The Blue Dogs Got WASTED, NOT The Progressives

[KingOfLostSouls]

hell, joe sestak barely lost


russ feingold and alan grayson had no support and had millions dumped against them.


blue dogs got toasted though, meanwhile babs boxer destroyed carly fiorina, barney frank cruised to re-election, and jerry brown and andrew quomo mandhandled their competition.

last night was not a loss for the democratic wing of the democratic party, it simply proved that if you run on what you've done you'll either win or have a whole machine going after you.

in joe sestak's case, he fought to the wire and held his own.


tim kaine provided no leadership and the DLC basically tried their same failed strategy.


Progressive strategy = 2008, 2006

DLC strategy = last night, 2004, 2002, 1994.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Which indicates to me that if the Dems had acted more like Dems and less like repukes,

and had PUSHED and pushed hard for what they wanted...what those that voted for them wanted,...the repukes would be hiding in a corner with their tail between their legs right now.
Instead the Dems moved to the right, and kept wanting "bipartisanship". THAT is what got us into this mess we are in now...and it will NOT be shortlived.
Re-districting will now be under the predominant control of the repukes, and they will make sure to ensure their dominance for a Loooooong time. For details, see what Tom DeLay did in Texas.

As it turns out, it was the repukes who were playing chess, and the Dems who were playing checkers.

[FarPoint]

8. Ding, ding, ding ding!!!!!

You are so very on target....

[BrklynLiberal]

9. I am so very unhappy to be right... I truly am physically ill looking at what happened.

[Myrina]

21. Spot on.

Too bad none of the Dem Establishment thought to ask any of us what our assessment of the situation would be. We are, after all, just effin' retards and Professional Leftists.


:shrug:

[gulliver]

42. Or...that the blue dogs are in GOP-leaning districts.

That's why they are blue dogs in the first place.

[walldude]

63. +1.. Yet the usual suspects are all over DU blaming the base

for the loss. I have just about had it with this place.

[glitch]

65. It helps to feed your ignore list regularly.

One of the best things about DU is the ignore list, especially with all the volume and repetition. I know that isn't "inclusive" but inclusive can be over-rated. For example, no part of my yard is astroturf, I have chosen not to include it in my landscape. It's lovely, and I don't miss the "diversity".

[glitch]

64. At some point you have to consider that they are doing what they want to do

to get the results they want. Just because we don't want these results doesn't mean they don't.

I would love the debate to be between progressives and centrists, fascists not allowed. But I don't think that we are who the DLC wants to debate. I believe they would prefer a debate between centrists and "conservatives", progressives not allowed.

At some point we have to listen to our gut.

[Luminous Animal]

2. Kick.

[FarPoint]

3. I was just reviewing this a few minutes ago.

Heck, I wanted the Blue Dogs gone...so I got my wish.......I am wounded we did have a few Progressive Democrats become collateral damage.

[KingOfLostSouls]

6. I know republicans who are mad russ lost

that's the kinda shocker that was.

[FarPoint]

37. I am as well...

I understand 2012 Wisconsin has another Senate Seat available....so, Russ can keep on fighting.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. you betcha.

But someone needs to tell the White House.

[YOY]

5. Yanno...if the DLC folks worked as hard to fix the Republican party as they have to "fix" ours.

We'd have this country in shape and the Republicans in the doghouse.

Just sayin'...

[tritsofme]

7. Give me a break. In 2006 and 2008, Democrats had Mr. 25% sitting in the WH

A luxury that was not enjoyed this year.

[KingOfLostSouls]

11. speaker boehner thanks you.

[nadinbrzezinski]

52. Although this is NOT 1994

the same result, I remember a VERY POPULAR president in the WH that year...

Hmmm


That said I predict the same result, we need to be more like republicans, because well shit, the corporations love it.

[K8-EEE]

10. Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer had ALL the money against them

So what happened with Russ exactly? It's scary to see those formerly-sane states WI, MN go to the dark side.

[KingOfLostSouls]

16. Russ just got caught

they REALLY went after him.

probably because they knew if they only won a 51 seat majority by some chance, he'd have filibustered everything.

plus wisconsin ain't exactly california

[Kurovski]

45. Russ looks a little too presidential.

The Corporate Right can't take all our hopes down in plane crashes.

It wouldn't be seemly.

[glitch]

66. b i n g o

I hope he's looking at 2012 seriously.

[PBass]

53. Feingold refused money from the DSCC and any outside organizations

who take money from lobbyists. He was outspent by a big margin, plain and simple.

He also might have taken a more aggressive tone in his campaign, IMO. Refusing to accept lobbyist money should have been a central part of his campaign, considering the current 'anti-Washington insider' environment.

[uponit7771]

57. Ground game in Wisconsin was half of what it is in Cali, dumping 50 state strategy wasn't smart

[Jefferson23]

72. I am deeply saddened by Russ's loss too. WI's Dem governor

was very unpopular for one and a great deal of money was spent against Feingold as well.

I think Grayson who represented an historically very conservative district before he won in '08 and lost this time is not too shocking when you look at some of his campaign strategies/mishaps etc.


For the most part it was the Blue Dogs who took the hits.

[Catherina]

12. Rec'd n/t

[sinkingfeeling]

13. Who lost the other 43 seats if 28 of the Blue Dog Caucus lost?

[laughingliberal]

14. K & R nt

[TBF]

15. K&R nt

[Freddie Stubbs]

17. Blue Dogs did the heavy lifting of getting elected in Republican districts and then voting for

the Democratic agenda. Let's see how well liberals do in these GOP areas.

[sinkingfeeling]

22. +1

[KingOfLostSouls]

23. democrats did fine in 2008

when they ran as democrats.

[Freddie Stubbs]

24. Including the Blue Dogs?

[KingOfLostSouls]

25. when you run as a democrat you win

when you run away from having any platform, you'll lose.


how well did tim kaine's strategy work out for you last night?

[Freddie Stubbs]

29. Didn't Alan Grayson run as a Democrat?

[KingOfLostSouls]

30. didn't evan bayh run away?

[Freddie Stubbs]

31. Bayh has been elected statewide five times in a very red state

Grayson managed to get elected once in a swing district which Obama carried in 2008.

[frylock]

32. in a red district..

keep trying.

[Freddie Stubbs]

34. It's a swing district. Obama carried it by 5% in 2008

[girl gone mad]

39. It's not a swing district now.

Florida has taken a hard turn to the right, largely in backlash to health care reform.

Didn't Grayson have more money spent against him than anyone else running this year?

[Freddie Stubbs]

41. Grayson has claimed that, but didn't provide any proof to back it up

It is possible that he said that in an attempt to raise more campaign donations.

[Selatius]

38. Populists tend to win more than liberals in these districts. Blue Dogs ran as conservatives.

A populist with a platform like Huey Long or FDR would've fared better.

[gulliver]

43. +1

[Nite Owl]

46. No they didn't

mine was proud of the fact that he voted more than half the time with the GOP. He lost last night.
They watered down good legislation and that is partially what lost us many seats last night.

[stranger81]

47. When did Blue Dogs start voting for the Democratic agenda?!?

Sounds like a nice alternate universe you inhabit.

[GreenPartyVoter]

50. Agreed. They weren't reliable when it came to the votes.

[Codeine]

48. +1 and well said. nt

[sabrina 1]

61. Well, Blue Dogs didn't do so well, so the worst that can happen with

liberals is they will do as badly as Blue Dogs. But if real Democrats were on the ticket, the base would be energized, and the Independents who left the party over the past two years, might come back to elect some honest people who are there for the people.

[saigon68]

18. DLC Fucktards can stand up and admire their handi work

[glitch]

67. I suspect they are. nt

[HughMoran]

19. The most ignorant assumption of all is that Americans are uniform in their politics

Anybody who makes this assumption gets an automatic unrec an hide - it's so ludicrous it's not even worth discussing.

[Renew Deal]

20. So when things go well, you deserve credit, but when they go bad you don't deserve the blame.

Got it.

[frylock]

33. look in the mirror

[KittyWampus]

26. Stop the stupid. This is idiotic. The Blue Dogs who lost were newbies in republican strongholds

and swing districts.

You can grasp at that pathetic straw that fewer of the Dems who lost were Progressives. But it's a very thin, flimsy straw.

The Progressive Dems who WON last night were in reliably strong Democratic districts.

[KingOfLostSouls]

27. you're right

we should all be more like rand paul and less like FDR.

you're absolutely right. how dare we stand up for being democrats.

[cry baby]

28. agreed. nt

[Codeine]

49. Political analysis around this place is positively bizarre at times.

"Democrats went too far right, so the voters punished them by going even farther right." :crazy:

[snooper2]

70. Everyone here thinks they are Carville, or Donna B.,

or, in the same league at least :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Tatiana]

35. Only 4 out of 79 members of the Progressive Caucus lost.

23 out of 54 Blue Dogs were defeated in elections.

29 total Blue Dog seats are now in Republican hands.

[tsuki]

36. Allen Boyd - FL 2 lost.

[erodriguez]

40. Don't kid yourself: Andrew Cuomo is no progressive.

He plans to gut social services and is a true enemy of public service unions.

[GreenPartyVoter]

51. That sounds bad. :^(

[Le Taz Hot]

71. And Brown isn't as progressive

as everyone thinks he'll is. Read 'em and weep.


http://wonkette.com/417402/anti-gay-marriage-crusaders-must-get-gay-married-to-oppose-gay-marriage


http://celebrifi.com/gossip/Finally-Jerry-Brown-and-the-AntiGay-Crowd-Can-Agree-on-Something-Reefer-Madness-5319394.html

[RickFromMN]

44. Our majority in Congress was illusory

We had 60 Democrats in the Senate, but not 60 Democrats who agreed on what the country needed.
We had a majority in the House, but barely a majority who agreed on what the country needed.

We are a "big tent". We try to be a big tent. This came back to bite us.

Instead of health care reform, we got a watered-down health insurance reform.
It's not what anyone really wants.

I don't really understand what the Republicans want in regard to health care,
but know they didn't want what I want, a single payer, national health system.
I suspect the Republicans were happy with the status quo, health care as a privilege
for those who have money, not a right for everyone--call me a socialist if you want.

I want a European Health Care system or Canadian Health Care system.

Even if the Blue Dogs were in "safe" seats, they wouldn't support what I want.
It goes against their beliefs. There was no way I could have what I want.

Does that mean Progressive Democrats should have caved so quickly?

In negotiations, both sides start with what they want knowing the other side won't agree.
Both sides slowly give up things until they, hopefully, reach a compromise.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Democrats, in Congress didn't do this.
They tried to start with something they thought the Republicans would accept.
Surprise...surprise. The Republicans took positions the Democrats found hard to swallow.
The Democrats had to compromise still further. The Progressives were disheartened.

President Obama did not get credit for all the stimulus he tried to do.
He did not get credit for the money poured into infrastructure.
We need that money for infrastructure. We need that money to keep construction workers employed.

President Obama did not get credit for trying to keep the financial system afloat.

President Obama is doing the correct thing pushing for renewable energy and green alternatives.
This initiative, now in its infancy, will die. The Republicans will kill it.

Fifteen years from now, China will dominate renewable energy and green alternatives.
Businesses will cry about unfair Chinese competition, and will go the way of the U. S. television industry.
Anyone buy a television made by a U. S. manufacturer these days?

The Bush tax cuts will be extended.
Economists may say those tax cuts are bad in the long run, but needed in the short run.

I place much of the blame on President Obama.

President Obama tries to work people who do not want to work with him.

Instead of a fighter in the White House, we got a compromiser.
Several times, this year, I told friends President Obama was a wimp.
The Republicans see him as a wimp. They will continue to push him around.

Let's see if President Obama can find some backbone now.
Otherwise, let's hope President Obama steps aside and let's another Democrat run.

I regret voting for President Obama in the 2008 primary.
President Obama is such a great speaker. He can mesmerise me.
I believe President Obama doesn't want to get into the mud.
President Obama was the whipping boy who didn't defend himself.
It's easy for bullies to pick on wimps who don't defend themselves.

I wish, now, I had voted for Hillary Clinton. I wouldn't call her a wimp.
I believe she would throw as many punches as she took.
She wouldn't let a bully pick on her without a fight.
I believe she would make the Republicans pay when they try to push her around.

I did vote this election. I couldn't talk to others to try to convince them to vote Democrat.
I was and still am too upset with the way President Obama acted like a wimp and sold us out.

There are times...I wonder...is President Obama a Blue Dog Democrat in disguise?

[Iris]

54. k&r

[BlueCheese]

55. It's not cause-and-effect.

The reason Blue Dogs are Blue Dogs in the first place is because they come from conservative districts. Those districts will hardly ever produce a liberal, so if they produce a Democrat at all it will be a Blue Dog. San Francisco will probably always elect a true-blue liberal. That liberal will almost certainly win re-election, no matter how unpopular the national party is. So of course in a wave election the Blue Dogs will take the brunt of it. I'd bet most of the Republicans who were ousted in 2006 and 2008 were fairly moderate, too--New England was left with no GOP House members at all, if I remember correctly.

This isn't to say that the right way to maintain a majority is to pander to the right or the fears of the Blue Dogs. The right way to do so is to govern in a way that works. Appoint the right people, communicate to the public why we need a big stimulus (not $800 billion including tax cuts), why the insurance companies are wrong, why the Republicans are not on your side, and pass real programs with teeth. If we had done that, and really made a dent in unemployment, and convinced enough people to have a real public option, then the swing districts would have been safer.

But a bunch of too-timid proposals, combined with a failure to really call out the Republicans on their complete abdication of responsibility, led to a lackluster recovery, a health insurance bill that doesn't help enough people soon enough, and a general malaise that swept Democrats away, with the most vulnerable leading the way.

[uponit7771]

56. AMEN!!!! OP of the afternoon! Tim Kaine was NON EXISTENT

[KingOfLostSouls]

58. the simple fact of the matter is this

tim kaine followed the typical triangulation strategy and LOST


there was no 50 state strategy, no ground game. it became "save who we think can be saved."

rahm had people running away from being democrats and when people stood their ground and fought, they either won, or barely went down like joe sestak. sestak was our candidate and the machine ignored him.

howard dean would have put machine politics aside and poured resources into that campaign. into graysons campaign, into everyones campaign. he'd have had ground troops out there the second the conservatives started disrupting town halls last year.


he'd have gone to war.


tim kaine rolled over and surrendered.

[sabrina 1]

59. Don't forget Charlie Rangel who was thrown under the bus also.

A war hero who was not going to be rail-roaded, another tough Dem, the kind we need more of.

Grayson and Feingold were left to fend for themselves while money and endorsements went to help Blue Dogs. A waste of time and money and endorsements.

No wonder Rahm left town.

Bring back Dean!

[Kurovski]

60. Donkey Kick!

:kick:

[Dr.Phool]

62. Another fucking kick!

Remember, Bush was a cheerleader too.

[Juche]

68. There is an article on KOS. 44 of the 64 seats lost were blue dog or new dem. 3 were progressive

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/11/3/916876/-Progressives-Caucus-remains-intact,-becomes-a-plurality-of-House-Dems

Before the election the blue dogs & new dems were 39% of dems in the house, now they are 28%. Progressives went from 30% to 38%.


Two thirds of the seats lost in the house were among members of the blue dog, new democrat or both caucuses.

[snooper2]

69. what an inane meme

Yeah, gettting elected in Seattle is JUST LIKE getting elected if BFE Missouri...

:eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[malaise]

73. Don't expect this to be discussed on M$Greedia

This contradicts the talking points. Facts are irrelevant to morons.