Now that the election is over - can we have an honest discussion about what we did wrong?

[letterwriter]

I have been biting my tongue hard and in forced denial for the last two years but the time for that is over. We can no longer continue to be in denial if we are ever going to turn things around.

In the last 2 years we have seen hope and change deteriorate into weak and stupid. As Obama joked, Republicans had a 41-59 majority in the Senate. Democrats couldn't govern with 60 seats but when Bush was president and the Democrats could have stopped him on a great many issues, the Democrats folded faster that Superman on laundry day.

For those of you who haven't noticed, the Democrats still control 2 out of 3 in the legislative process, the
Presidency and the Senate. But they act like it's over. Did Bush act like it was over when Dems took the House and the Senate in 2006? Not at all. He stayed in control. Fired Rumsfield - that was it.

Our view is highly biased. But one can not turn their back on reality because tonight reality turned it's back on us. Democrats have been the party of weak and stupid for far too long. We allow the Senate to hide behind the filibuster. In 2005 when the Dems were going to filibuster the Republicans were going to do some sort of "nuclear option" to get rid of it and the Dems caved. I was really hoping back then that Cheney had done that. Then he would have had at least one accomplishment.

Yes - we passed health care reform - a good thing - but then we ran away from it like we did something wrong. How stupid is that?

Obama spent the first year trying to be "bipartisan" when it was clear to anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together that being nice to Republicans wasn't going to work. Weak and stupid!

For some reason the Dems don't criticize or blame Bush for the mess we are in. Had they done that the election would have turned out differently. But Bush stole the election, started 2 wars, and collapsed the economy. Stealing on a level that makes people of both parties puke. And has anyone besides Madoff gone to jail? Nope! Not even an investigation. The justice department isn't interested in those who steal billions. But they made it clear that they were going to focus on pot smokers should California pass Prop 19. How screwed up is that?

Then there's Don't Ask Don't Tell. Obama has the power as President to end it by executive order. Did he? No! But then we won in court. Victory? No! Obama appeals and overturns his victory. Didn't even wait till after the election to screw the gays. How stupid is that?

When it comes to civil liberties Bush and Obama are on the same page. Domestic spying continues under Obama and the Democrats just the same as it did under Bush. Obama is listening in on our phone calls too, just like Bush did. And any time organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation try to challenge it, they hide behind the FISA court national security defense just like Bush did. We used to be a free country, but we are now all patriots under the patriot act.

The President has the power to close GITMO. He can just order it closed and ship the detainees here in a week. But does he? No. He caved in to the politics. GITMO is still open.

In 2006 and 2008 we didn't elect Democrats. We threw out Republicans. America didn't vote for Obama (this group excepted) but against Bush. In the 2010 election the Republicans didn't win, the Democrats lost. If you look at the Tea Party separately the Republicans lost too. Republican incumbents actually lost more races, they just lost them in the primaries. America is still throwing the bums out.

We as Democrats have a bias here that we can not allow to continue to blind us. We ask ourselves, "how can America be so stupid as to elect these crazy people to office?" And these tea baggers are in fact bat shit crazy. But what we are ignoring at our own peril is that the public can't take it anymore. Our side is almost as stupid and crazy as they are if you look at what we actually do. We run from our accomplishments like we did something wrong. How crazy is that? And how crazy are we if we continue to deny what is obvious to the 2010 voter who has sent a message that we are still expecting change. We gave the Democrats the power to change and they didn't use it. They governed as cowards.

Every year it's an election between that party of evil and the party of weak and stupid. After 2 elections of throwing out evil and finally winning all three centers of power with the promise of hope and change, what do we get? Instead of hope and change we get nope and same. So after 2 election of voting against evil this time the voters voted against weak and stupid. They voted against business as usual.

The Republicans didn't win either. Like I said, they lost their election in the 2010 primary. And one thing you are going to see is that they Republicans aren't going to integrate them into the fold. It is nore likely to be they other way. Either way - America is fucked.

I could go on - but this message is already too long.

I encourage honest analysis. We know what happened last night. We better try to understand it in an honest way. We need to invoke reality.

[Vinca]

1. All I know is if Democrats in power run from Democratic principles

and abet in the moving of the country to the right, I'll be reregistering as an Independent.

[tigereye]

3. I am very tired of us not standing up for ourselves...

that's what we always need to do. But I will stand with the Dems.

[Tippy]

13. So will I....BUT We must move from the center. n/t

[Brickbat]

7. What's this "if"?

They've been doing it outright for the last two years, and on tippy-toe for the last 10.

[nofurylike]

2. "deteriorate into weak and stupid" is your "honest" start? we've

had far too much of that take on things, here, for the last years.

no need reply. i'm headed offline now.


peace

[One_Life_To_Give]

4. Give it a day or so

People are going to need a little space and/or solace for a day or so. Then we can begin the analysis.

[TBF]

5. This vote was a referendum on government overall -

foreclosures continue and high unemployment continues. That's what the moderates see - so they went to vote to fire the incumbents. If Obama can get the economy moving again (JOBS, as we on the left have been saying ad naseum... ). There is no such thing as a "jobless recovery".

The really sad thing is that he's going to try to do it by renewing those Bush tax cuts.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

6. Why would someone lie about this?

Your stress on the word "honest" puzzles me - do you think many people will be lying about what they think went wrong?

I'm sure lots of people will be *mistaken*, but that's nothing to do with honesty.

[letterwriter]

8. Not lying

I don't think people are lying. I think it's denial.

[harun]

9. We didn't pass Health Care Reform we passed Health Insurance Reform.

Just sayin.

[letterwriter]

12. Agreed

Health care reform would have been single payer.

[chimpymustgo]

10. The Dems didn't stand for the people. They compromised and capitulated to croporations, from the

health care DEBACLE, to the Wall Street coddling - NO prosecutions - MORE outlandish bonuses.

I have never seen such weak-kneed, limp LACK of FIGHT and LEADERSHIP.

The administration was strong and forceful in continuing Bush's bullshit and outrages...standing up on DADT for chrissakes.

But something for the little people? Geithner and Summers thought we should be satisfied with a few crumbs. And they're not dealing with the structural changes in our economy. THE JOBS THAT ARE NOT COMING BACK. I really don't think they feel the pain - they don't know anybody suffering.

Summers, Rahm they scattered like rats off the sinking ship. Now we've got to fight these newly elected nuts joining the old ones.

We need our own tea party. We are just an angry and unfullfilled - and our side WON in '08. We got fucked over bad. The country got fucked over bad.

[Warren Stupidity]

11. Good points. Expect it to get worse. nt

[RKP5637]

14. Recommend!!! n/t

[Yo_Mama]

15. Nice post

I may not agree with everything you say, but I think we do indeed need to invoke reality.

Especially with regard to the economic and political numbers. It is not anti-Democratic to want to craft a winning platform and agenda.

I do not personally think that the country is shifting right, but that the leaderships of both parties has been poor for many years at identifying the true needs of the country and providing for them. I view this election as yet another in a string evincing desperation among the voters.

Far too many in DC are focused on tokens rather than crafting policies that will work for the majority over time. I do not blame Obama for this election. I blame Pelosi.

IMO, we need to return to more debate at a lower level in the party before crafting policy initiatives. There are lot of very difficult and real issues that must be addressed in the next few years. I do not think the country feels comfortable leaving that to the GOP, and I believe that the Democratic party could emerge from this as very powerful if we could stop lobbyists from writing legislation and get the "representative" part of Congress working again.

With any luck, this will be a reality check and provide time for a party-wide refocus before the 2012 elections. Just look at that sea of red in the House spreading across the rust belt states. That's serious.

[leveymg]

16. You and the OP are about the only ones here calling for Pelosi's head.

There are a couple other things you guys have in common. Concerned?

[speppin]

19. The lobbyests started writing the Insurance reform legislation with the

help of Baccus who then decided he would make more money as a lobbyest and the WH basically went along. Why many shifted Right after that in this election is beyond me.

[Yo_Mama]

25. I don't think this is a shift right

Seriously.

If you look at the underlying attitudes shown by both conservative and left-leaning pollsters, voters hate the GOP even more than they are disgusted with the Democrats.

This is a big bat of frustration wielded by voters looking for a good and committed government.

[speppin]

27. I agree and

it is basically what i wanted to convey in my post. But to vote Rupug is just out of my comprehension. The media did a good job of focusing on the Right and the Tea Party for change. And all the money and the ads!!

[muriel_volestrangler]

41. A massive swing to a GOP that wants to govern less is a strange way of 'hating the GOP even more'

When the GOP's basic platform is "less taxes for the rich, less government", there's no evidence whatsoever that voters were "looking for a good and committed government". Your suggestion of the underlying attitudes flies in the face of the primary evidence.

[kenfrequed]

29. It isn't Pelosi.

Its the damned blue dogs that screwed us over and prevented a unified Democratic position to be properly communicated to contest the GOP. THe GOP was able to get away with stupidly saying 'No' while the Democrats were all over the map from the left, who were isolated and tried to make noise through the pragmatists that said little and were realy vauge, to the conservadems that sided with the damned republicans.

A little party discipline would have made a difference in healthcare and every other issue that crossed the desk. Instead we ultimately had the blue dogs dictate policy to the rest of the party who didn't believe in that policy.

[letterwriter]

30. Granted - Reed is more to blame than Pelosi

agreed

[PATRICK]

17. The economy issue

is not won on points but by raw perception. A perception drowned from reason by 100% corporate propaganda. Both parties displayed remarkable incompetence in candidate selection, organization, campaigns and noise making in the ignorance and pain factory. NY could have had a bad year had things been like other internal party meltdowns. Sometimes it looked like we were coming close to decapitation then the clouds dispelled and the GOP went into one of THEIR typical meltdowns. Not exactly comforting. And Massachusetts has a growing entrenchment of unsuccessful rightists for whom the worm may turn someday as well. Considering the GOP should be wiped out of existence as a major party this was a big Pyrrhic success for them in actually building on their lunacy and criminal leadership. Random devils won and some fell off the cliff. The no sense, anti-people, know nothings are the preferred shoddy tools of theft and tyranny. The first crew that came in with Reagan solidified this successful descent into demonic rantings and moral emptiness.

This year you had bland, numbing predictability with panic, shame and two for the seesaw. America with an inadequate stimulus and disastrous shift to inadequate budget cuts and "austerity" may get the worst of both worlds. A third party of political competents seems nowhere on the horizon- that too against the suppressed rules of truth.

[begin_within]

18. Voters didn't see enough improvement in their own economic outlook to reward the Dems.

[WinkyDink]

20. At least now we'll be sure to get "Social Security reform."

[av8rdave]

21. IMO, where we screwed up was in message control

The Democrats didn't even try to put a message out there, much less control the dialogue. Let's face it: as wrong as they are about EVERYTHING, the Republicans are masters at crafting a message, packaging it and presenting it. They have a large chunk of our citizenry convinced that their agenda will benefit them, even though common sense, history and a simple look at numbers prove otherwise.

We need to do a better job (hell, any job at all) of not just presenting our agenda, but showing how and why it is good for the voters and the economy. We also need to do a better job (hell, any job at all) off calling out the bad guys on what they're actually doing and how and why it's harmful to the voters and the economy.

All of this will be incredibly difficult. Remember that those who benefit from Republican policy are those few with most of the money. Those who can finance entire "news" organizations to frame their worldview as fact. Those who can afford to hire talking heads to give the masses daily doses of attacks on the middle class and make it sound like responsible governance. Those who can now pump unlimited sums of money into any and all elections.

How do we counter that level of control? There are a number of polls that suggest that the majority of Americans actually support most progressive values on a case - by - case basis. We were good at getting out the vote in 2008. We need to be equally good at getting out the message now. That means convincing everyone we know who believes in responsible health care, regulatory reform, equal rights, etc., to start being noisy about it. Noisy with their friends, neighbors and politicians. We need to do a better job of trumpeting our achievements and calling out the bad guys.

Just my $.02

[happi1]

22. street

I am an ally cat, what cats didn't like;

Talking bout corruption and blocking all things against it

talking bout "blame bush"

talking bout jobs and doing nada

talking bout human rights and we had the biggest..and I and I mean biggest covert murder program with them drones since that phoenix program


talking bout lot of things but doing nada...being bought and sold by the corparations.

[KossackRealityCheck]

23. "Domestic spying continues under Obama" ???

No it doesn't. Obama ended warrantless wiretapping. While some of your diary makes sense, claims like this is one of the reason we lost -- that many on "our side" continue to perpetuate myths about that the administration did or didn't do, seemingly because they need as many things to be disappointed as possible.

[happi1]

26. wat

-Obama ended warrantless wiretapping.

Please tell me you are kidding

[KossackRealityCheck]

36. Evidence? This has been hashed out ad infinitim on DK

Not that evidence really changes many people's minds, but here goes.

The administration campaigned on ending them and did. A few months later, Panetta discovered that the NSA had a rogue wiretapping program still going. Panetta and Holder gave statements about it while shutting it down and said, wow, it's actually worse than we thought Bush's program was.

Glen Greenwald then reported that Obama's wiretapping was "worse" than Bush, even though the story was that they were shutting it down.

An urban legend was born.

[letterwriter]

28. Obama did NOT end warrentless wiretaps

No change from BUSH on that at all.

[letterwriter]

38. Unfortunately not

Obama continues Bush's warrentless wiretaps.

[KossackRealityCheck]

40. Evidence? nt

[Poboy]

24. If 'we' actually did shit that the people wanted, maybe 'we' wouldn't have to run away.

"We" are spineless cowards who run from a fight. "We" pass that POS health insurance bill, claim its wonderful, then run away? You are very correct.

[TexasObserver]

31. The lack of leadership from the president has been overwhelming.

He simply has not led. His constant practice of maligning all the people who elevated him to his various positions all his life - while groveling to gain acceptance by the same people who tried to keep him out of the country club all his life - destroyed any hope of Democrats being successful the past two years.

He was weak and ineffective. So far, his presidency is remarkable only for its lack of accomplishments. It's the worst Democratic presidency in over 100 years. I've held my anger in abeyance since Labor Day, hoping he might do something to correct course, but he's been smugly and undeservedly sure of his bad course of action since taking office.

No, Mr. President, you ain't "got this."

[Tatiana]

39. I want to disagree with you.

But I can't.

Dean should have remained at DNC. We would not have had the bloodbath in Florida and Ohio if he were coordinating the DNC.

We should be making inroads into places like Texas and Kentucky. Instead we've conceded those areas to the GOP.

[snot]

32. I.m.h.o.,

. . . we lost when Dem pols failed to beat back conservative gains re- the following:

1. Election integrity (both electronic voting and campaign finance, including corporate money);

2. Media integrity (the destruction of restrictions on consolidated ownership and the Fairness Doctrine); and

3. Public education -- destruction ongoing.

It's not that Dems can't message, it's that they've lost control of their own message, because it's either not reported or it's distorted by the media.

Americans are not stupid; they're miseducated and brainwashed.

Reality is now overshadowed by emotional manipulation and spectacle created by a media largely controlled by the right.

[treestar]

33. What do you mean we allow the Senate to hide behind the filibuster?

There is a filibuster. Repukes have to deal with it too, when they are in the majority.

Democrats try to do something, Republicans try to do nothing. That makes it easier for them. That's the way it is. Wishful thinking will not change that.

Republicans have stronger support. They don't worry about what they did wrong, they don't waste energy on that. On the one subject, we could learn from them.

We indulge in too much second guessing and letting second guessers slow us down.

[Romulox]

34. The Parties broadly agree on economic and war issues--they fight it out on "culture war" grounds.

The Parties are 90-95 aligned on economic issues, for example. Neither party sees outsourcing or globalism as a serious issue.

[NNN0LHI]

35. What we did wrong was be unlucky enough to have been born in a country made up of mostly imbeciles

Not much we can do about that.

Don

[letterwriter]

37. But we Dems are a bad choice too

Not as bad of a choice but stupid is bipartisan.