A real plan to take back the House, Senate, and Presidency:: Very Long

[Savannah Progressive]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have alluded to it, talked around it, and now, I am going to tell you all how we can take back the House, Senate, Presidency, and the Nation.

First, we can't do it with Scandal alone. I will grant you that Scandal doesn't help the incumbents, however we need something else, something we have been missing, and something we have forgotten over the years. We need to tell the voters who we are, what we stand for, and what we believe. We don't need Gravitas, we need Genuine.

What do I mean when I say we need Genuine? I mean we throw the polls away, reading the polls told us that Kerry would win, and we would win back the House and Senate in 2004. We have Karl Rove's briefing on the election of 2000 and 2002, including his analysis, and we didn't learn from it. We need to stop hiring consultants to tell us how to act like something we aren't, the people see that as a weakness, and they reject it.

Do you think that all the people who voted for Bush agreed with Bush in 2004? The truth is no, but they saw him as more real, more Genuine than they saw Senator Kerry. They saw Senator Kerry as a wishy washy flip flopper who would say what he thought the people wanted to hear. That is because John Kerry tried to over explain every nuance of his ideals, beliefs, and every vote he ever cast in the Senate. The Swift Boaters were ignored for too long, and when responded to, it was sporadic and lethargic in nature. The people may think that Bush is not too smart, but they saw him being himself, sure he is uncomfortable in public, but most average people ARE uncomfortable speaking in public, and can forgive that.

Polish doesn't mean Professional, or Perfect. A used car salesman is obviously a used car salesman. He (forgive the Masculine only, however the language limits my choices for the straw man) acts, dresses, and practices his arguments, delivery, and behavior to fit it's use. He is a used car salesman, yet aren't we drawn to the guy who is just one of us? Aren't we all drawn to the salesman who isn't perfectly dressed, but speaks like we do? Aren't we put off by that polished professionalism because we can sense it's phony?

We have a new Executive at work, and he is every inch the executive, from his silk ties to his polished shoes. His shirts are custom, obviously, and his suit is tailored to perfection. He drives the right car, lives in the right neighborhood, and uses words like Paradigm to describe his changes. The workers mutter bullshit under their breath after listening to him, they don't trust him, and probably never will. The hourly folks trust the managers who appear not as a page from a magazine on how to be an executive, but are regular people.

What did the average people think about Ronald Reagan, right or wrong? They thought he was witty, smart, and above all, honorable. You don't dress witty, you don't dress intelligent, and you can't ever pretend to be someone like Bush, Clinton, Reagan, or Kennedy (JFK not Ted). These people were who they were, the suit was the uniform, not who they were. Kennedy had that class, that charm, and a genuine appeal that attracted people to HIM and his beliefs. Clinton had similar attributes, which is why he was a Popular President with a majority of the people.

Be yourself, don't try and be a version of the other guy, don't try and speak like a common man if that isn't how you speak. George Will is respected, because of who he is, not what they want him to be. I know, I keep mentioning the enemy, the Repugniks, but we are looking for what makes them successful, not what we hate about them.

Walk out there, tell the people you are for amnesty,(if you are in favor of it) and here is why. Don't worry about the Polls, the polls had us winning by a landslide. Diebold had some to do with that, but we can't blame it all on the blasted machine.

Gore lost his home state, a state he carried as a Senator, and a State which supported Clinton for how long? Why? Al Gore is a Wonk, and he ran from that because he was afraid it would intimidate the average person. He tried to be a "regular guy" and it didn't fit him, people saw that, and didn't like it. He polled higher (I know, I just said ignore the polls, but you will see the reason) before the "alpha male" change, and did better being the firebrand we knew he was deep down inside. He electrified the audience when he was speaking about issues he was passionate about. Gore then was coached by his experts, and began putting us all to sleep, even those of us who loved and supported him.

Don't be afraid of offending someone, it's impossible to go from cradle to grave without offending someone, pick your target, sure, but don't be afraid that someone will be offended. Don't set out to intentionally offend your target either, make it secondary to your point, the issue you are speaking about.

Example of this is easy. "The Republicans are all corrupt bastards." OK, you have just offended the Republicans, and angered them. Good, now what? Where do you go from there? What is the point of the statement? What did you hope to accomplish? We Democrats KNOW the Republicans are corrupt, you preached to the proverbial choir. The Republicans who have seen a couple of the ten million or so Republicans go down, honestly believe that 99% are honest, and dedicated, so you have solidified their opposition to you. The average Joe has heard that claim from Democrats a million times, and is sick of it, and tunes out the rest of your statement.

Better Example of what we CAN do. "The recent scandals that have rocked Washington have called upon reform which would include Sunshine laws to make all public activity open to the Public Review". You have insulted the Republicans, but not directly, as an aside of the main point, preventing the ability of Future Republicans to hide their corruption. You have suggested a change is needed, and offered a proposal, the "Sunshine laws" popular in many States don't really accomplish much, but they are a starting point to address corruption in elected officials. They focus the attention on the problem, and the solution, and affix the simple ideal that Democrats are in favor of reform to end corruption, and Republicans are in favor of the status quo, which is the corruption.

Which would the people next to you at the Grocery Store hear during the next campaign? A plan to end corruption, and bring Public Officials and corruption into the light of day? Another "God we hate Bush" tirade? We ran on "Any Body But Bush" in 2004, and it wasn't much of a campaign if you ask me.

Ted Kennedy is Genuine, and Hated by the Right for it. They literally hate him with a passion, not one Repugnik mentions his name without Chappaquiddick, drinking, womanizing, or some other slanderous statement attached, yet Kennedy is re-elected because even though all that vote for him don't support 100% of his ideals, they know him to be Genuinely dedicated to them. (I will for the time being ignore the Cape Wind Farm issue that is really pissing me off about him, but that is an issue, not the sum of his elected service).

Be yourself, don't take one someone else's belief and claim it for your own. Dave Barry runs for President as a joke, and his platform is "I believe in whatever you believe in". You can order a Bumper sticker that says Dave Barry supports _______________ (insert cause or right). We are becoming that parody in our elected reality.

The Media, quit trying to be friendly to them. You aren't going to get them to like you, and they won't ever be on your side. When they try and get you off topic with some asinine question, tell them you would be happy to discuss that later, they can call for an appointment (make it for a week or so later) and we can sit down, and discuss it in depth. Stay out of the sound bite, or make the bite one they can't resist using. "Simply put, Exxon is making record profits, and we want to make sure that the public aren't being soaked. We want to see what we as lawmakers can do to help make daily life more consistent and affordable for the public". Follow up quote "It's hard for people to plan for their Children's College when they have to empty the College fund to fill the tank. We want to make absolutely sure that these prices are justified and appropriate."

What do we say? "George Bush is responsible for High Gas Prices, we demand an investigation". Yawn, same song, different words, but same tune. A band called Brooklyn Bounce did that, they made one song, and changed the words to it and renamed it at least twice. Same fucking song, two different titles, different words, but same music. (I know, I bought all both of them thinking I was getting something different, boy was I sorry later.)(The Songs were Born to Bounce, Bass Beat Melody)

Tell the people what YOU think, what YOU want to do, and even if they disagree with one or two issues, they will support YOU and YOUR MESSAGE (I honestly pray it's a Progressive Message) over the party. The man not the party is what just about everyone says, and most people actually mean it.

[Poiuyt]

1. I think politicians would be wise to study early Billy Graham

He spoke from his heart and with such passion that he had quite a following.

[Savannah Progressive]

3. That is what I am talking about

Even if you disagree with some of what the person says, you will respect and listen to the person because of their passion plus knowledge. The Bible can't be summed up into a sound bite, yet ministers are well known and acknowledged leaders.

[lostexpectation]

2. make them all irrelevent

(A)

[ChiciB1]

4. Okay, What I Just Read Was A Plan For Someone Running For Congress

or any other office. It's not happening. Me, I DO tell them what I think. I have a motto that says "kill 'em with kindness" or maybe "go in the back door" and make yourself friendly.

I can't tell you the times that I've been told that I'm honest to a fault! I will admit to not being able to LIE and get away with it. I think it's called conscience, but it's also remembering that it's hard to keep up with who, what, when and where you told that particular lie. Or who you fuzzed things up with. I am myself.

My post was about how we are getting flummoxed by THEIR scandals, how it's hard to keep up with them and bring truth to the people. By the time the ink dries on one, we are dealing with another. We wring our hands, and we talk and rant, we fill ourselves with glee on issues that disappear as quickly as they come forth. We TALK about what is GOOD for America, but we're still just talking.

When others have been sold a different bill of goods, and when they believe that bill of goods, getting through to them without some clear alternative, how can we expect them to listen to us? It seems the Dems have made a decision to sit back and let the Repukes hang themselves with muck and mire. I'm saying there's too much muck and mire to sift through. Rising above it all is a good answer, but we need cohesive organization and we can't get it from our representatives. I watched Rahm Emmanuel last week on Bill Maher and to me he not only looked like he was trying to sell Hillary, he was pushing his part of the Democratic "group think" and he seemed uneasy and sketchy about his 5-point agenda. I can't remember what they were! Sad thing is, he gets TV time and they have the money! Hillary has money so I guess that makes her IT!

So I'm back to massive action, a voice that is loud and clear. It's possible we can formulate something WITHOUT pointing fingers, but what would that be AND how can we make it grow?? Grassroots works, but from where I'm at... there are NO grassroots! I'm willing to travel and join others, but I'm no organizer. I'm highly offended that Senators and Congressmen spoke at the demonstrations that the immigrants organized, but we couldn't get that kind of participation when we marched.

Is it even possible that right here at DU we might be able to band together and do something in a BIG way??? Small pockets of people meeting every 3rd Wed. of each month IS NOT cutting it. Not if that's all we do, just meet and talk.

And as long as the scandals keep spilling out and we keep reacting by running to post "the latest" we are WASTING much needed time! 2006 is almost here, gerrymandering almost ensures re-election of most and we're still blogging!

Isn't there someway that we can simply get out there and just be people who want to show these corporate giants that they can't keep pushing us around?? Does it have to be a one issue cause? Couldn't it be something as simple as Americans wanting our elected officials to know that we are tired of the GAMES?? This is a simplistic idea. We're feeling squeezed, we don't feel we have a voice anymore, we want to let Washington to know that it's WE THE PEOPLE!! Maybe that's a good place to start. March for WE THE PEOPLE of America! I don't know. But sitting at PC's salivating over whether Fitz is going to get Rove is getting us a big fat ZERO, and we're wasting precious time. It's been a long time since I've felt we've been getting the representation we are paying for.

No, we can't go back and dump tea in the ocean, but there MUST be something we can do. Something other than waiting for Wolfie or Tweety or some other corporate whore feed us tidbits about the big blow-hards who have smashed the pie of their agenda into our face!

It's very late here, almost 2:00 AM and I must get some shut eye, or I'll be up all night. I get worked up over this stuff and then CAN'T go to sleep! But I'm really TIRED of having to eat shit!

How Do We Organize?? I'm very very serious about this. There are so many of us here, we must have some power!

[sandnsea]

5. "Anybody But Bush"

Actually, that's what the grassroots did. The campaign didn't do that. But the grassroots and activists insisted that all that had to be done was show the country how bad Bush was and they'd automatically go for Kerry. Democrats always have to factor in that our grassroots will run wild, like to Nader in 2000. Republicans have only had that happen once really, with Perot in 1992.

You say the media isn't going to be on our side. But don't factor in how much of your own opinion was shaped by the media, "wishy-washy flip flopper". That was media driven, just like Al Gore being boring and not talking about the environment. He just said in an interview that he talked about it regularly, it just didn't get picked up for the teevee.

You also say a used car salesman is a used car salesman. True and I'm not drawn to used car salesmen, none of them. I'm amazed that anybody preferred the used car salesman. There was another article during the election that said Kerry was the dreamy first husband and Bush was the supportive second husband. Any woman who sees that in Bush needs therapy. But the media said so, and so it is.

The media shapes opinions. The best way for Democrats to win is to turn off the media, read what our actual candidates say and do, and get out there and tell their friends and neighbors.