Zogby: Antiwar movement [will affect midterms]

[Tiggeroshii]

A Powerful New Voting Block Emerges
The Antiwar Movement Becoming a Political Force That Cannot Be Ignored

A new national poll shows that a near majority of voters either strongly or somewhat agree with a pledge not to vote for pro-war candidates. This makes the antiwar movement's potential impact on elections larger than pro-gun, anti-abortion, or anti-gay marriage voters. Politicians will have to pay heed to this new political force.

The pledge states:

"I will not vote for or support any candidate for Congress or president who does not make a speedy end to the war in Iraq, and preventing any future war of aggression a public position in his or her campaign."

The national poll found that 45.9% of US voters agree – 20.1% strongly agree and 25.8% somewhat agree. Among Democrats 67.1% agreed – 33.3% strongly, 59.2% of Independents – 25.3% strongly and even 25.7% of Republicans agreed – 5.5% strongly. The poll was conducted by ICR Survey Research of Media, Pa., which also polls for ABC News, The Washington Post and many corporations and research organizations.

http://www.zogby.com/Soundbites/ReadClips.dbm?ID=12874

[mike_c]

1. add me to the list (because I'm not already in that poll)....

eom

[Seabiscuit]

22. I am in that poll - Zogby has been sending me their polls by e-mail for

the past 2 years. Apparently those of us responding are beginning to make a difference.

[EST]

2. me too

[tridim]

3. Hey Bush, take this "focus group" and shove it

We've always been a powerful voting block, just ignored.

[mdmc]

4. k/r

[welshTerrier2]

5. they ignore this at their own peril

we've cautioned about this for some time now ...

some called us lefty freepers (the jackasses!!!) ... some called us fringe ... and they oh so proudly referred to themselves as "pragmatists" ... yeah, right ...

well, deal with this, pragmatists ... tell your damned candidates to stop all the political games and demand a rapid end to the war ... and you can knock off all the bullshit about one more year or two more years or whatever crap is being peddled ...

apparently these pragmatists believe that bush can be trusted to actually achieve something positive in Iraq ... oh, they won't admit that ... but that's their message ... we can't leave until bush achieves something positive ... no, they refuse to phrase it that way but that's exactly what they're saying ...

it's time to stop funding bush's war ... stop fucking giving him a blank check ... that's exactly what the Senate Dems have been doing ... a big fat no-strings-attached blank fucking check ... but the poor little dears have no real power they tell us ... great ... so, because they have no power, they send a great signal about where the party's at by voting more funds for war ... yeah, that's very pragmatic ...

if you want the votes of the anti-war movement, earn them ... get out and talk to the public all over the country ... open yourselves to a real dialog with the American people and your Democratic constituents ... most Senators are only visible in DC or at fundraising events ... that is no way to win votes and it's certainly no way to represent voters ...

and let's not get into this purist business ... don't assume there's no room for compromise ... if anything, the anti-war movement sees the Senate Dems as the ones who are unwilling to compromise ... many of us see them as putting winning ahead of every issue no matter how important the issue is ... well, take a hint, the status quo is no way to win ...

it's time to stop this nonsense about "appearing tough on defense" ... a strong defense is a perfectly reasonable platform plank ... does anyone honestly believe remaining in Iraq for another year is the path to a stronger defense???? it might create the pretense of toughness but voters are already seeing right through that ... it's time to show some damned leadership, some courage and some integrity ... stop playing political games and call for a rapid end to the fucking war ...

i hope the Democratic Party cares about what i think; i really do ... i hope i can support all their candidates later this year and in '08; i really do ... perhaps the Zogby poll is not accurate; perhaps it is ... either way though, the party needs to understand that be it 1% or 2% or 50%, they cannot continue to ignore the anti-war movement ...

we hope to be your allies and your constituents; we will not support you if you fail to represent us ... is that a threat? i like to see it as a call for real unity ... i truly hope it works out that way ...

[bread_and_roses]

14. Amen again. Think there's any chance Hillary might heed it?

...so I might actually consider a vote for her come Nov?

[freefall]

18. This is a great rant. Right on!!!

:applause: :applause: :applause:
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

Peace,

freefall

[Jack Rabbit]

6. That's a warning both to Republicans and Vichy Democrats

My best wishes to Mr. Lamont.

[paul_fromatlanta]

7. I wonder how most people interpret "speedy?"

[welshTerrier2]

8. they sure don't see it like this

this article was pure political propaganda: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/02/20/democrats_may_unite_on_plan_to_pull_troops/

if the Democrats go with the "Korb plan", as Dean and a few others have advocated, the Zogby poll spells very deep trouble for Democrats ...

if Democrats refuse to be the opposition party, they are going to continue alienating more and more voters as the war and occupation drag on and on and on and on and on ...

"speedy" to most, and i use the phrase "near-term", might mean a few months ... maybe it could even mean 6 months ... more than that? i doubt it ... calls for staying until the end of the year or, worse yet, the end of 2007 are insane ...

[paul_fromatlanta]

9. One thing that really is clear from this though

Is that the President has no chance of majority support for war with Iran and yet war with Iran is surely coming.

[OzarkDem]

10. Great news for our Ohio Dems

combined with GOP scandals, we should see a lot of wins.

[Kolesar]

12. There might be an odd pickup in Congress like Columbus or OH-2

To think, Bush and the gops think they are going to campaign on their war position for a third election. bush barely won in 2004 on the war issue.

[NMDemDist2]

11. I took that poll! glad to see the numbers are so high n/t

[AX10]

13. This could result in a few pickups for the Democrats in the House...

that the Dems would have otherwise NOT taken.

[hootinholler]

15. Add re-securing our rights and I'm in! n/t

[Maraya1969]

16. Our country is starting to go sane!

[otohara]

26. 2004 - WTF Happened?

there's many stupid people in my country

[freefall]

17. I sent my Congressman a link to the poll with the suggestion that he can

either lead on this issue or be pushed out of the way. He is a Democrat, Tom Allen, who voted not to give * the right to use force but has voted for every Iraq funding bill since then. And now one of his former campaign workers has announced he is running as an Independent peace candidate. I definitely don't want the election to go to a Rethuglican but there is always the possibility that the Independent can pull off a win. Right now I am neutral 'til I see how things shake out. I agree with Christine Cegelis' campaign manager, Kevin Spidel, that the most important thing this fall is to get enough Democrats elected to make John Conyers chairman of the Judiciary Committee. If Dexter Kamilewicz should be elected as an Independent in our district he would caucus with the Democrats. The problem will be if the vote gets split between the Allen and Kamilewicz and the Rethug takes the seat. If Allen starts leading on the Occupation issue my guess is Kamilewicz will back him. We'll see.

Peace,

freefall

[Catchawave]

19. Whoa, I did that poll....

As an Independent, so throw my % into the Dem column. Sorry, I think polls should poll American Citizens, not Political Schmitical Parties. Ick.

[Generic Brad]

20. Anti-War? Try Pro-Peace. Try Sane Americans.

I grow really weary of being painted with the broad "anti" brush. It makes me sound like an obstructionist or someone who is simply disagreeable. Zogby makes it sound as if a majority movement is part of the lunatic fringe.

[Pithy Cherub]

21. Absolutely agree plus reviewing who is standing up for the Constititution.

the new liberal swing voter has arrived. Politicians can ignore at their peril. Especially democrats who count on blind loyalty.

[Tom Joad]

23. I bet you the "benchmarks for success" lines some fools still offer

will not go over. time to get the hell out!

[welshTerrier2]

24. benchmarks ...

in his speech last October, Kerry called for the withdrawal of 20,000 troops after the December elections in Iraq ... this was to be the first "benchmark" ... i am not aware he's acknowledged that any subsequent "benchmarks" have been met and i am not aware that he's therefore called for the withdrawal of more troops ...

the disturbing point is that there were 160,000 US troops in Iraq during last December's elections ... bush has lowered that number to a current force of 133,000 ... that's a reduction of 27,000 troops, 7,000 more than Kerry has called for ...

now people will jump all over this and explain how Democrats are pushing for withdrawal ... the point is that whatever plans they've offered are pathetically inadequate; how could anyone say otherwise when even bush's pace of withdrawals is faster than what most Democrats have proposed ...

if Kerry has stated other "benchmarks" have been met and that additional withdrawals beyond the first 20,000 he called for should be made, i apologize because i am ill-informed ... if not, Kerry should apologize for being "out-withdrawn" by bush ...

[radio4progressives]

25. The other thing is the GOP plan is to Withdraw Substantially prior to

Mid Terms and say that Mission's Accomplished or "We're on the Way to Victory or some such..

Which takes the wind completely out of the sails of the Dems equivicating weak-kneed position once again ..

And the thing is, the Dems have had advanced warning about this strategy, or least they should have, cuz we sure the hell have.

Absolutely nothing the Washington Dems have said or shown thus far has any meaningful substance in terms of strategy or platform on this issue from the very start years ago, and we've been saying all through the 2004 campaign - you gotta take a strong position against the Iraq policy and everything associated with it. It really was an easy platform to take, and it was very winnable. And it saddens me to no end how our own party just does not and never has gotten it.

[welshTerrier2]

27. i'm working locally

i've done work for Deval Patrick who's a Democrat running for Governor in Massachusetts ... i'm in the process of gathering signatures for Jim McGovern who's one of the best people in Congress ... he's a Democrat too ...

and i've done some additional organizing work and will continue to do so ... but the Democratic Party and their national plans and candidates? i ain't done nothing and i ain't gonna neither ...

i'm doing what i can to support Democrats ... but if the national party continues to desperately cling to the "look how tough we are" nonsense and refuses to fight bush on his damned war, my time, money and votes will be looking for a home this November ... i just won't support anymore of this garbage ...

[Hosnon]

28. I agree...let's give a big election F-YOU to Dems and Reps who backed it.

[mhr]

29. Including One Hillary Clinton - On This Issue She Is A DINO

eom