Power.. you use it or lose it

[SoCalDem]

That is the message tonight.

Tepid/half-assed conciliatory legislation pisses everyone off, and confuses people.

[Dinger]

1. Concise And Correct

That is all.

[Tatiana]

2. Agreed. n/t

[msongs]

3. California is safe for all citizens so dems in DC can be as bipartisan as they want lol nt

[still_one]

4. and when people are confused they will vote their own demise /nt

[Lost-in-FL]

5. K&R!!!!!!! nt

[librechik]

6. Word

[CreekDog]

7. That's one lesson, but not the only explanation

but it's a big lesson nevertheless.

perhaps the hardest thing to watch was to see a lack of fight in the interest of comity --yet the people most vulnerable to being harmed by Tea Party and Republican policies don't need somebody seeming reasonable, friendly and conciliatory --they need someone who will prevent them from being abused.

it has not felt that way.

and what will happen to DADT now?

[WillyT]

8. K & R !!!

:kick:

[county worker]

9. You hit right on the mark.

We had the best chance in my 64 years and blew it. We tried playing nice for far too long. And I'm tired of hearing how great the watered down shit for bills that passed are!

We needed FDR type legislation!

[onehandle]

10. We wanted a flaming sword, we got a limp noodle. nt

[leftstreet]

11. K&R

[lonestarnot]

12. You better believe it!

[nashville_brook]

13. spot on.

Rachel did a great job last night of listing out all the things Obama and the Dem leadership were able to do, and what occurred to me as I watched was that we got some laundry list stuff...student loan reform and tweeks to financial regs and a start on healthcare...but what we didn't do was sell these successes as victories of principle. and this is where the criticism has come from -- you sell the principle...the morality of what you're doing, b/c people vote on VALUES, not laundry lists and technical policy issues.

our leadership acted like it wanted to fly under the radar, and tonight is the result of that strategic miscalculation.

[Hannah Bell]

18. +100

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Ariana made that point on the tv machine

a few hours ago...

Ye are in good company.

[madrchsod]

15. yup...that was lost on rahm and the rest of obama`s crew....

oh well on to 2012!

[madfloridian]

16. Now that I agree with for sure.

Or as Dean once said, "use your majority or lose your majority".

[FedUpWithIt All]

17. + + + + + + + Rec'd n/t

[PurityOfEssence]

19. Absolutely, and perhaps more importantly: the willingness to vilify your opponents

Part of what helped Boxer out here were testimonial commercials by ex-HP employees talking about the naked and habitual off-shoring of jobs. People telling of how they not only had their jobs pulled from under them, but of having to train their foreign replacements while headed for the scrap heap is GOOD TELEVISION. It works.

The Republicans have no problem calling an ultramoderate corporatist fellow-traveler a SOCIALIST, yet he can't even find the breath to call them somewhat elitist when they're literally peasant-stomping monarchist thugs. THAT'S the big lesson: FIGHT.

[SoCalDem]

27. After Watergate, most dems lost the will to fight hard

It always upsets me when I think of how different this country would be now if our dems in congress would have been more aggressive during Iran Contra.

there would have been NO GHWB presidency, no deifying of Reagan and certainly no GWBush presidency.

[Lugnut]

20. Bingo!

We won last time and then we choked. Dems are too damned nice.

[The Uncola]

21. Absolutely! No question about it. n/t

[Catherina]

22. Rec'd n/t

[Crunchy Frog]

23. Wish I could give this a hundred recs!

[Little Star]

24. Yep.

[Vinca]

25. Exactly right and very well said.

[depakid]

26. Parties that don't use their majorities- lose their majorities

"We didn't elect Democrats to pass crap legislation."

~Howard Dean.