We take the 50 state strategy seriously.
No race uncontested. No wingnut politician with a free-pass.
The 50 state strategy means 435 contested House races with good candidates. It means 33 (or 34) contested Senate races with good candidates. It means every Governor race, every state race, every local race CONTESTED with good candidates.
No shying away from any issue. No point conceded. No labelling of our people or our message by the right wing without full, and complete defense, and quickly turning it into offense. There are no Red states, only Blue states and “currently Red” states.
We spent 90 days in spring 04 finding candidates, and frankly that was too late.
For ’06, THE TIME IS NOW!
As that announcer guy says….
LET’S GET READY TO RUMMMMMM-BLE!
Out here in rural Indiana, someone has already stepped up to take on one of the worst GOP members of the House. Methodist minister Barry Welsh has declared his candidacy for Indiana 6 against the head of the Republican Study Committee, Mike Pence. So far, the most prevalent comment from both Right and Left, is that Welsh is at best a long-shot.
While this is certainly expected from the Right (since they don’t want to talk about issues), and while it could be expected from the Left (because as rational beings they ask questions to ascertain the truth), it is absolutely not the discussion we should be focussing on.
Too many on the Left have said Welsh has no chance. And to that, I say #%^@^%!
Can you imagine a coach telling the team at the first practice that they have no chance of winning? Can you imagine a teacher telling their students that they expect them to fail?
I had the good fortune to meet Barry Welsh when he ran (unsuccesfully) for Indiana Senate in ’04. He gives great speeches, is well educated, and is very down to earth. We ended up volunteering for his campaign
Now frankly, I’m not that into “church” stuff, but I know for sure that the stuff being paraded today as “Christianity”, either by the TV preachers, or by politicians (by people very much exemplified by Mike Pence) is perverted Christianity at best. Jesus would not pass laws to insure the profits of banks. Jesus would not lie to start a war. Jesus followed Hebrew law which unequivocally values the life of the mother over the life of the fetus (as per the Talmud).
Pence starts his meetings with prayer (in which the preacher states that Pence represents the “Christian values of our Lord”) and Pence has stated often that he was a misguided liberal in college, but then he became born-again and a Republican (I’m not making this up.)
So when I heard that Minister Welsh was going to run against Pence in 06, there was only one word to say “HALLELUJAH!”
I talk about Barry Welsh and our own situation because it is the one I am familiar with, but I implore those of you out there in the right situations to heed this message and take up the fight in your own area.
Find those candidates now and get them, and yourselves, psyched up.
Every race contested means that no one can feel secure enough in their seat to be giving money out to other campaigns (Tom Delay, this means you.)
Every race contested means that no one can feel secure enough to spout extremist crap that inflicts real damage to our society and fuels wingnut rants, without fearing the consequences of it at the polls.
Some may say we only have a pea-shooter, but if that be the case we are going to aim it right between their eyes. Some may say we only have a toothpick, but if that be the case we are going to stick it right into their heart (or at least their a$$!)
That is what is going on in our little corner of the 50 State Strategy.
NO RACE UNCONTESTED. NO POINT CONCEDED. NO RETREAT. NO SURRENDER.
(BTW, Barry Welsh has much more than a pea shooter)
Why has no one read or recommended this diary. If we are all serious as we say we are about getting these asswipes out of power the 50 state stadegy is a must.
Bravo to you for this diary and especially for being so involved inm the process.
How do you know people didn’t read it?
Lee, I know how passionate you are about the dem cause, but some of us do other things, and I feel like lately, I feel like you are discounting any actions/opinions/strategies that do not relate immediately to “getting these asswipes out of power” in the way that you think is best.
As I wrote last week, I appreciate your sense of urgency on the matter, but could you try to avoid painting those of us (well, me, I guess, I should not presume to talk for anyone else) who aren’t doing what you think we should be as less serious?
Maybe I am being overly sensitive about this, but last week was a bit much for me and many of my comments to you went unresponded to, so I’m still a bit raw about it.
Yes, you are overly sensetive and this was not directed at any one in particular. I know people did not read it because I was the only one to recommend it and there were only two comments on the thread at the time I posted and one was the author.
I do not respond to all comments in all threads whether they be you or anyone else. As you said in your comment, I too am doing other things. I have had a beautiful breather from the blogs and work and have come back refreshed and looking at things a little differently now. So please don’t take it so personally. I mean Jeez, you were not even a part of this thread when I wrote it.
Let me just say this: you engaged me in some pretty harsh ways in that other thread and it was YOUR diary. If I wrote a diary and you had taken the time to respond to it and my comments, I would have made damn sure that I responded to things that you wrote, even if it was days later.
I suppose that my expectations are asinine and “overly sensitive”.
And by the way, you don’t know how many people have read anything by the nuumber of recommends it has…
Anyway, I still respect your opinions and your passion but I think I have just realized where the boundary of online/offline lies.
Jesus Brinnaine, I wrote that diary over two weeks ago. Give me a break. If you had that big of a problem you not only have my email, you have my phone#. Sorry I haven’t lived up to your expectations. As far as online/offline go am I now obligated to agree with you because of our Crawford experience? Am I really missing something here?
And I have seen you become combative and harsh not only with me but with others here. Get over it!
All I was doing was paying the diarist a compliment and my wish that others had read it. And yeah, I am puzzled that The Cafe gets on the recommend list with 200 comments a day which is great but it also bumps other very informative diaries off the recommended list. I don’t have the pleasure of not working and be able to read the blogs all day. Now I am pissed so I bid you goodnight before I say something I may regret.
that I take “pleasure” in my unemployment? Call me “overly senistive” again if you want to but this just makes me angry as hell. I opened my HOUSE to you, I have shared things with you about my life and you throw them back in my face like that?!
I realize that you think that your way of doing activism is the only way and that everything is as stake here and those of us who don’t share your views are not only worthless to your cause but actually subverting it, but I was able to try and show you respect — you showed me no respect last week and now you are just being outright insulting.
You could have easily “praised the diarist” without taking a swipe at everyone else. And give me a break about diaries getting “bumped off the reco list” this isn’t freaking dKos, just set your diaries to 50 and scroll down and find them, it’s not like they disappear that fast, even if you are busy doing important things, unlike me.
As far as “saying something you regret” — please feel free. We either need to hash this out or just avoid each other from now on.
try to tone it down please. I feel like you’re fighting over something very small and making it into something big, and I don’t think either of you really wants to ‘win’ this exchange.
Just a thought.
If you are talking to us both, then why post your reply to me?
What makes you think that we will “both” see it?
All I want is for Brinnainne to get off my back and leave me alone. I was very grateful for helping me in August but I never asked you for any of that. You insisted. I never said anything about you being unemployed I said some of us have to work. So just leave me alone. I wasn’t slamming anyone in that diary and I do not think that my way of thinking is the only way. Talk about calling the kettle black. You are the one that inserted yourself into a diary that you never commented about the subject. It was as if you sought me out to slam me. Go haunt someone esle. I am through with this bullshit! I asked you to email or call if you had a problem with me or something that was said to you two weeks ago and you just keep up the crap.
What in the FUCK are you talking about?!
Are you totally insane? I insisted?? I am so sorry that you had to be forced to come here, and pick up a tent and chairs and a cooler — you should have just packed all of that and brought it from fucking CA, right? And so sorry that you had the opportunity to meet other people at my house. How awful of me to have INSISTED.
No good deed goes unpunished, eh? Many apologies for FORCING you.
Fuck you — I can’t believe you even fucking said that — get off your back? Lady, I am off.
this is horrible to read. Seriously. I respect you both and I hope that you will either take this to email or drop it/leave each other alone. This diary now has 16+ comments with maybe two or three that actually discuss the implications of a 50-state strategy.
Please stop.
This was an encounter that was completely disrespectful to the diarist. Diarist, you have my apologies.
Yeah and one of those comments was mine and I got slammed for it.
Get OVER it (much more easily siad than done, eh?)
I didn’t “slam” you in that first comment — I asked you questions.
When you quit with your crap (as you so graciously called my posts — did you even read ANYthing I posted on that diary of yours?!), I may quit with mine.
called the RECENT COMMENTS — but don’t you worry your self-righteous head about it, the next time I see something there from you, I’ll ignore it. Do I have your permission to read diaries without recomending and/or commenting on them?
that you see here is not so small — the heart of it, again, seems to be different ideas about what the site is supposed to be about.
Just a thought.
…I tried to respectfully respond to the questions you were, rather hysterically, asking in your diary thread about why we weren’t all falling in line to elect dems elect dems elect dems, and you responded with “I’m not ignoring you, I am on vacation”, and then you proceeded to ignore me.
If you were just “some poster”, of course I wouldn’t give a shit, but you have been in my house and we have talked on the phone and I had different expectations of how I might be treated — stupid, sensitive me.
No, you aren’t obligated to do anything at all. Least of all agree with me — a bit of courtesy and respect would have been nice, but no worries, I will revise my expectations. I do live and learn.
ago is when you wrote the diary, BTW — just for veracity’s sake BTW.