What If? Reflections on 2006 and 2008 strategies....

[radhika]

Just driving myself crazy...Help me stop!

In 2006, when the Dems got the House - Pelosi said 'Impeachment is off the table'. There was an opportunity for ample under-oath hearings of Bush operatives, and possibly a Senate trial. Regardless of final vote, it would have restored some degree of transparency to the process. And assured the repugs that the other party is capable of push pack. It would have confirmed rule-of-law and some level of accountability. .

In 2008, when the Dems got the House, Senate and WH - Obama started his looking ahead/not back meme. Did not demand that the Bush moles be removed from their agency posts. No hearings. Eric Holder's DoJ seems to find no one worthy of prosecution for war crimes such as torture or outing a CIA agent. No real unveiling of corporate malfeasance, even tho the people were open to hearing it. All the sordid material we needed to de-validate the prior administration and GOP (regulatory agency capture, lobbying, election fraud, lying-to-war, civil liberties abuses) could have been at least AIRED. And the Dems could have claimed the high ground for transparency and rule of law. People would KNOW for sure the nature of the beast. And there's be lots of video clips to use in upcoming campaigns.

Now it's 2010 - four years of Democratic gutless and corrupt meandering. No true purpose and conviction. I shudder at the 2012 endgame.

[notesdev]

1. 2012 is an easy call right now

GOP retakes Senate, captures Presidency, holds House.

I see little sign that the party is ready to learn any constructive lesson from the election at this time. Especially worrying is what the long-term effects of the HCR debacle on trust within the party are going to be. If you were a Democratic Congressman right now and were not completely certain of your re-election, how much faith would you have that the leadership would have your back on a risky vote?

There are deep wounds within this party that are largely self-inflicted, now exposed by the aftermath of the election. This party has been completely hollowed out by stunningly poor leadership at all levels.