Why The Dems Lost..How I See It..

[Knucklehead]

The Democrats, as the eunich in the White House reminded us,took a ''shellacking.'(who talks like this?) Why were they beat down? I don't think it was as right wing media reports- because American voters were at odds with a ''far left agenda.'' If you recall,the Dems won the Senate and the House in '06,and of course the White House in '08.After that it was all downhill..

Voters wanted change.They voted for it in far superior numbers than any platform (fear,hate,bigotry and the multi fronted assault on the middle class) that the right typically offers.They rejected the GOP in 06 and again in 08..

What we got instead was a useless bitch as the Speaker of the House,and another eunich to lead the Senate. We learned that ''impeachment was off the table'' after they promised investigations of the Bush Crime Family..There were no investigations,and there was no accountabilty.It will happen again, but probably on a larger, more horrific scale the next time.

We were promised a withdrawal in Iraq and and that Guantanamo would be closed..That didn't happen either.Years later,Gitmo is still open for business,and we still have 50,000 ''non combat'' troops in Iraq.Bullshit.Every soldier is a combat troop.Trillions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of deaths and years later, we are no closer to a coherent strategy much less victory and withdrawal..

Instead of a reversal of the assault on our civil liberties that was promised to us by candidate Obama,we have his justice department not only fighting to maintain Bush era privacy violations,but seeking to expand and strengthen them..

Instead of taking on the far right extremists in this country,most of the Democrats and especially this President wasted valuable time seeking endless compromise and ''bi partisan support'' (I swear to God, if I hear those words come out of his mouth again,I'm gonna dry heave.) with people who wont walk across the street to spit in his face.In the meantime his supporters,and the wider Democratic base were neglected and ignored.If that wasn't enough,many times they were told in so many words by this administration to ''shut the fuck up.''

We Democrats watched as Obama caved time after time to the GOP.It disgusted us.Compromise is unavoidable at times and in the real world you have to to it..But, you don't have weaken every single position you've previously held..

Rght from the start of this weak assed, pathetic administration, it's supporters were played for the fool.Beginning with his choice of right wing religious extremist Rick Warren for the Inaugurational Invocation prayer.Followed by him being ''a fierce advocate'' of gay rights.You know, the kind of ''fierce advocate'' that thinks discrimination is worth fighting for.He's fought to maintain DADT and the Defense of Marriage Act..Fierce advocate my ass.

Hey,whatever happened to the Employee Free Choice Act? I guess that died too huh?? Way to go Democrats! Who the hell needs Unions now that the right wing is in charge? Oh that's right,the right wing hates unions.I forgot- according to the average right winger,organized labor and union members are ''goons and thugs. But CEO's who plunder billions of dollars and ship thousands of jobs to China are really hard working decent Americans deserving of our understanding and more tax breaks. We should be sympathetic to their plight,especially when they run a company into the ground and still mange to walk with a hundred million dollars in bonuses.It's organized labor who is lazy and greedy and when their unemployment runs out, tough shit.They don't deserve an extension..

What about that cool ''obamacare?'' So much for single payer.But hey,the insurance companies will probably appreciate the trillions they will earn when it's mandated we do business with them.How about those ''wall street reforms?" I'm certainly not a financial expert,but from what I've listened to and read from people with a better grasp on it than me,that was another failure.They are not reforms and they will do absolutely nothing to prevent another meltdown from happening again. Another weak measure.But what else do you expect from this administration?

How about ''bringing jobs back?'' Why is NAFTA still in effect? Why are corporations STILL being paid billions to pack up production and send jobs to some place where they killed thousands of U.S.soldiers in the last century?

Of course the right wingers will do a happy dance.We'd expect that.But I think it's important they know,this doesn't give them a mandate to rule from the far right.In my opinion, I think the right won because the Democratic base was sytematically lied to,insulted and ignored.That type of thing usually has serious repercussions among voters.They will either vote you out or ignore you too.It looks like that's what happened..

As someone who grew up during the Cold War, and for first half of my life before the terrorISTS came along,we had to hear all this bullshit,day after day about the communISTS..How we were so much better.They only had ONE party to vote for.All that kinda horsehit..

Are we so much better? Why? Because we have TWO dominant parties? In the meantime,the people are ignored and lied to.They are told it's ''patriotic'' to support bullshit wars that rob from them not only the lives of their children,but much needed services in their communities..See Eisenhowers last speech..

We're told to embrace capitalism.Why? Capitalism doesn't give a shit about us.It chucked this country overboard years ago.

Ehh,just things I think about at red lights..

 

[JB3]

If the people supported all of the things you mentioned, and wanted the President to have the chance to accomplish them, why would they vote to swing the legislature in the opposite direction? Yeah, they might not have been happy with what has been accomplished so far, but do you really think that if they WANTED those things they would go in the opposite direction?

Your stance defies common sense. If the democrats lost, its because the people didn't agree with their priorities or their agenda. The election was a rejection of what the democrats have done, and proposed to continue to do, even if it meant giving power back to the republicans. Thats the end of it. There is no other explanation.

 

[JasunStrikesBack]

To be honest, this election was a bit of a wash, really.

Even with hundreds of millions of dollars, a huge campaign of lies and stupidity, Republicans only managed to eek out a half-victory and to do that, they needed to suck up to the most loony of loonies.

4 days into their "victory" and they're already gearing up for a civil war. They were all proud with their "NO COMPROMISE" thing. But they're going to have to compromise with people in their own party.

Gonna suck.

 

[palemale]

Three reasons the Dems lost:
1. Unemployment has not improved sufficiently.
2. Young people didn't vote at the same level they did in 2008.
3. Old people did vote at the same level, or higher, than they did in 2008.

Ronald Reagan suffered huge losses in the House of Representatives in his first mid-term election when the economy was sour. Things improved and he was reelected in a landslide. Whether that will happen this time, who knows.

Also, many people are afraid of change, so the Health Care Reform legislation is very scary. It may turn out that people like some of the changes, and the sky won't fall in, and they will re-elect Obama. There is no evidence that Americans like or trust Republicans more. The emergence of the Tea Party movement shows that. My guess is that Americans will realize that the Tea Party/Republican Party are clueless and full of shit, and will be more frightened of them in 2012.

Only time will tell.

 

[JasunStrikesBack]

its really more simple

people in the USA dont want a nanny state , dont tell 'us' what we need if we dont want it

Oh good God.

I'm so sick of conservatives going on and on about the "Nanny State" after they have votes on whether I can smoke pot and get married and tell women who've been raped they can't get abortions.

They tell me what religion to be, they carry guns into starbucks... and have the nerve to whine like little bitches about "the nanny state."

 

[JasunStrikesBack]

a wash = biggest swap in power (fed & states) since 1938

That only captured the house and to do it, they had to get in bed with a bunch of bat shit crazy people who think that there are mice with human brains and that the Berlin Wall was to keep illegal immigrants out.

They're already imploding and they didn't even get the senate.

 

[JasunStrikesBack]

Jasun , you are in Cal. The people voted down pot.

Yes, I'm aware of that.

and where in the USA will a woman get refused an abortion after rape

Nowhere yet. But MANY of the new Republicans think we should have a law that says that. Sharon Angle said that girls raped by their fathers should "turn lemons into lemonade."

 

[Edward Twinkletoes]

Obamacare. The fact that Democrats deny it so vehemently demonstrates they know that's the one thing that really pissed people off. The economy may have been a major factor but people don't get pissed off if they believe the government is trying to fix the economy.

It takes a pissed off electorate to kick that many people out at one time. The last time I was as pissed off about a piece of legislation as I am/was about Obamacare was Patriot Act. That's what a massive piece of garbage this thing is. When I think about it in my mind, it automatically goes in the same category as the Patriot Act, warrantless wiretapping, torture and all of the slimiest moves the Bush administration made. It is an abuse.

All that mealy mouthed bullshit coming from the liberals is just more evidence that they are deeply in denial about the fact that their party has now gone off the deep end and is completely out of step with the majority of Americans.

Americans are not confused about the individual mandate.

 

[Seasoned]

To counteract these foolish, non productive political swings we need a one term 6 year presidency and real campaign reform. Frankly I don't know what's up with Obama, but I will make a suggestion for future presidents: don't run the White House with your campaign staff. They know how to win a campaign, but not how to run a government. Who will be running it,by the way, since the 2012 campaign is now underway?

Useless bitch? I think not. If she had been working with Hillary I bet we would have had real healthcare reform.

 

[JasunStrikesBack]

Earth to Jasun... Angle lost

I'm aware of that. But she came damn close to winning and MANY of the "under no circumstances" people did, in fact, win.

And lots of people nodded right along with her when she said it.

Are you denying that conservatives spend half their time crying like babies about how the government is a "naaaannnyy state" and the other half telling people how to live and what to do?

 

[JasunStrikesBack]

Obamacare. The fact that Democrats deny it so vehemently demonstrates they know that's the one thing that really pissed people off.

Well.. YOU did, anyway. You won't stop crying about it.

Really, you're boring.

Americans are not confused about the individual mandate.

And many of them think it didn't go far enough.

 

[Kulindahr]

Except for the bronze age bigots running around, making even the Old Testament God of Wrath look like a nice neighbor, I think it was about money.

The deficit is astronomical -- which is what the Tea Party, begun back under Bush due to a stray remark by Ron Paul, was originally about, till it was annexed by cling-ons who wanted to fart in everyone's general direction and claim it was free speech. A debt growing that fast is scary.

What was done about it? Cosmetics, was what people saw. Did the troops come home from Iraq, which would have saved hundred of billions? No. Was waste cut from the budget, which could have saved tens of billions? If it was, who could tell? And the biggest complaints I've heard about the health care thing is that the politicians were almost certainly lying, and it was going to cost another huge bundle.

Partly, Obama did this to his party by not following through on his simple promises about honesty and transparency. We didn't get to see the bills, we didn't see more openness than Bush had -- so when Obama talked about what this cost and what that would save, people saw a typical politician mouthing the right words, and had no reason to believe anything but that the deficit was going to keep on bankrupting our great-grandkids.


A comment on something from the first post: NAFTA is fine, except our standards for produce and shipping and such have to be maintained in the U.S. But since I graduated from OSU, over ten million, maybe fifteen million manufacturing jobs have been shipped out of this country and mostly overseas. If those jobs had at least stayed on the continent, we'd be far better off -- so there needs to be an attachment to NAFTA penalizing companies who send jobs out of the free trade zone.

 

[Orlandude]

I think one of the biggest causes of the loss was not Obamacare but the public option that should have been part of it. People resent being told "pay or else".

 

[JasunStrikesBack]

What I really think it was about was marketing.

Obama did SO much but barely told anyone about it. He just quietly did his thing. And in this world, you have to be a press whore to get noticed.

So sadly... The Republicans are REALLY good at sound bytes. So that's who people paid attention to.

And of course.. pandering to people's fear ALWAYS works better than hope. Why do you think we had another "terrorist scare" two days before the election?

And why do you think Jan Brewer was ranting about decapitated bodies in the desert? Or Sharon Angle making that commercial with the scary Mexicans stealing the education money from those beautiful white college grads?

 

[bagley]

Dems lost because only a minority of registered voters bothered to vote....no right wing wave of indignation...just low voter turn out...

 

[JB3]

I think one of the biggest causes of the loss was not Obamacare but the public option that should have been part of it. People resent being told "pay or else".

Bullshit. If they had been upset about that, they would have STRENGTHENED the dem majority so they could add that in. Instead they, voted them out in the body where the bill has to start.

 

[Knucklehead]

If the people supported all of the things you mentioned, and wanted the President to have the chance to accomplish them, why would they vote to swing the legislature in the opposite direction? Yeah, they might not have been happy with what has been accomplished so far, but do you really think that if they WANTED those things they would go in the opposite direction?.

Again,''the people'' at least the majority of those that voted did support what candidate Obama proposed.That's one of the resons he won.That,and people saw that that Mc Cain /Palin and their supporters were a bunch of fucking nuts..

What we got, if you had read my post, instead of scanning it for imflammatory content was that first off,this wasn't so much a republican victory as it was a democratic defeat..What that means,at least to me, is this.Sure republican won this round.That's great for them, it's gonna suck for regular Americans though..

As I see it,this ''victory''wasn't because Americans woke up to the Obama agenda, but simply got sick and tired of waiting for him to implement it.

In other words, he talks a good game, but when it comes time to put your money where your mouth is, he brings nothing to the table except flowery language.But,that's all.If I want beautiful language I'll read the words of the Irish Patriots.They knew how to bring people to action..They got shit done.They didn't rouse people only to abandon them and the agenda which brought them to national prominence once they were chosen to lead..
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0PjKJ9nHS4[/ame]

When I was a kid,there was a popular kids doll/action figure named ''Action Jackson''.Obama,he' a NO ACTION JACKSON..What's he doing RIGHT now? Where is he? He fled the country and went to India to grovel before them, to ask them to consider putting their self interests to the side,to waste time,and money in a fruitless attempt to get us to compete with third world workers..This is what he offers us? Why doesn't he have the sack to tackle the enormous trade deficit with COMMUNIST China?? I guess he'd be real smart to not offend our realmaster.Nah,get on them Indians instead..Fucking coward..

[BYour stance defies common sense][/B] If the democrats lost, its because the people didn't agree with their priorities or their agenda. The election was a rejection of what the democrats have done, and proposed to continue to do, even if it meant giving power back to the republicans. Thats the end of it. There is no other explanation.

I get a little bothered by young republicans who still live at home,who've never served in the military,who don't know shit about working 16-18 hour days and who are barely able buy a legal drink telling me about the ''ways of the world..'' 'Pay rent for 20 years on eroding wages and get back to me smart guy..

'First off, one more time,this was not a post where I wondered aloud why people voted for republicans. I already know the average republican supporter is a fucking moron ,often a racist and usually a greedy scumbag..You're not likely to enlighten me about that..Other republicans I know ,from this board even, are NOT righ wing hacks.They work for a living.. I respect them, but couldn't help but notice,without exception, they all either work in civil service jobs , the military,and jobs in NY that they don't show up for without a contract..Amazingly enough, they all support a party that is openly hostile to other workers organizing..

Instead, what I was talking about was how the Democratic ''leadership''pissed off and alienated THIER base.I define their base as people who arent republicans,would never consider voting for them in a national election,and who work in an increasingly uncertain and hostile environemnt to their interests.. Interests like,a wage that pays the bills, or at the very least a wage that covers the bare neccesities of life.

I'm pretty sure that most voters arent as vigilent as I am.I couldn't and wouldn't blame them for not showing up to play reindeer games with a party that has ignored their concerns.like the Democrats have.In other words,I don't believe that many voters who used to vote Democrat simply kicked all that to the curb and decided to vote for their sworn enemies..Instead, the Democrats fucked up by ignoring those voters and their concerns.So, they didn't vote at all.Thus, the ''enthusiasm gap''..Democrats,or those that thought they were,refused to take part in the farce..

The people that did show up to vote, disgusted as we were, did our best to stem the tide of a well funded right win smear campaign carefully fostered to win the hearts and minds of people persuaded to vote against their own self interests..

We did what we could, but honestly,we didn't have alot to work with.My big mouth just can't compete with the U.S.Chamber of Commerce and the voting records of Blue Dogs and hand wringers..

To be honest, this election was a bit of a wash, really.

Even with hundreds of millions of dollars, a huge campaign of lies and stupidity, Republicans only managed to eek out a half-victory and to do that, they needed to suck up to the most loony of loonies.

4 days into their "victory" and they're already gearing up for a civil war. They were all proud with their "NO COMPROMISE" thing. But they're going to have to compromise with people in their own party.

Gonna suck.

Of course Jasun..This is gonna be a real shit show..Especially when the republicans start eating their own..

In the meantime though, the average American will continue to get the shitty end of the stick and wil continue to endure the antics of sanctimonious right wingers..Meanwhile,Michelle Bachman's glassy,vacant eyes gaze at us and tell us about ''American exceptionalism.''

Three reasons the Dems lost:
1. Unemployment has not improved sufficiently.
2. Young people didn't vote at the same level they did in 2008.
3. Old people did vote at the same level, or higher, than they did in 2008.

Ronald Reagan suffered huge losses in the House of Representatives in his first mid-term election when the economy was sour. Things improved and he was reelected in a landslide. Whether that will happen this time, who knows.

Also, many people are afraid of change, so the Health Care Reform legislation is very scary. It may turn out that people like some of the changes, and the sky won't fall in, and they will re-elect Obama. There is no evidence that Americans like or trust Republicans more. The emergence of the Tea Party movement shows that. My guess is that Americans will realize that the Tea Party/Republican Party are clueless and full of shit, and will be more frightened of them in 2012.

Only time will tell.

I hope you're right ..What bothers me though, is that I hear from Democrats,that we need to ''rebuild'' and ''get ready for 2012'' ..Why? Didn't we do that back in '05? DIdn't we support these assholes back then?Didn't we give them money? Didn't we vote for them? What did we get out of that? A BIG BOWL OF NOTHING, THATS WHAT..

So, now,were supposed to play this game again? What? So we can elect them again,so we can get more of the same weak leadership?I don't think so..

Just today I saw the useless.lying cunt Nancy Pelosi on TV talking about how she ''has no regrets.'' She cab go fuck herself..I got a lot of fucking regrets when it comes to them Quislings..I don't know how much more of this batterd relationship I can take from the Democratic Party..I feel like Charlie Brown ,with Lucy always pulling the football way..

Oh good God.

I'm so sick of conservatives going on and on about the "Nanny State" after they have votes on whether I can smoke pot and get married and tell women who've been raped they can't get abortions.

They tell me what religion to be, they carry guns into starbucks... and have the nerve to whine like little bitches about "the nanny state."

Amazing, isn't it?

 

[Edward Twinkletoes]

Really, you're boring.

I seem to be holding you attention. The Democrats got their asses handed to them so pull your panties out of your crack and deal with it.

And many of them think it didn't go far enough.

Yeah. Many Republicans probably think gay people should be fined for being gay. If you want to open the door for the government to bully us into living the way it thinks we ought to, you just might get more than you bargained for.

You're whining because they don't want gay people to get married? That's a fucking luxury, dude. You can wait 10 years to marry someone. This bill undermines freedom in so many ways you won't have to worry about marrying someone because they will legislate your right to even exist out of existence with legislation like this.

 

[JB3]

As I see it,this ''victory''wasn't because Americans woke up to the Obama agenda, but simply got sick and tired of waiting for him to implement it.

Absolutely not. If they got sick of waiting for it, then why the hell would they vote the democrats out in such big numbers? It makes NO sense whatsoever.

If voters were that pissed off about Obama's agenda not getting completed (which they weren't, it was the opposite, in fact), they would have swept the democrats into even BIGGER majorities.

'First off, one more time,this was not a post where I wondered aloud why people voted for republicans. I already know the average republican supporter is a fucking moron ,often a racist and usually a greedy scumbag..You're not likely to enlighten me about that..Other republicans I know ,from this board even, are NOT righ wing hacks.They work for a living.. I respect them, but couldn't help but notice,without exception, they all either work in civil service jobs , the military,and jobs in NY that they don't show up for without a contract..Amazingly enough, they all support a party that is openly hostile to other workers organizing..

The bolded part right there is why I don't care about anything you have to offer. You're a blind partisan hack that thinks he knows better than anyone else, and you're so blinded by your own ignorance that your opinion is about as useful as a steaming pile of dog shit.

Instead, what I was talking about was how the Democratic ''leadership''pissed off and alienated THIER base.I define their base as people who arent republicans,would never consider voting for them in a national election,and who work in an increasingly uncertain and hostile environemnt to their interests.. Interests like,a wage that pays the bills, or at the very least a wage that covers the bare neccesities of life.

The democrats would have still lost, because the independents abandoned them. (because they didn't want the democrat's agenda)

I'm pretty sure that most voters arent as vigilent as I am.I couldn't and wouldn't blame them for not showing up to play reindeer games with a party that has ignored their concerns.like the Democrats have.In other words,I don't believe that many voters who used to vote Democrat simply kicked all that to the curb and decided to vote for their sworn enemies..Instead, the Democrats fucked up by ignoring those voters and their concerns.So, they didn't vote at all.Thus, the ''enthusiasm gap''..Democrats,or those that thought they were,refused to take part in the farce..

Nope. The independents that won the election for obama and the dems abandoned them in this election. They wouldn't have won regardless.

 

[JasunStrikesBack]

If you want to open the door for the government to bully us into living the way it thinks we ought to,

Hm.

Let me tell you about Proposition 8, DADT, DOMA...


(and I think you voted for the party who's promised us more of "bullying us into living the way it thinks we ought to)