Right now, both Democrats and the progressive movement are flying high. Our fifty-state strategy has yielded record candidate recruitment.
With a 43% Democratic turnout in Connecticut, evidence continues to
mount that Democrats are turning out at higher rates than Republicans (possibly significantly higher rates). We hold commanding, historic, eighteen-points in the two most recent generic ballot polls (AP-Ipsos and Fox-Opinion Dynamics) and an NPR shows that lead making an impact where it counts. Our Senate polls aren’t bad either. Ned Lamont’s victory has given the activist base a huge boost of confidence and energy, among many other things. The Democratic leadership has lined up behind Lamont, unifying the party and improving our message. Bush’s approval rating still sucks, and our candidates are more competitive financially than at any time in recent memory (see more here). Committee fundraising looks good too. Our creativity and new infrastructure seem to be growing in leaps and bounds, and now election forecaster after election forecaster after election forecaster after election forecaster says great things are coming our way.If you have time, read the above paragraph again, and even follow all
of the links. Reading all of this, it is difficult not to come to the
conclusion that we are on the cusp of a tremendous wave election in
2006. Eight-eight days before the election, the situation could hardly
look better.
Islamic fascists is now the offical new Republican Party (and Lieberman for Lieberman) buzz word:
And look who else is using it (or a version of it):
Santorum
Lieberman (though he was creative enough to compare them with Nazis and Communists)
I am sorry, BooMan. but a word has to be a invented to shorthand this Left Blogospheric raised hopes/dashed hopes procedure. You know…where the entire Left Blogosphere gets all excited over the NEXT hottest-thing-ever-they’re-finally-going-to-get-their-comeuppance prediction..
My vote is the wodd “guckerting”.
Although “being fitzmassed” might do just as well.
The fact of the matter is…until the American people wake up to the position in which their greedy, gluttonous sleep has put them in the world there will BE no real changes. Only the front men will change. What we are seeing now is the beginning of a ratings adjustment. The show needs new front people and a new look.
Enter stage right…either McCain or McClinton, most likely.
Bearing Plan A Lite.
Exeunt BushCo.
It’s STILL McDonalds.
Just a new series of whoppers being sold and told.
Nice.
AG
Those look like snail backs. Major ewww.
What is that?
It ain’t from McDonald’s. Looks like sushi, excessively close up.
There’s a big difference I see between this summer and two years ago. Two years ago we were full of righteousness and outrage, too light on the actual nuts and bolts grind of electoral politics. This summer we still have plenty of righteousness and outrage, but we’re also very conscious, and very active, state by state and race by race, in the business of winning elections. Somehow we’ve figured out that the Democratic party leadership can’t win them for us; we have to do it ourselves.
To that end, if anyone is interested, Ms. GR and I are hosting a reception for Jerry McNerney (CA-11; opposing Richard Pombo, (R-Exxon)) next Sunday, 8/20 at 4. Location is mid-Peninsula, SF Bay Area. Anyone interested in meeting Jerry, and perhaps in contributing or volunteering, please email me at brittpbb at yahoo dot com.
I know in the midst of all that is happening in the world, this might not rank up there for anyone but me, but yesterday I lost my gorgeous elm tree that made up most of my back yard. She had gotten dutch elm disease a few weeks ago and died in about a month. Here’s a picture from a couple of weeks ago and then the absence at the end of the day yesterday.
She was 80-100 years old, stood over 80 feet high and pre-dated the housing development in this city neighborhood that took place about 60 years ago. My neighbor last night was talking about how she probably provided shade to many a cow at one time. What a grand old lady. I miss her!!
you’ll read tonight.
I would crosspost it, but I can’t figure out some of the formatting differences here that are important. (You’ll probably see what I mean).
Are you talking about strikethrough? If so I’d be happy to show you how you can do it.
Can you tell us all, please? Does your way work for both diaries and comments?
If you want some text to show as
strike-through, you have to wrap it in an inline div tag. Not sure if BooMan has a shorthand set up through scoop for it, but this should work.
<div style=”display:inline; text-decoration:line-through;”>This text will have a line through it</div>
Oh, and yes it should work for both, I think. Haven’t tried in a diary.
oh and to clarify, by ‘This text will have a line through it’ I didn’t mean in my comment, I meant if you copy / paste that into your comment you should replace that text with what you want to have a line through it.
Will cross post here later. Need to take a daughter somewhere.
Hmmm, it seems a little buggy…I just tried it in a couple of different places and sometimes I end up with the strike through text on a new line. The ‘inline’ of the tag is supposed to take care of that, but it doesn’t look like it always does. Weird. Hopefully you can get it to work!
I’m not as far gone as Arthur Gilroy, but I am sceptical that those who oppose what the Republicans have done will actually show up at the polls. And the reason is the idea that this election has to be the be all and end all of the ascendency of the progressive movement. It can never be that after 38 years in the wilderness.
There is one and only one reason to go and vote against Republicans (smartly and strategically) and that is to get our Congressional soap box back. If we don’t vote, the Democrats who get elected don’t fear us. That is why it is so crucial that Lamont beat Lieberman. It puts the rest of the Democrats on notice that they better stop wheeling and dealing with the lobbyists and begin to pay attention to the voters again.
They can’t fear us sitting on our hands in 2008 unless we show up and push a landslide in 2006. We don’t have to volunteer and work our butts off like we did for Kerry. We just have to show up on election day, cast our vote, and watch the counting like a hawk. And be prepared the day after to hit the streets to protest the largest stolen election in history.
Being on the cusp is the beginning. Bringing legitimacy back to the discussion of progressive ideas is the beginning.
We can deal with Hillary and Joe Biden and Dianne Feinstein and … later. For now we must deal with the Bush unitary executive or that later will never come.
2006 is absolutely not the time to sit out an election. If you plan to sit it out, you might as well get your passport now and avoid the post-election rush.