So where do we go from here . . .

[beachmom]

I just wanted to start a new thread in terms of how everyone plans to react to this bad election. I actually am of two minds. On one hand, I really wish I had never registered to vote in Georgia. Why? Because my vote doesn't count, nor will it count for many years to come. Worse, this has opened the floodgates for jury duty here which in my view is a major hardship. In my county, people are constantly being called up. Much more so than anywhere else I have lived. Not only that, the jury duty is located at a courthouse in Atlanta where Brian Nichols shot up the place and killed all those people; on a bad traffic day it is a 2 hour commute one way. It is in a bad neighborhood, and I got struck with a horrific trial that lasted 5 days that gave me nightmares. Atlanta is a very rough city with many very bad criminals who do bad things. That's just the reality. It was a hardship on my family as well. If anyone wants more info on my trial, I will PM you, but obviously, I need to keep my anonymity here. For all that, I got to vote for a bunch of Democrats who all got clobbered, plus I had to do a write in against Tom Price who was unopposed. (My write in was "Not Tom Price"!) Bottom line: Georgia is completely red and a hopeless state for Democrats. I don't think the DNC or DCCC or DSCC should waste money here except maybe for the few remaining Congressmen.

http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/georgia-election-gop-rides-714415.html?cxtype=rss_news

Georgia Republicans on Tuesday finished the job they started in 2002: consolidating control of state government by sweeping every major statewide office.

Republicans control the governership, both state houses, both Senators, lieutenant governor, attorney general, insurance commissioner, secretary of state, state school superintendent and agriculture commissioner. Plus we lost another Democratic Congressman (a blue dog, Rep. Marshall); we only have a few Congressmen left most representing carved out minority districts. I mean, it is beyond pathetic. Oh, and the new Governor is massively corrupt, was brought up on ethics charges in Congress, and only got out of them because he resigned to run for Governor.

I just don't care about Democratic politics in Georgia. We are basically a cult and that's it. I did go to some meetings, and will in the future but purely for social reasons.

But before you guys think I am totally pessimistic, I actually think prospects maybe good for Democrats in '12; in other states that is. I plan on opening my wallet for '12, and not just for Obama. So I will be more active in that sense.

So there you have my schizophrenic reaction to all of this. I don't believe in a 50 state strategy when it comes to a state like Georgia but I do think we can gain some ground back in the midwest and maybe other parts of the South by '12. What do you guys think?

[wisteria]

1. I vote my beliefs and my feelings about America.

My hometown is terrible. Republicans are always reelected. If you want to win anything do not claim to be a Democrat. Now, not only are my local reps all Repubs, but the Gov. and one of my Senator's is Republican. We have 1 Democrat Senator to represent us all, because I know that as a Democrat, I am not being represented, and I am being ignored by those in power on the Repub side. And, the Democratic machine in the area is a real joke.
However, I believe in my party and what they represent, so even though I am only one vote, I will never give the Republicans one additional shot at winning because I don't vote. I will never reward them for their hatreds,ignorance, lies, and lack of real ethics.

[beachmom]

2. I understand, but your vote does count. You have a shot at ousting an R

or keeping a D. Mine doesn't. The only vote I cast that mattered was for Obama in the Democratic primary in early 2008. Nothing has been since, and it won't in the future. EVERY.SINGLE.STATEWIDE.RACE went Republican. And not even close. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I'm already registered so I'll vote, but it really doesn't count here.

[wisteria]

13. My area is mostly Republican. The chances of my vote electing a Democrat is at about 5%. n/t

[beachmom]

15. I believe John Kerry and Barack Obama along with Senators & Governors won PA

Your vote matters.

[wisteria]

21. Sometimes, but Democrats usually loses in my county. They win the state, but not my county. n/t

[beachmom]

27. My point is that your vote gets added to the state totals, so it matters.

For me we lose every statewide election in addition to losing in my district. My vote seems to never count except in a Democratic primary, and only with President, for which Obama will be the nominee in '12.

I could literally not vote for years, and it have zero impact on ANY election in Georgia, local, state or federal.

[Mass]

16. Locally, may be, but at the state level (Gov, senator, president), it matters.

[JI7]

3. that's how i feel, i know i live in a mostly Dem area, but even if i didn't

i would want my vote counted for the other side. show that not everyone supports them, by not voting they just get a higher percentage making it seem like they have more support than they do.

[Mass]

4. We need to rebuild a party that talks to people, is able to reach them.

The Democratic Party should be a grassroot party, but has become a notables party (even here in MA), because some people were more busy recruiting candidates who could self-finance than to build the grassroots (Not giving names, but I guess you can all fill the blanks here). We had 4 years of progress with Dean, but we fell back with Kaine, and United Citizens hurt those candidates we fielded that were good, like Sestak and Giannoulias, or even Kunster and Porter Shea here in NH (I've never seen an ad for them in the Boston market, while there were so many ads against them).

[beachmom]

9. I don't know if Dean's stewardship was that great. In Virginia

during the time period where we were doing well, the DNC did little for the state. It was all local activity. However, it may just have been Dean's presence and voice that got people excited. But although I wasn't impressed with Kaine, I think a lot of lefties have overblown Dean's contributions when he was at the DNC. I do think it was a mistake to have him leave -- both for the DNC and for Virginia. I think Kaine's having two jobs led to neglect for Virginia which led to McDonnell getting in as governor. Now Virginia is in freefall. A total disaster going on there for Democrats.

I agree with you about the grassroots, but at least where I am, it was a combination of factors that have led me to feel deflated. During the Obama campaign we had an office in a very conservative county here full of enthusiastic volunteers. Even after the Obama campaign (smartly) pulled out of Georgia, the local people took the lead and even helped pay for the office and so forth. It really was "from the ground up". We had a great guy leading the office who was new to politics but had natural leadership skills. Fast forward to early 2009, and he decided to run for a committee spot for the local Dem party. The local Dem party apparently did NOT help with the Obama campaign. Apparently some snotty kid representing the Obama campaign (at first -- we had later organizers from the campaign who were excellent) turned off the local Dem party, by telling them arrogant things. They responded by not helping out. Meanwhile, all us new people did all the work. So we all go to this meeting ready to elect our guy for a committee spot, and these useless resentful fools at the local Dem party protested the vote, saying it hadn't been properly advertised and needed to be delayed a month. This in essence meant our friend wouldn't be elected because he had worked so hard to get us all there, and it's not like people could come every time, especially given the unpleasant experience the first meeting was. So this talented potential Dem leader quit. Let's be clear: this county went 86% McCain/Palin. This was not some big power thing. These local Dems were just useless jerks. So what did I conclude?

1. The Obama campaign did screw up at first, but then did a good job. Then they disappeared.
2. The local Dem party full of older people who are used to doing things a certain way are useless and have actively sabotaged growing the party.
3. The Democratic party is traditionally run in Georgia through the governor's office. Since we are now going to be 12 years out of power, there is NO leadership in this state to speak of.
4. Although we are a red state, an active excited volunteer base COULD be organized to call other nearby states like North Carolina or Virginia. This would be an enormous help, and something I would like to be a part of. But given 1, 2, & 3, forget it.

So I guess, even if Dean ran the DNC and it was doing a lot, I just don't think that alone could fix the problems in Georgia. When it comes down to it, it's a local problem first and foremost.

[Inuca]

5. Thanks for starting this

though I doubt I can contribute much to the discussion. Maybe after it settles in a bit and I am able to make my internal peace with what happened. Yesterday I just spent some time online, mostly venting at people that were going too negative, many idiotically so (Grayson for presidnt!). Di you see a journal on Kos with a gazillion recommendation entitled "the sorriest press conference EVAH!!" ?TayTay had a great message in another thread here, you probably all saw it. Wise (and funny) as always, and she is probably right. But personally I need some time to get back to a semblance of wisdom on all this. The disappointment, not so much as the results as such, though of course they hurt, but at all the victorious ugliness and all the ugliness to come in the near future.

As to the importance of each vote, it is different from you in Georgia, completely different, but I woke up this morning trying to find out what's happening with the governor race here in IL and it's still not decided, Quinn ahead by something like 16000 it seems.

I could barely turn the TV on yesterday, read a mystery taking place in anciet Rome instead, as escapist as you can get :-).

Monday I am leaving for Europe for a month to see my very old mother (currently in the hospital with pneumonia, but I think she is doing OK, relatively speaking), and I am glad for the forced distance from the daily political rumble and tumble. I hope I will have Internet access, though even this is iffy at least for a while, my mom's computer got seriously sick.

[Mass]

6. Sorry for your mother. I hope she does better soon.

[beachmom]

7. I'm sorry to hear that your Mom is sick, and wish her a speedy recovery.

Yeah, I removed Daily Kos (AGAIN) from my bookmarked sites. I actually have liked some of the front page posts but the diaries are pathetic and full of a whiny lefty part of the party that I really can't identify with. It's not really the issues -- I am pretty liberal on a lot of them. It's their attitude and constant resentment neurosis. They are not unlike Palin in how they constantly play the victim. I'm not saying Obama & Co. couldn't do a better job reaching out to the base -- they really do need to do that. But I guess I don't take it so personally. Maybe because I come from an Independent tradition is why I don't sweat that stuff.

Iceberg Slim, that diarist, is basically anti-Obama. She was an early supporter of Obama in the primaries, but turned against him over the public option, and now is really not a valuable voice on that site anymore. Jane Hamsher Lite, basically.

[Mass]

8. Both sides are guilty and both sides refuse to recognize they are at fault.

I've seen diaries from people I agree with that are way out of limits, but I've also seen diaries on GDP of people who absolutely refuse to accept that Obama and the dems have one ounce of responsibilities in this debacle. In my opinion, both sides are equally useless and irritating. But of course, they all are so busy criticizing the other side that they forget there are things to do ASAP to prepare 2012 (starting by recreating an infrastructure)

By the way, here is the secret of the MA victory:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/11/04/for_democrats_door_to_door_did_trick/

I know it is easier in MA than in other parts of the country, but the grassroots were not built in one day. We need to build them, and it means standing for something else than not being a Republican.

[beachmom]

10. Great article. Very inspiring.

Unfortunately, I can't do that for neighboring states, where I think there is still hope in '12. There were some "swing counties" shown in Atlanta metro in '08, when there were more minority voters. Perhaps that is where Georgia Democrats in Atlanta metro should focus. If there was any leadership here. Sigh.

As to both sides in the Dem party being a problem, I agree!! I actually tweeted to emptywheel to stop the Blame Game, that it was a hard night already without the infighting (and I pointed out that Clive Crooks at the Atlantic was not helping either); she kept going on and on about how it would have been better had Dean led the DNC and taking shots at the WH. The thing is a lot of the liberal blogger "leaders" are poor leaders. Similarly, I don't think Rahm Emanuel was much of a leader either. Instead of working together, finding common ground, it was all accusations and insults. I mean, we talk about the nastiness we deal with with Republicans. But when our own party is just as uncivil within, well, it seems we need to deal with our own house before dealing with the other party.

[TayTay]

11. I am so sorry to hear about your Mom.

I wish her a speedy recovery and you a restful and recuperative time visiting her.

[Inuca]

12. Thanks to all

for the best wishes regarding my mom. She is probably/hopefully going to be OK, she seems to react well to the antibiotics. Still ather age I guess it will take her a while to get back to normal. I am just afraid that she will not try to get out of the hospital too early just to be home when I get there. Thanks again to all, that's why I love you guys :-).

[ProSense]

18. Hope she returns to good health soon.

My prayers. Have a wonderful visit.

[wisteria]

14. I wish your mother a speedy recovery and you a safe trip. n/t

[TayTay]

17. There is an argument to be made that this describes MA as well

Republicans took 15 sets in the Ma House. They now have 17% of the state legislature and no elected state-wide offices.

This is the reverse in Party of what Georgia has, but not the reverse in functionality. There are a lot of reasons why Scott Brown won in MA and one of them is a feeling of hopelessness and futility that has voters believe their vote is meaningless. This is also a grave struggle in MA, only from the other side.

I cannot tell you the number of people who I can't get to vote here because they believe it makes no difference. The Dems win, then reward their friends with good jobs and contracts and nothing ever changes or has a prayer of changing. Ever. That is an extremely strong strain in MA political life. Everyone is out for themselves, every Pol is a fake or a phoney and everything that promises otherwise is a false hope.

That exists very, very strongly here as well.

[ProSense]

19. Democrats got

clobbered.


Republicans Exceed Expectations in 2010 State Legislative Elections


It had a lot to do with turnout, which was down from 2006 in many areas.

People seem confused in general. I don't understand the phenomenon among frequent voters to become apathetic when they get angry. It always leads to Republicans gaining significant ground and another round of setbacks and endless complaining.

Still, when you look at a map of the elections, you have to wonder what Democrats can do to make lasting gains in places where Republicans traditionally do well.

[beachmom]

20. Some people only vote in Presidential elections.

Nothing to do with anger, just that's their habit. That's where the enthusiastic gap is lethal. A lot of Obama voters will vote for him again in '12, but are not into politics much and don't follow what happens in Congress.

Don't get me wrong. I plan to vote here. But it is a throwaway vote.

[wisteria]

22. We won in 2006 and 2008 in part because of disgust and anger at Republicans.

Now, we are seeing it happen to us. When people come out and vote with distrust and anger as the motivation, any gains are not going to be long term. People need to start voting for the person-the candidate - not necessarily the party. Democrats always run superior candidates, we need to emphasize that more.

[beachmom]

28. Actually, I think the days of voting for the "person" are over due to

the parties becoming so much more partisan. That is why had I been in CT, I would have easily voted for Blumenthal despite the strange things he said about service in Vietnam. He will vote the party line more often than not, while his opponent will vote the Republican line more often than not. I suppose corruption (extreme blatant corruption) might be the exception but hopefully someone would primary them first. Voters who switch back and forth between parties tend to be low information voters. They know next to nothing about the voting records so they fall for some ad or what someone tells them. That is what is a bit hilarious about the worship of the swing voter -- they tend not to know much nor know what they believe.

As to the anger, it actually is not about the American people suddenly becoming more Democratic or Republican. It's who shows up. More Democrats showed up in '06 & '08 while more Republicans showed up in '10. It's not like the partisanship of the country suddenly changed. Sometimes I think an Australian style law would help and create more stability. As it is, does anyone know what percentage of the voting age population voted on Tuesday? Probably 1/3rd, which means the Republicans hardly speak for the "American people", but rather Fox News viewers who were more inclined to show up this week.

[Mass]

32. Blumenthal was the better person. What he said about Vietnam was largely overblown.

He has a lifetime carrying about the people of Connecticut. Even my husband's Republican aunt likes him and recognizes he has been a great attorney general.

This said, there are very few cases where I would cross party line because ideas matter, even if this is not very fashionable these days. I know I considered very hard early on what I would have done if the MA race had turned to be a race between Baker and Cahill and concluded I would have vote Baker because Cahill was so much pandering to the Tea Party and so right wing socially that it was bothering me, but it did not happen and I cant know what I would have done ultimately. And I am very happy with Patrick.

[wisteria]

33. But, they showed up out of anger or fear and even resentment.

So, you suggest that Republicans were more motivated than Democrats to vote. Why?

[Inuca]

24. I only became aware

of the huge gains at the state level last night. It hurts. A lot.

On the selfish side, at least I got to keep Quinn as governor. It's finally kind of official, though Brady has not conceded yet AFAIK.

[Blaukraut]

23. I'm proud of MA, but disgusted with politics in the US in general

I don't even know where to start! There are so many things wrong with the system that would take a major overhaul.

1. Citizens United.

This decision must somehow be reversed. It is deadly to democracy.


2. The Media.

We need the Fairness Doctrine reinstated. (Rupert Murdoch needs to have his citizenship stripped, and get deported for unamerican activities. His US holdings split and sold off to multiple entities)


3. Public Financing of Elections.

This should be a given. No private donations whatsoever allowed. No third party donations and pacs running ads allowed. Period. Each candidate gets a set amount of funds, and the rest is up to him and his footwork in-state/country.


4. Longer Terms for Representatives, Shorter Terms for Senators.

Reps are too busy running for reelection to govern effectively, and Senators get too comfortable in their bubble with their long terms. Make every term 4 years. Senate elections are in off years along with local races, House elections in Presidential years. Ballot initiatives will get a separate election.

5. Make Election Day a Holiday or hold it on a Sunday.

6. No more gerry-mandering.

7. I have no clue how to get non-voters more motivated and interested politically, and low information voters to become high information voters. I guess that's where the media comes in.


These are the things I think should get done, but they probably won't.

As to where to go from here....

Obama needs to quit saying he'll compromise. I'll give him until this new crop of freaks gets seated in January. At that point he should have a plan to make it crystal clear to the American public that the GOP is not on their side and is out to destroy him. There will be gridlock unless he wants to do what they want him to do, and even if he agrees to all their demands, they'll pull the football out from under him anyway.

So gridlock it is. As long as we and Obama win this message war in the media, and the voters go to the polls in '12 fully aware of the republican obstructionism, we might be ok. But from the looks of it, this country is polarized and nothing short of major fixes to the system will change that.

[Inuca]

25. Agree with almost everything

I agree that 2 years is too short for representatives, not sure about 6 being too long for senators. In a way I think it's a good thing if they get "comfortable", which to me means less obsessed about re-election. I also think that 4 years is too short for presidents. But of course all this is purely academic because it almost set in stone.

As to Obama not saying that he will compromise: I think the SAYING (and a little bit of actual doing) is the right thing to do now, especially as long as the abominable Mitch and his orange side kick keep spewing what they have been spewing these last few days. But he and those around him have to do some deep soul and especially mind searching and decide what they are going to actually do as a strategy, and not just tactics. Because the chances of getting any meaningful cooperation from the Rs is practically nil (and I am being an optimist!). I don't know... I just hope they do not feel as dazed as I do, they'd better not...

Edited to add: do any of you know whether what I keep hearing on TV, namely that now will be the first time that Obama will have the opposition leaders at the White House is actually true? I find it difficult to believe, but if true it was a mistake. A disappointing one.

[beachmom]

29. Republicans have come to the WH all the time.

Maybe it's the dinner they're talking about?

[Inuca]

38. Sorry, I was in a hurry and did not

phrase my question properly. I meant a meeting with just Boehner and McConell, a substantial one, not watching the superbowl type of thing.

[wisteria]

35. He met with them all at the beginning of his Presidency.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/obama-holds-reception-for-congressional-leaders/

"Obama Holds Reception for Congressional Leaders"

The media doesn't bother to check-especially when it doesn't fit into their new
narrative of a new wave of compromise.

[Mass]

26. I agree with you on about everything here.

But I think that we also need a way to get our message out and choose our message correctly. The lack of grassroot organizations at the local level (people that can talk to other people about why what the Dems do is good for the country) and the leadership at the national level, and why the GOP is bad. Stop the ad hominems that do not make us any better than the GOP, and explain why our ideas and policies are good. Frankly, I have been turned off more than once by the threads on DU and on other blogs saying that Congressman X (pick your name) is dumb. He is WRONG. He is AMBITIOUS. Clearly, he will become the new House leadership in January, so I would put as a premise that he is not dumb. (and this goes for Bachman. She is not dumb. Saying people he is dumb is not going to convince anybody that our policy are better and what these consequences will be on people. I think this is one of the biggest errors we made. We did not defend our policies. We told them we were not the Republicans. The "You cant have the key back" was one of the most stupid campaign I have ever seen the dems use.

I agree about Obama needing to stop saying he will compromise. This is exactly what I was talking about. Let the gridlock be, and find people to explain why the gridlock happens. There will be gridlock even if the dems compromise. And we also needs to stop negotiating with ourselves.

I think this election was before all about the lack of communications. Even when we communicated, the message was never "WHY US". It was "THE GOP is BAD". Not an uplifting message.

[beachmom]

30. No amount of communicating would have changed the fact that 9.6% of the

people are unemployed. I do think Obama needs to defend his policy choices better but I think our goose was cooked long ago when the jobs didn't appear fast enough.

As to compromise, I agree, but I realize the tax cuts are kind of the "mandate" given to the Republicans, and then NO MORE. Kind of like, they get this one thing and then Obama runs the show from then on. I assume he'll do piecemeal stuff (a la Clinton) to get some things passed. But once the tax cuts go away (and of course, the tax cuts for the rich are unpopular but it got melded with the middle class taxes when weak kneed Democrats in the House failed to vote for middle class only tax cuts this fall), Republicans have NOTHING. If they think they can out "fiscal responsible" Barack Obama and the Democrats they are nuts. I think Obama should go centrist and reach out to the base at the same time. That's the trick -- look moderate while exciting the base with progressive policies. Republicans have NO IDEAS to truly reduce the deficit. It's all smoke and mirrors. Expose them as the frauds they are. Remember that that commission is coming out in December for deficit reduction. Obama should just steal the issue permanently (it's Democrats' anyway since they actually have a record of reducing the deficit while the Republicans have the opposite record). Then the Republicans are reduced to pathetically trying to repeal health care, which Democrats should have a consistent base inspiring message ready to go. It needs to be short sentences though. And every Democrat needs to say it.

[wisteria]

36. It was the economy, but it was a large group of voters 65 years and older who came out to vote.

I don't think they make up a large number of the unemployed.

[wisteria]

34. I really like your post. And, for good or bad, I am more of a staunch Democrat than I have ever been

I also agree with you on Pres. Obama. He has got to start getting tough. The Repubs win one part of Congress and they are out with their media friends telling the President how things are going to be. Who is in charge here? There was no mandate,voters don't like the Republican ideas more. I am hoping and praying that our President begins to lead with a stronger backbone.

[sandrakae]

31. We wait 2 years. These fickle impatient Americans will put us back on top.

[wisteria]

37. LOL, true words. n/t