11. Any suggestions? nt

[iamtechus]

16. Howard Dean?

[HuckleB]

18. Howard "Move The Mosque" Dean?

Really?

[babylonsister]

25. I don't think so; been there, tried to do that. nt

[phasma ex machina]

42. +1

[iamtechus]

17. Dennis Kucinich?

[babylonsister]

24. No. nt

[phasma ex machina]

43. +1 (I'm a hopeless dreamer. LOL.)

[iamtechus]

19. Alan Grayson?

[HuckleB]

20. He's awesome!

And come 2016, I'd support him with everything I have!

[babylonsister]

26. I like him, but that doesn't mean he's presidential material...yet? nt

[iamtechus]

28. Anthony Weiner?

[Echotrail]

36. Shirley Sherrod n/t

[babylonsister]

37. Is she qualified? nt

[Echotrail]

46. Not as a politician as far as I know.

It won't happen but it would be so good for the country to get away from the groomed politicos and the billionaires for once.

We thought we had the solution but intelligence, great skills as an orator, and grooming as a politician apparently aren't enough.
A president also needs to have courage, integrity and a desire to use their limited time in office wisely.
The White House has squandered 2 years already and seems more self-destructive by the day.

[iamtechus]

39. I was going to suggest Jennifer Granholm but she was born in Canada.

[HuckleB]

15. No thanks. Been there. Done that.

Bush got "elected."

[howaboutme]

14. Two Party system makes it easy for them to retain power

We need to make it easier to get third and fourth Party candidates on the ballot. Yes sometimes that can work against your preference (as in Nader and Gore 2000) but it also works to move the big two Parties towards the independent voters. Most Americans are fed up with a government that doesn't listen to the people. That is what started the Tea Party movement.

[phasma ex machina]

48. deleted. (Too cynical.)

[kenny blankenship]

22. Forget it. He's a Reagan koolaid drinker and they never come back.

[HuckleB]

29. Yeah, sure, you betcha.

:wow:

[kenny blankenship]

34. drink up.

[ShamelessHussy]

27. YOUTUBE - we need to create our own viral 30 sec. commercials

OUTSOURCE OUR CxOs!

FREEDOM TRADES (a dollar tax on EVERY trade)

etc.

(feel free to add your own ideas)

[Echotrail]

30. Need a tough love campaign. Complete silence for a week or two

would speak volumes. No donations, no volunteering, no communication. No bitching. NOTHING. The silence would be deafening.

But it's necessary since they are in self-destruct mode and have no sense for the damage they are doing.

[ChiciB1]

56. Well, Some Have Already Decided NOT To Vote... Their Motive Is To

let the Repukes win, as bad as it seems... but THAT kind of silence will get attention! Two years of more crap, can it get much worse?? Probably, but then THEY WILL REALLY NEED US!!

I know, far-fetched, but I'm not a happy camper and haven't been for quite some time!!

There ARE a lot of lefties still here, and if we tap into "some" sort of plan, we may just get noticed!! What else do we have?? I know we're all open to suggestions, and what I'm saying may be way out in LEFT field, but SOMETHING or SOMEONE will probably be more of a strategist than I!

[Cerridwen]

31. $$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Money talks and everything else is called BS and it walks.

Good luck.

[kenny blankenship]

33. Just save your money. You're going to need it.

[Cerridwen]

35. Good advice. Thank you.

I hope everyone has the opportunity to follow it.

[BurtWorm]

40. I agree with kenny blanskenship.

No money talks pretty loudly in politics too, especially when it's a LOT of no money.

[Canuckistanian]

44. Act like a Republican

That's the SURE way to get attention from this WH.

[BurtWorm]

45. That;'s brilliant!

:cry:

[JJ]

47. Support and vote for progressives in primaries.

That is all we can do. And it won't mean spit.

10 or 15 years from now it'll finally be so bad that we'll get a truly progressive congress, and things will change like in the late 1930's,
if the US still exists as a representative democracy. I have my doubts.

[ChiciB1]

51. But Many Who Call Themselves Aren't Really All That Progressive!

Progressive is the terminology they thought would work to replace the Liberals of the Party after Ronnie Ray-Guns made LIBERAL a dirty word!!

We need to visit places who think like we do and perhaps with everyone putting their heads together "a name" might surface!

Right now I can't think of anyone that hasn't already been bought or who has been accepted into the Middle Right Democratic fold! Kind of the DLC types, or blue dogs! I've had enough of them!! And any liberal types have almost already been written off and considered one who "has gone off the ranch!" We're essentially like David going up against Goliath! D.C. Elites don't want anyone to upset the apple cart!!

THINK!

[ChiciB1]

49. Okay, It's Sort Of A Plan... Everyone TRY To Think Of A Real Viable

candidate that hasn't been out there and dissed, or one who is to the left of Obama! THIS is a difficult prospect, because THEIR MONEY and insider track will make if VERY difficult to penetrate the WALL!!

Grayson is our type, but while he HAS to cohones to take them on, he's got to get some time under his belt. Let's keep thinking very hard! Kucinich has been burned at the stake, and anyone we will come up with needs, for want of a better word... TENURE!

Start Thinking and then maybe we can do a Howard Dean Internet cat call!! Keep our eyes peeled all the time! Unfortunately, nobody comes to mind!!

A Brad Pitt type or something! He's doing good work in New Orleans! George Clooney has class, but I don't think with one would be interested! I think it's something to think about anyway! And I'm SERIAL about this! If THEY won't fight for us, WE need to FIGHT for ourselves!

All of us could probably name names from the past who united for a cause, and had NO NAME when they started!! And yes, I know times have changed and it's going to take a LOT of money, a LOT of money! I really don't think Obama and many of the "now" Democrats really want us to unite against them. They take us for granted because they think we MUST vote for Dems because we have no alternate! Rahm and Gibbs are basically correct... who else can we vote for, so we CAN be ignored!

THINK!!!

[metapunditedgy]

50. Isn't that about what we did for Obama? n/t

[ChiciB1]

53. Somewhat, But We Got Sucked In By The Rock Star Campaign & All

the younger kids who went Ga-Ga! Filling stadiums, speaking rather than putting on a concert! I went to three of his campaign stops, and the feeling was like going to Rock Star concerts!! They were big, noisy and very upbeat!

Now that we know what has transpired, we know the plan used... let's learn from it!!

It ain't gonna be easy, especially since we don't even have a name yet!

[metapunditedgy]

61. I wasn't into the rock star thing. I listened to what Obama said, and I took him at his word.

That's what bothers me... if politicians are going to move to the right after they're elected, what hope do progressives have?

[BurtWorm]

52. They will go right on ignoring us--for some unfathomably stupid reason.

Actually, it will be partly because any counter-weight movement will be attacked by the left for being divisive.

This really baffles me about my party. The leaders take us for granted until a bunch of us really get fed up and ready to make our own way without them, and the rest of us crack down on the energized renegades for killing the party's chances. They don't seem to get pissed at the leaders, who are then encouraged to keep on stinking at leadership.

:wtf:

[ChiciB1]

54. But, It's The Best Idea I've Heard Of So Far!! Tea-Baggers Started Small Too!

And look at all the coverage THEY get?? Maybe they won't win in the end, but no one can doubt that they have made a lot of noise and actually came up with enough names to put out there as candidates!!

Just starting something similar might get some attention!! Democrats don't seem to have much spine these days, so it might scare them for a while!

[BurtWorm]

57. Note, though, that the psychobaggers' have aimed most of their bile at Obama

who seems to go out of his way to do things to please them, like throw Shirley Sherrod overboard and retain Anal Simpson.

They've also taken advantage of the luxury of their dufus leadership being out of power to try to effect a (disgusting) sea change in their party. (And this is, of course, glossing over the fact that this "sea change" has been orchestrated by Republican leaders to make it look grass roots.)

[ChiciB1]

63. I'm ON THE LEFT... I'm NOT Attacking You!! I'm Ready For REVOLUTION

myself!! You can call it "left" if you want, but I don't think it's a "left" thing. Most of My "leftie" friends want ACTION, not just "follow-the-leader" dictum we've been hearing and seeing!!

Sitting at my PC, pouring my heart out and NOT have anyone listen just doesn't do it for me anymore! I HAVE tried to get involved locally, but come down to where I live and see how far it gets you! If you think "blue dogs" are a real part of the problem, in my area I feel the Democrats here just might be "blue-blue dogs!"

I'm a RADICAL to them!! But it's NOT true, I just won't listen to what I'm being fed from our leaders and D.C. Elites and swallow it like some giant BITTER PILL!!

WE need to light a fire under some butt holes that said they were going to Represent Democrats, but what I'm seeing is a Party that has capitulated to Repukes and rolled over!! This makes me very sad, but also VERY MAD!!

[BurtWorm]

65. I would be ok with a Democratic president who had vision and the will to act on it.

Or with a Congress led by Democratic leaders who had vision and the will to act on it.

We have neither right now.

[slipslidingaway]

58. But who controls the debates and the media ...

the candidate needs not only money but the backing of corporate media to keep their name in the spotlight. If they do not have their name mentioned, and this can even be in a relatively "negative" way, then then will poll poorly and will not stand a chance of getting to the debate. It was very clear that the top three candidates in 2008 were Clinton, Obama and Edwards, they were given more time than the other candidates. Personally I think they let Edwards in there to pull support from Kucinich, that is just my little own conspiracy theory :) Not that I thought Kucinich had a chance of winning, but he did have some of the best ideas, national HC, no nation building abroad, rebuilding our infrastructure to keep jobs here etc.


How the GOP and Dems Secretly Control the Presidential Debates

http://www.democracynow.org/2004/9/28/how_the_gop_and_dems_secretly

"...GEORGE FARAH: In the upcoming presidential debates, the candidates cannot even ask each other questions or talk to each other. They have no more than 90 seconds to 120 seconds to answer a question, so they’re just reciting their memorized sound bite. They have vetted all of the moderators. There’s limited use of follow-up questions. The town hall audience, for example, has to submit their questions in advance, on index cards to the moderator. The moderator throws out the questions he or she doesn’t like. Then points to the individual in the audience who he or she wants to ask the question according to a seating chart. If the person in the audience asks a question that in any way deviates from the question he submits in advance, the town hall moderator can cut him off and move on the next question. The town hall audience is not really there to ask questions, they’re just there as props. The moderator is still choosing the questions. You end up with a debate in which the candidates are reciting a series of memorized sound bites to fit cute 90-second response slots. They cannot speak to each other. They’re not going to get tough questions because they have selected all the questioners. It’s not really debating—it’s a glorified bipartisan press conference. And of course, all third party voices will excluded as they have been in the last three election cycles, because the candidates just don’t want anybody else on that stage..."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election_debates

"...Control of the presidential debates has been a ground of struggle for more than two decades. The role was filled by the nonpartisan League of Women Voters (LWV) civic organization in 1976, 1980 and 1984. In 1987, the LWV withdrew from debate sponsorship, in protest of the major party candidates attempting to dictate nearly every aspect of how the debates were conducted. On October 2, 1988, the LWV's 14 trustees voted unanimously to pull out of the debates, and on October 3 they issued a dramatic press release:

The League of Women Voters is withdrawing sponsorship of the presidential debates...because the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter. It has become clear to us that the candidates' organizations aim to add debates to their list of campaign-trail charades devoid of substance, spontaneity and answers to tough questions. The League has no intention of becoming an accessory to the hoodwinking of the American public..."

[MadHound]

55. Ah hell, do like the insurance industry, trial lawyers and the financial sector does,

Buy politicians on the open market.

Piddly ass donations of ten, twenty, a hundred bucks don't mean squat to the party command. Now, get into the millions and you too can have yourself a shiny new politician.

The trouble is the poor, dispossessed, downtrodden can't get that kind of cash together. So away we go, down this merry political path, bought and paid for by corporate America.

The only thing that will change this is publicly funded election, get corporate money out of our government. Of course what politician in his/her right mind would voluntarily vote to give up the gravy train?

Yeah.

[kctim]

59. Instead of a moritorium

why not just get far-left candidates elected? IF the will of the people is far-left policies, as most on here believe, it really shouldn't be that hard at all. President Obama is a smart man and he would recognize that the people want far-left policies and he would govern for them, just as he said he would and just as he is doing now.

I'll even offer Missouri up as where you should begin. According to what most on here say, all you would have to do is replace Carnahan with a far-left candidate and that candidate would win. Weird how Carnahan is trailing because people think SHE is too far left, and even weirder that people think someone even further left would win, but hey, if the internets say they know what the people of Missouri really want, even better than the actual people of Missouri do, then it's got to be true.

[msanthrope]

62. Please, stop talking sense....

you are killing me.

:D

[ChiciB1]

64. Sorry, But I'm Not Seeing Obama Pushing Far Left Policies!! At Best He

seems "moderate to leaning right!" Just how I see it!! Here in Florida we have a very weak (meek) Democrat running for the Senate, named MEEK! And I'm sounding like a broken record on this one, but facts are facts... a lot of Democrats are going to vote for Crist if Meek can't get his butt in gear!

He's DLC, and has yet to show many of us what kind of fight he has in him! I'm not seeing very much, but will see if he can improve since he got the nomination!

He DIDN'T win, Greene BLEW IT!! Had not all the negative crap come out about Greene BEFORE the Primary, the amount of support Meek was getting was only about 1 point ahead of Greene up until then!

Many here may not like the fact that Crist changed his party to have a chance to run, but many also have been surprised that Crist has governed much more moderately than many Democrats thought he would! Plus, we are looking at the prospect of RUBIO, and THAT CAN'T HAPPEN!!! No Way, No How!!

I'm sitting on the fence myself, even while several of my Democratic friends decided NOT TO VOTE in this Primary, but have already decided to vote for Crist!! I KID YOU NOT!!

[kctim]

67. President Obama would

govern further left IF that was what the people wanted.

He "seems moderate to leaning right" to you right now and he has something like an 80% approval rating from Democrats. That should tell you what the people actually want and why President Obama is governing the way he is.

[BurtWorm]

66. Whom is he governing for now? The people who think he's a Muslim?

[kctim]

68. Nope.

They are partisans and they wouldn't vote for him no matter what.

I would say he is governing for those around 80% of Democrats who approve of the way he is doing his job and trying to figure out why the other 20% won't be happy with anything less than getting EVERYTHING they want and how THEY want it.

[BurtWorm]

69. I just want to see courage in action.

That's what I think I was promised. I[m not seeing it. I'm seeing way too much weakness and dithering.

[Poboy]

70. Good thread. -nt

[QC]

71. Buy Fox News?

They seem to have lots of leverage with this administration.