If you stayed home in November 2010 to send President Obama a message...

[maxrandb]

You can't complain that he recieved it.

A better place to direct your anger would be at the Tea-bagging idiots that screamed like banshees and gave us the likes of Scott Walker, Rick Scott, Rand Paul and John Kasich...plus super-majorities of wingnuts in those states to do whatever the hell they want.

If you want to ask about "possible" cuts to social programs, you should ask the Tea-baggers..."Hey Bagger, did you vote for cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Health Care for Veterans????" "Well, did you, you asshat?", or did you think the cuts would only come from "dark-skinned" Americans?

This is not about getting "ponies". This is about what direction you want the country to go, and understanding that it can progress slowly in the way you want, or it can go careening in the other direction in a heartbeat. Do you really think that if we had a President McCain and VP Palin, there would be ANY DISCUSSION about "protecting our Social Safety Net"? Hell no, they'd be chomping at the bit to dismantle these programs.

That is what we need to understand. Republicans fought against these programs from their inception. They lost that battle 70 years ago, but they've never stopped trying to kill these programs. Oh yeah, they'll pay lip service to them, because they have been some of the most popular programs ever created, but never forget THAT REPUKES HATE THESE PROGRAMS! They hate these programs, because for some reason, corporations hate these programs, and they won't stop trying to kill them...EVER!

Let's remember, the Bush tax-cuts are due to expire in 2012. If you want to make sure they don't, then keep attacking the President. Karl Rove must be very happy when he reads DU these days!

[muntrv]

1. Ask the teabaggers WHERE ARE THE JOBS FROM THE BUSH TAX CUTS?

[RKP5637]

2. +1000 +++ n/t

[elocs]

3. From Wisconsin, I would like to congratulate all the Democrats who chose to stay home last November

and help to give us Walker and lose Feingold for us.

Actually, "congratulate" is not what I would really like to do.

[EFerrari]

4. Democrats did not stay home. Independents voted for Republicans. n/t

[BlueDemKev]

8. Enough Progressives Stayed Home....

...to give the election to Walker. Overall turnout was down 25% from 2008. Tom Barrett received about 650,000 fewer votes than Obama in '08 while Walker received about 100,000 less votes than McCain did. Yes, some of Obama's votes in '08 came from independent/swing voters, considering Obama received over 1.6 million votes, there's no way that 40% of his vote came from independents. Enough Wisconsin progressives stayed home and didn't bother to vote in Nov. 2010 which directly resulted in Scott Walker's election.

Elections have consequences, folks. Next time, get your asses out and VOTE!

[elocs]

10. Absolutely! I've crunched those numbers many times. Walker got 90% of McCain's 2008 votes.

Barrett had nothing to do with Obama or the national Democrats, yet he and all of us suffer because enough Democrats didn't care enough to vote.

Feingold is generally well liked by Democrats but he suffered a loss because too many Democrats chose not to vote.

Yes, elections have consequences. What part of that is hard to understand? :shrug:

[BlueDemKev]

11. Well, hopefully they've learned their lesson....

...given the result of their stupidity: the elimination of collective-bargaining in the State of Wisconsin.

[JDPriestly]

25. My pledge: I will not vote for any candidate who votes or agrees

on cuts to Social Security, Medicaid or Medicare.

As far as I am concerned any candidate who agrees to such cuts or votes for them is not a Democrat, not a member of my Party. Those are my litmus test issues. And I assure I am not the only person who feels like that.

I do not get to sit in Congress and voice my opinion or vote on a daily basis. The only time I get my say is on election day in the voting booth. And I will say my piece on that day. And my piece is that I am 68 and on Social Security and I will not vote for anyone who cheats me and other retirees of our very modest benefits. We worked and saved for those benefits. Let those who squandered them pay for them with their tax money.

People who really rely on Social Security have no or very little other income. If you make a lot more than Social Security, you pay taxes on it like everyone else. But most Social Security recipients have little if any income other than Social Security. And the average Social Security payment is less than $1200 per month. It is just enough to keep a person above the poverty level.

Social Security is a minimum benefit. Let the rich pay the taxes from the discretionary money they spend on second homes, yachts, vacations, gifts and hobbies.

Where is the justice in this country.

And beyond Social Security, how can Obama face himself in the mirror knowing that African-Americans have suffered such great economic losses due to the recession. The unemployment and poverty among African-Americans has increased on Obama's watch.

I will never forget the pride on the fact of an elderly African-American man at the polling station where I worked on election day. With tears in his eyes he asked another voter to take a picture of him holding his sample ballot showing his vote for Obama.

And yet, Obama watches as Social Security COLAS for that man and others like him are sacrificed at the alter of the greed of the rich and the corporations. It is not to be believed.

[gateley]

31. How do you think that African American man will fare if more

Republicans take over? If you can look past your own self-righteousness, think about others like this man who will be the ones who pay even more dearly.

[JDPriestly]

47. African-Americans have lost economic ground under Obama's

presidency. That is what makes me sad. The opportunities for minorities and the poor are worse now than they were when Obama became president.

[BlueDemKev]

55. EVERYBODY has lost economic ground in recent years....

...because of the global economic collapse in 2008 (which occured before Obama became president). It's not just minorities who have been affected by the recession.

[JDPriestly]

56. But I read recently that African-Americans have lost even more

than others. That's really a shameful record for Obama.

[BlueDemKev]

41. Get rid of the Edwards' photo.....

...why do you still have that guy's photo as your profile pic? As a former volunteer of John Edwards' 2004 presidential campaign, I wouldn't want to associate with that guy for anything.

[JDPriestly]

46. Because I backed him for his ideas.

Edwards' behavior was horrible. That's why I took him off my avatar.

But after I saw what happened to Weiner for his silly Tweets I decided that the whole judging people by their sex lives was stupid.

I can judge this because I happen to have lucked into a very strong, very happy, very longlasting, tried and true marriage. And I know how much of my good fortune is sheer luck, happenstance and fate.

Edwards' ideas on policy were far, far better than those of any other candidate.

I think it is a crying shame that Edwards made the mistakes he did and therefore could not become president. His policy ideas were the only ones that would have worked. Kucinich was also a good candidate, but I don't think that Kucinich has the personality or the experience in confronting wealthy people with success that Edwards had.

We need to find someone like Edwards, with similar ideas and a good record confronting Republicans who does not have Edwards' vulnerabilities.

[rpannier]

52. You've cruched the numbers and you know it wasn't Independents that stayed home nt

[EFerrari]

21. It was the biggest Independent swing to Republicans since 1982.

Stop yelling at the wrong people, seriously, it doesn't work.

[Kaleva]

28. You really can't compare the 2010 election with 2008.

You need to compare it to another off year election such as 2006.

Edit: A member posted some info regarding the 2010 election in Wisconsin with data from the 2006 election and i believe he (or she) stated that the liberal vote remained close to the same, the moderate vote dropped in 2010 and the conservative vote increased from what it had been in 2006.

[EFerrari]

35. My small point is that it's stupid to keep bagging on progressives

because NONE of the polls say we stayed home. For all the complaining, we DID NOT stay home as a group.

[Kaleva]

37. From the data I've seen, I agree with you.

[kath]

44. Thank you - I've wondered if this "too many Dems stayed home" meme is a lie.

So it turns out it is...

I WILL NOT VOTE for anyone who cuts, in any way, including the bullshit chained CPI, SS, Medicare or Medicaid.

[BlueCheese]

40. What was turnout compared to 2006?

I think presidential years always draw more than midterm years.

[elocs]

42. Walker received 90% of McCains total votes. Barrett got 60% of Obama's number.

If just 75% of those who voted for Obama had voted for Barrett he would have beaten Walker.

Apparently Republicans have discovered the key to winning elections--you show up and vote.

[rpannier]

49. What was the drop-off from University Students

That's often where much of the drop off comes in off-year elections

[BlueDemKev]

54. Not much of an impact

I realize college students typically don't vote in an off-year election, however look at the numbers. The University of Wisconsin has less than 50,000 students overall. Barrett got 650,000 less votes than Obama did. Only a small portion of that gap can be attributed to college students not voting in 2010.

[21st Century FDR]

17. Yep.

Those useless fucking independents who can't tell the difference between the policies of FDR, which saved this country, and the policies of Reagan, which destroyed it.

And yet they keep pandering to these fucking idiotic sheep.

[gateley]

27. Were they the Independents who voted for Obama in 2008? Regardless,

they screwed themselves. They thought they had it bad before... Live and learn.

[Ineeda]

5. Same nightmare here in Florida.

And we don't even have an option for recall. It sucks. And the horror will be even worse, nationwide, if...

[jwirr]

13. Likewise for Minnesota. Get out there and vote and just hope we can

undo what happened in 2010.

[elocs]

14. Even in your current troubles at least you have a Democratic governor. n/t

[jwirr]

15. That is the only thing that is saving us. I agree we are not as bad off

as those states with rethug governors and conservative congresses. I truly think we had a nervous breakdown in 2010.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

16. I'm In Ohio.............Thanks For John Kasich, Folks

My impression of the, "I shouldn't HAVE to choose the lesser of two evils" foot-stompers: "Well, I have only two choices for breakfast. This first bowl has sour milk in it, and it might make my stomach upset, so I guess I'll just gulp down this big bowl of rat poison over here."

These are the kinds of people that receive ransom notes saying that their children have been kidnapped and that they're to pay a million dollars to save their children's lives and respond by going, "I shouldn't HAVE TO choose between losing a million dollars and having my children killed!!! I just won't do ANYTHING and see how THAT works out."

As an Ohio resident who is now saddled with John K-Suck for the next 4 years, all I can say to these folks is, "Thanks, A-holes."

[JDPriestly]

30. And how many doors did you knock on in Ohio in 2010, ChoppinBroccoli?

I'm serious. And if you spoke to voters during the Get Out the Vote drive in 2010, what did you say in support of Obama?

Because I campaigned for Obama in Ohio in 2008. I know what I told the voters. And Obama made me into a liar. I told voters that Obama would show the bankers who was boss. He didn't. He kowtowed more than ever to the crooked bankers.

So, I can't blame Ohio voters for being disillusioned. Obama is not doing what voters, especially the independent voters in Ohio that I spoke to in 2008 wanted. He has failed them, me, all of us. Of course Obama cannot expect us to do our part if he doesn't do his.

And if he thinks his part is giving a kind of squeamish speech every Saturday morning and then not fighting for the things the country really needs -- like the continuation of Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid at this time of high unemployment and economic uncertainty for millions of Americans, then he should announce that he will not run again and allow the Party to nominate someone with some moral character, some strength who will answer to the people and not to Wall Street and a few corporations.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

36. What Did I Say About Obama? Nothing, As His Name Wasn't On The Ballot

I campaigned my ass off for Ted Strickland, though, who DIDN'T do all those things you accuse Obama of having done. Ted Strickland DESERVED your vote in 2010, even if Obama didn't. And every bit of news that has come out of the State of Ohio since then proves that Ted did a bang-up job and didn't deserve to be drummed out of office atop a wave of Obama disillusionment.

If you were campaigning for Obama in 2010, you were wasting your time. Although if Ted's campaign had volunteers who were out there talking about Obama, it's starting to become more clear why he lost. When you approach your boss for a raise, do you discuss the job performance of your next-door neighbor, or your co-worker in the cubicle next to yours?

[JDPriestly]

48. I do not live in Ohio so I was not there in 2010. I rooted for the

Democrats in Ohio, however, and was terribly shocked when Kasich won. Makes utterly no sense to me.

I am in California and live in a solidly Democratic area on the East side. No Republican has a chance here. And our strong Democratic Club which took a long time to build is a good part of the reason.

Ohio will become solidly Democratic. You just have to be patient and knock on lots of doors. I am getting too old to do it much longer.

[Duke Newcombe]

23. Instead of finger-wagging...

ask, and then answer the question: What so discouraged progressives that they thought staying home, and risking a GOPer winning office was preferable to voting for the D who was running.

Next, fix that.

That is all.

[gateley]

29. I was discouraged, but I knew what I'd be risking by staying

home. It's about more than ME, you have to look at the ramifications and the big picture. We're seeing the fruits of their non-labors now.

[AverageJoe90]

6. I can't believe I was only the FIRST person to rec this.

[gateley]

33. I think many others tried, but we're outnumbered. Crazy, huh? nt

[rpannier]

50. Maybe it was because of the racial implications thrown out by the OP?

Maybe because the OP is assuming everyone who stayed home did it to stick it to Obama
University students often don't vote in off year elections
There was a drop off of voting among African Americans, Hispanic Americans, etc

[tcaudilllg]

7. No one's mind is being changed by this.

Just preaching to the choir.

[BlueDemKev]

12. Do you believe....

...that not ONE person on this site is a progressive who refused to vote last November because Obama, Pelosi, and Reid "weren't progressive enough?"

[Sheepshank]

9. I fyou stayed home November 2010 to send President Obama a message...

...are you now so very happy with the outcome? If you would be so kind as to explain what it is about all of this makes you happy. Thanks.

This is of course assuming you are a Dem...hard to tell here lately.

[dionysus]

18. [phone]

:thumbsup:

[NBachers]

19. I moved the rec count up to one for now . . .

[gateley]

26. I recced and it's back to zero. We're outnumbered. nt

[inna]

45. well, i attempted to unrec but unfortunately it was too late (more than 24 hr)

[Bluebear]

53. +

[StarsInHerHair]

20. unrec!

[Duke Newcombe]

22. I'm quite done with the politics of ultimatums, thanks.

Sell what you're selling elsewhere. I'm not buying. History isn't on this president's side with regard to avoiding triangulation and rank capitulation.

[kenny blankenship]

57. Well I happen to enjoy the sight of a strawman fucking a dead horse-

SO I guess we cancel each other out!

[JDPriestly]

24. I do not want my country to go in the direction in which Obama is going.

It's as simple as that. He is intent on cutting Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. If he succeeds, he will not just be killing innocent people in Afghanistan and other countries, he will be killing Americans. And I don't want that.

Nursing homes for the very poor who are sick and/or elderly rely on Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security for much of their funding. Cuts to those programs will force many of the facilities to close and send the most vulnerable and poorest Americans onto the streets to live in squalor. How can Obama sign on to that.

And if you are lower middle class and elderly, meaning you have worked all your life, are no longer employable and relying on Social Security, you will now have to make really tough choices. Meanwhile Boehner and Obama can have their chuckles together about how happy they are making their rich donors and the corporations. It is just disgusting.

I will not vote for any candidate who votes or agrees to change Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid.

In particular, Social Security and Medicare are fully funded and don't really need to be changed.

The problem is not Social Security, Medicare or even Medicaid. The problem is that Bush passed tax cuts while starting two wars. He did not fund his wars. Let the corporations that do business with Iraq pay for those wars, not elderly Americans who had no voice in whether to start those wars.

I totally disagree with your ideas, maxrandb. I voted in 2010. In fact my Congressional District elected a progressive Democrat. It wasn't the progressive Democrats who stayed home. It was the independents and the young people -- the Obama voters. Obama made no real effort to get them out or to give them anything exciting to vote for.

Obama would not have appointed Timothy Geithner for Secretary of Treasury unless he planned, from the get-go to cut Social Security. That is proved by the fact that Timothy Geithner was appointed to the New York Fed's top post by a committee headed by Pete Peterson, the arch-foe of Social Security who wants to see all the money Americans put into Social Security placed into the gambling casino we call Wall Street. I and most other Americans do not want to have all of our retirement money gambled away and stolen as commissions by the Wall Street thieves. No thank you.

And No Thank You to Obama if he does go along with cuts in Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare -- and it sure looks like he will.

At this time, we have a large portion of the generation in their 50s who are jobless, losing their homes and unable to use the income they would normally earn during these final pre-Social Security years to save to supplement Social Security in their retirement. If Obama does what he plans and cuts Social Security COLA benefits, we will have a huge domestic crisis in about 10-15 years if not earlier.

Open your eyes. You are very, very wrong.

[gateley]

32. I DEFINITELY don't want it to go in the direction the Cantors and

Ryans and Scotts want to take it.

What's your solution? Edwards?

[JDPriestly]

43. Someone with policies like those that Edwards proposed.

Medicare for all -- opened gradually to younger and younger citizens.

Much more money and social emphasis on the environment.

Guarantees for the programs that help the elderly and poor.

Lots of emphasis on the programs for the poor.

Changes in our trade agreements so that we have fair trade and bring industry and jobs back to America.

Those are just a few of the programs that Edwards proposed -- that no other candidate proposed or articulated so well, not even Obama -- that we really, really need.

It isn't really about a particular person. It's about a policy direction. Edwards never said it in so many words, but the Chicago School of Economics was incompatible with his policy ideas. And we need to forget the Chicago School. It has not worked, not at all. Yet Obama and the Republicans are all intent on trying to make it work. It's like trying to fit a size 6 shoe on a size 12 foot. Chicago Economics do not work in real life.

[woo me with science]

39. Excellent post. nt

[TheKentuckian]

34. No one stayed home but Obama wave voters, minorities, and those independents

You guys devoted all thought and consideration to that you ran off in droves.

My ass was working for our candidates wroth nary a "sensible centrist" to be found. Did the worthless fuckwit spinning, sellouts bother to vote for your worthless bags of fuck, seems they got smacked around.

[Kaleva]

38. It's my understanding progressives didn't stay home in 2010.

Compared to 2006, it remained about the same. The moderate vote dropped though while the conservative vote increased.

[rpannier]

51. Too late to unrec

Woudl have unrec'd for the racial implications of your, "...or did you think the cuts would only come from "dark-skinned" Americans?"

[eridani]

58. Party activists NEVER stay home. You know who probably stayed home?

At least one low income woman that I canvassed in 2008. She had not gotten her voter registration card even though she had attempted to. I checked the county database and she was there. I called the elections office, and they said there was some problem with her documentation. They asked if they could deal with her directly, and I gave her the contact information. I checked back in a couple of days and everything was all squared away. She was effusively thankful, and mentioned that she hadn’t voted at all since voting for Clinton in 1992, but really didn’t want to miss this one.

She very likely didn't see the point of voting for the AFDC-busting NAFTA-loving incumbent in 1996, and she will probably not see the point of voting for a president who cares more about the deficit than about jobs in 2012.