DU rewind: September 2008.... what were we talking about then....

[scheming daemons]

McCain's Bounce gives him 5-point lead




Democratic Underground was in a panic.


First... the typical panickers:

"Should Axelrod be replaced?"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6981995

There were also the woe-is-me and we're-toast defeatists:

"Fuck it."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6981761

"Excuse me while I go shove my head in the oven"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6982712

"The fix is in"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6984506

There were those who had it almost 100% wrong:

"This is shaping up to be the ultimate Culture War election"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6983234

"It's the war, stupid!"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6985192

There were those who defended their right to criticize the Obama campaign:

"Why does criticizing the Obama campaign mean you're panicking?"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6983274

There were those that said the Democrats/Obama weren't fighting dirty enough like the GOP:

"Find the attacks that work--and ATTACK."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6984618

"Is it a matter of hard wiring? Conservatives/Republicans hard wired to fight dirty"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6984506

"The gloves need to come off"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6988480

And finally... this classic:

"In Retrospect Should Obama Have Chosen Hillary for VP?..."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6992417

So.... what happened to turn things around back in our favor?

First... September 15th happened. Lehman Brothers collapsed, the stock market tanked, the government panicked.... and the Iraq War and Sarah Palin were no longer the issue. It was unforeseen by most, and it changed the trajectory of the election.



But... the main thing that "happened" was this... and we need to remember it:






Things were pretty bleak around here in September of '08. Palin-mania was sweeping the nation. People were screaming that Obama made a mistake in picking Biden over Hillary. Everyone was frustrated that the Obama campaign wasn't going negative often enough or hard enough.




The American people didn't become stupid in 2 years. They still rate the GOP as 26% favorable. As the election gets closer and Democrats start spending their ad money, people will remember just how much and why they hate the GOP. And they'll have a hard time pulling the GOP levers in the voting booth.

[scheming daemons]

1. There's lots of neat stuff when you go into the DU wayback machine...

They even took some of these ideas of mine in the past two years!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6982818

[Scurrilous]

2. Thanks.

K & R :thumbsup:

[TheKentuckian]

3. I wasn't worried a bit. Many of the teethgnashers are the enthusiastic now.

[lillypaddle]

4. Oh, how I hope you are right!

But the mid-terms are not a presidential election. I worry about turnout.