... during the past presidential campaign I shoved a crowbar into my wallet and bank account to support both candidate Barack Obama and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. And I later did indeed learn that these 25$ and 50$ contributions, multiplied by a tidal wave of grass roots support was a game changer for the 2008 elections.
Thank You For Your Contribution... ( more... )
Your gift to the DSCC will make a difference in November. As a thank-you for your donation, we would like to offer you a special coupon code worth 20% off items at the new DSCC Store. Every purchase helps Democrats win. ...
- (DSCC Thank You Page.)
Now I do realize that the current apparently out-of-nowhere dead heat in Massachusetts is massively funded by the Right Republicans, and a lot of big money, large business contributors. So I hope my flick into the bucket is echoed by a lot of sympathetic democrats and independents. It worked in 2008.
But I do have to caution the democratic party. Ya'll sucked wind on this one. And TOTALLY underestimated the comitment that the Republicans have made, particularly the conservative right that seems to be calling the shots, to the politics of total opposition. They are going to throw everything and the kitchen sink into prying loose the 41st seat and break the fillibuster proof majority. They essentially abandoned any pretense of bi-partisan effort back in January, and the Democrats on the hill felll for it, comfortable behind their razor thin 60 seat majority in the Senate. But which perversely allows the Republicans to indulge in total opposition and fiery rhetoric that kind of "doesn't count" and looks good for the Conservative Right base.
But the Democrats have also vastly underestimated the discontent and anger in ordinary households at the self-interested squabbling and at times jaw-dropping lack of spine shown by the Democratic Congress. Not to mention the lack of progress on any number of fronts so prominently campaigned by the Obama organization.
... In mid-December, the National Republican Senatorial Committee conducted a poll that showed Brown trailing by only 13 points, but it kept the results to itself. Coakley continued operating on the assumption that for all intents and purposes she had won the seat with the Dec. 8 primary, a common assumption in the state known as the bluest of the blue.
"I think we overestimated the state's Democraticness and underestimated the national mood," one senior Democratic strategist said Friday. "We thought that the state's deep blue voting pattern would help us withstand national trends."
Coakley was rarely in position to detect the growing anger Brown would channel. Her strategy called for cultivating the local Democratic leaders who could be relied on to turn out enough of the faithful to win a special election, traditionally a low-turnout affair. ...
- Karl Vick and Chris Cillizza
Democrats scramble in Massachusetts to retain Ted Kennedy's old Senate seat
Washington Post
Ya THINK?
Yeah, ya took the race for a done deal. And while your backs were turned pissed away a 20 point lead. Make no mistake, the Republicans will spare no expense and would shove CHARLES MANSON into a senate seat to break the Democratic 60 seat supermajority.
So Anyway, I tossed in a sliver of our household treasure. I may have registered as a Democrat tho' I tend to vote independent (anti-jackass) and we New Yorkers DO apologize for Mr Spitzer. But NO I DON'T WANT TO VISIT THE DSCC STORE. And Please spent the money on winning that ELECTION, not on DSCC SWAG. For frak's SAKE, people.
Now, I've cautioned before that the razor-thin 60 seat majority is not a universally good thing. It allows for far too much ass-hattery on the Democratic side. But I am tipping towards trying to keep the seat over the Health Reform issue. As monumentally flawed as the bills are, it's still a little progress in a ... more or less progressive direction. Derailing the bill after such an exhausting journey cobbling the mess together, I think would be too big a setback to recover in this Administration with so many other pressing issues, some they brought to the table, some they've inherited. Some are acts of the Gods, like Haiti. I have come over to the compromise view that we should pass the Health Reform franken-bill, hold that ground, then revisit and try and improve things.
Next.
Getting tagged by both the DSCC and Obama.org and MoveOn.Org with weekly appeals in my email DOES get old after a while. For this vote, for that race, or "just because we care", or better yet just because we're not them, or "maybe your mortgage hasn't foreclosed, and you still have a little money. I'm a self employed Graphic Designer, not foreclosed yet, but been slowly sinking since the economy turned, and that's working into the night and weekends.
I'll bet their all their numbers have trailed off since the 2008 election. I can certainly understand the sentiment. The 2009 Democratic turnout definitely indicates some disappointment and resentment. And even in the face of, or even in spite of, the massive support of established and vested lobbies and special interests with a monumental stake in the status quo. But I can't help but feeling, "hey, we got you elected already, stop begging for money and settle down and JUST DO YOUR JOBS.
Just a thought.