I was out running an errand and saw the first bumpersticker for the Republican running in my Congressional district (NY-29, formerly Eric Massa’s). I have yet to see a yard sign or a TV ad from either candidate. I can count the local media stories about the race on both hands with fingers to spare. So, even though the DC media is helpfully throwing in the towel for every Democrat in Congress, this campaign has just begun. And Democrats have done some popular things that should be part of stump speeches. Here’s a taste:
When we passed a bill earlier this summer to help states save jobs — the jobs of hundreds of thousands of teachers and nurses and police officers and firefighters that were about to be laid off, they said no. (Applause.) And the Republican who thinks he’s going to take over as Speaker — (boos) — I’m just saying that’s his opinion — (laughter) — he’s entitled to his opinion. But when he was asked about this, he dismissed those jobs as “government jobs” that weren’t worth saving. (Boos.) That’s what he said, I’m quoting — “government jobs.”
Now, think about this. These are the people who teach our children. These are the people who keep our streets safe. These are the people who put their lives on the line, who rush into a burning building. Government jobs? I don’t know about you, but I think those jobs are worth saving. (Applause.) I think those jobs are worth saving. (Applause.)
By the way, this bill that we passed to save all those jobs, we made sure that bill wouldn’t add to the deficit. You know how we paid for it? By closing one of these ridiculous tax loopholes that actually rewarded corporations for shipping jobs and profits overseas. (Applause.)
I mean, this — this was one of those loopholes that allowed companies to write off taxes they pay to foreign governments –- even though they weren’t paying taxes here in the United States. So middle-class families were footing tax breaks for companies creating jobs somewhere else. I mean, even a lot of America’s biggest corporations agreed that this loophole didn’t make sense, agreed that it needed to be closed, agreed that it wasn’t fair -– but the man who thinks he’s going to be Speaker, he wants to reopen this loophole. (Boos.)
While Democrats could have been doing better during the past few months, the fact remains that John Boehner is not popular, that doing nothing in the middle of an almost-depression is not popular, that sneering at teachers, cops and firemen is not popular, and that tax cuts for those making $250K or more are not popular. There’s a case to be made here, Obama made it, and Democrats will be making it in the next two months. I am not ready to write off the House, because this campaign is just getting started.
slag
I’m with you on this. And, personally, I’m just ready to kick some ass.
quaint irene
But, but, haven’t you been listening to the Village? The White House is WORRIED!
morzer
Damn well said, sir. Let’s kick the ass of the professional pessimists, the lazy media drones, and most of all the do nothing, think nothing, offer nothing GOP.
Zifnab
Honestly, I think the biggest losses in the house are in areas we can afford to lose – Alabama 2 for instances, where the Democrat has openly contemplated not voting for the Democratic Speaker. If the Blue Dogs want to give up their seats and shrink the Dem majority by replacing their own coalition with Republicans, it’s a hard sell not to let them do it.
That said, I’m eager to see where Dems can make some genuinely good pick ups, particularly in the Senate. Alaska just became incredibly shakey. New Hampshire is ripe. We could pick up Ohio with a little effort. Another throw-the-bums-out election year doesn’t have to be bad for the Progressives.
4tehlulz
Electoral-Vote.com has started tracking races and the House surprised me:
218 D, 184 R, 33 tied, which is much better than I thought it would be.
Senate is 49 D, 50 R, and 1 tie (IL)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Not to pick nits, or nuts, but I would only argue that sneering at teachers is very popular indeed. From the right to the New Democrat ‘left’, those damn teachers and their unions are to blame for everything from budget deficits to teen pregnancy to plug-in-your-favorite-non-issue. I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard some blowhard, still pissed about that D he (usually he) got twenty years ago, bray about “I wish I had a job that had a three month vacation…” or some variation on that nitwit theme.
SiubhanDuinne
Thanks, mistermix. Please keep saying this over and over and over again, every day from now to Election Day (this message also meant for all the other front-pagers, not to mention many of us who post). The thing that’s hardest to fight and so very discouraging is to be confronted with the combination of the GOP-Teabagger-Fox lies and the poutraged Professional Left whining about the inadequacy of the unicorn supply, all of this aided and abetted by pollsters who prophesy Doom for Dems. This shit happens all day every day, and repetition is going to grind down even the sunniest optimists among us unless we have countervailing messages that we can not only communicate but (perhaps more crucially) that we can internalize.
Say it early
Say if often
Rinse and repeat
Then do it again
SiubhanDuinne
Thanks, mistermix. Please keep saying this over and over and over again, every day from now to Election Day (this message also meant for all the other front-pagers, not to mention many of us who post). The thing that’s hardest to fight and so very discouraging is to be confronted with the combination of the GOP-Teabagger-Fox lies and the poutraged Professional Left whining about the inadequacy of the unicorn supply, all of this aided and abetted by pollsters who prophesy Doom for Dems. This shit happens all day every day, and repetition is going to grind down even the sunniest optimists among us unless we have countervailing messages that we can not only communicate but (perhaps more crucially) that we can internalize.
Say it early
Say it often
Rinse and repeat
Then do it again
MikeTheZ
CNN has a poll out that shows Americans (slightly) favor ReThugs on the economy.
At this point, are we as a country even within 10 points of hitting 100 on the IQ scale?
Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle
@Zifnab: Alabama 2. Isn’t that Bobby Bright’s district? Can aliens please abduct that asshole?
Punchy
Dudnt matter. Economy is fucked, so peeps are pissed. Pissed peeps rush to replace Reps with Repubs.
Unless O can find jobs for at least 5.6% of the poppy, Dems are doomed.
Tax Analyst
You mean we’re not required to roll over and play dead or hide under our beds? But the pundits told me we’re doomed at the polls, so we should just “spread ’em” and wait for the inevitable Boehner.
Make our case to the voters – what a novel idea. Has this ever been done before?
General Stuck
There could well be a silver lining to this storm cloud over the dems. Peaking too early by repubs, just before the campaign begins should light a fire under dems and Obama’s ass to take no prisoners and put the fear of gawd and lost chairman gavels in their frontal lobes. That fear wasn’t there in 94/
And then there will be debates and goopers having to say what they are for, not just what they are against. So I haven’t given up at all on losing the House, but the wildcard is how much of this is fueled by underlying racial anxiety issues for white voters. Or is it confined mostly to the nativist tea baggers. I don’t know for sure, and we likely won’t find out till after the election.
SiubhanDuinne
Oops, sorry for duplicate post. Obligatory FYWP sent first one before I had chance to make a tiny edit.
Larry Signor
Midterms are like wrasslin’ a pig. Everybody gets shit on ’em, but the pig likes it. Might as well roll up our sleeves and start makin’ elephant bacon.
Face
Media disinclined to spread the Dem’s message. Ergo, it doesn’t go unsaid, but it goes unbroadcasted.
Larry Signor
@Tax Analyst: Didn’t you mean “Boner”?
SB Jules
My neighbor has an Obama in 2012 bumper sticker. I didn’t get a chance to ask him where he got it :)
cervantes
Nothing the Republicans say is popular, but a large majority of people say they are going to vote for Republicans.
Explain please.
Zandar
In the end it’s all about turnout.
You would think that “1994 all over again? Hell no!” would be enough to get the Dems out to vote.
Mysteriously, you’d be wrong as Dems apparently need to be “taught a lesson”.
danimal
The perpetual campaign is catnip for the Beltway media, the GOP talking heads and cranky old tea partiers, but for the rest of the nation, the congressional campaign starts now. We have good candidates, a good message and the attention of the public. Let’s put up the best fight we can and forget the ‘confidence games’ of the GOP tacticians (along with their accomplices/dupes in the media). This is not over.
Dave
This. A hundred times over.
With the notoriously short attention-span of the American electorate, now is the right time for Democrats to start hammering the Republicans over all the wacky shit they’ve been saying.
Jackie
After 7 years of screaming at idiots in my living room in 2007 I made a discovery.
If I’m mad at what they did I send money to their opponent and a letter to them to tell them why I’m mad. I felt better.
If I’m mad at what they did I’ll make 30 more phone calls, it’s pretty easy from the comfort of my home, was free and I felt better.
When I got mad enough I walked and knocked on doors. I felt better and even lost a few pounds.
Screaming at the screen didn’t work and it didn’t make me feel better. Don’t get mad, get motivated. You’ll feel better. And it works better.
numbskull
Well sunshine, since we’re all going to die anyway, please go take the gas now so at least the rest of us don’t have to deal with you.
Now, back in the land of reality, I can tell you from canvassing and phone banking this weekend that, at least in my part of the woods, mistermix has it about right. People are just starting to think about the elections. There are challenges, of course, but no miracles have to occur to keep both houses, just a lot more hard work.
HRA
What every D has to do is go vote and pull the D lever all the way.
I seldom vote on an off election. I am going to make sure I vote on this one.
You have to walk the walk.
That’s all.
Allison W.
@MikeTheZ:
really? I don’t see how that’s possible. The vast majority still blame bush for the economy. the vast majority want a stimulus and focus on the recovery not the deficit. Republicans don’t want that.
Steve
@Zandar: There are an awful lot of people who do not have a political memory which extends 16 years into the past. That includes pretty much every new Obama voter from 2008.
roshan
__
__
Mistermix, this baby is totally with you!
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
Does everyone remember when, during the presidential election, we used to talk about the Republicans blowing their load too early, making it useless by the time campaigning really started after labor day? Curious why we aren’t making that argument now.
Pangloss
I’m working on a campaign song called “I’ve Got a Boner for Boehner.”
Chad N Freude
@quaint irene: The White House should always be worried, even when there’s no reason to be worried. Eternal vigilance and all that.
Martin
Our city doesn’t allow candidate signs prior to Sept 1. There were a fuckton of them up when I drove to work this morning – almost all Dem, which got my attention. Someone is organized. Game on, everyone.
numbskull
@Jackie: This is exactly what happened to me (well, it took me a little longer).
I challenge each one of you to, very simply, talk to ONE person today about voting this November. Start small, don’t even talk about WHO they should vote for. Just talk to them about voting. Just one person today.
Report back tomorrow. I’m curious to know if your experience was similar to mine.
Chad N Freude
@SiubhanDuinne: @SiubhanDuinne: Well, you’ve got the repeat and do it again part down pat :-)
Pangloss
@numbskull: The silver lining of suicide is it either frees up a job or takes away one job seeker, thus making the unemployment rate appear better. Now I call that win-win.
Chad N Freude
@MikeTheZ:
Fixt.
slag
@HRA: It’s not enough for us to just vote. We need to get everyone out to vote. Our friends who we “know” are going to vote? Well, let’s remind them (just in case). Our neighbors who we’ve never even met? Well, let’s go introduce ourselves as volunteers for our Democratic rep’s reelection campaign.
Full disclosure: During HCR I promised my senator I would volunteer for the campaign if the senate passed the bill, so I’m obligated.
But even if I weren’t obligated, I’d probably be out there anyway because I know that, if I looked back after election day and felt that I could have done more to keep Republicans out of those seats, I’d regret not having done more. And I don’t like regretting things.
Ash Can
That’s more like it.
merrinc
@SiubhanDuinne:
And people have totally forgotten about the Magical Unity Pony!
What we do in the next sixty days will dictate what happens in this country for the next two years. We can either try to get it back on track or just cede it to the Republicans. The thought of Darrell Issa with subpoena power makes me want to pack my bags and head north.
Larry Signor
~ Dollars & Sense
The recession has hit the lowest 40% of wage earners the hardest. These are the people we need to motivate.
Chad N Freude
@cervantes: This one’s easy. They do not connect what Republicans say with “Republicans”. Complete disjunction. Not to mention dysfunction.
slag
@roshan: Ha! That baby is awesome. And babies are rarely awesome.
Zifnab
@cervantes:
The problem is that nothing the Democrats do is particularly popular either. So the folks that voted Democrat in ’08 are threatening to warm their coaches while the folks that jerked off to Sarah Palin are ready to storm the ballot boxes in full force.
If you forced everyone in America to place a vote, I doubt the Republicans would win. Unfortunately, it’s the vast majority of non-voting Americans who appear to have the election in their hands.
Linda Featheringill
Hooray! A realistic approach, like that taken by grown-up people who are assertively going after what they want.
Good job, mistermix!
Face
Need to make sure the Dems dont lose both houses…otherwise, say hello to a quickly abolished filibuster
TR
Great post.
And much needed — rank-and-file Democrats are starting to buy into the gloom and doom scenario, which will only make it a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Whenever you are, people, there’s a House Democratic candidate who could really use some help — donations and volunteer time, even if it’s just a small bit.
Come on. Don’t you want to see Boehner cry? Again?
SiubhanDuinne
@Martin #32:
*Our city doesn’t allow candidate signs prior to Sept 1.*
I’m guessing your city also has some kind of deadline beyond which campaign signs must be removed. You clearly don’t live anywhere around Atlanta — almost every day I still see forests of signs dating back nearly two months to the primaries. For defeated candidates yet.
@Chad N Freude #34: LOL, good catch!
roshan
Folks, the FCC is asking for public comments on the Net Neutrality issue. There are about 30 days left to respond. Do your bit, let them know what you think about it. After 30 days, the matter won’t be in the hands of the public.
The relevant details are on Page 6, and they’re asking for comments on each individual point in the proposal.
NobodySpecial
I don’t wanna hear shit from half the usual suspects on this blog.
It’s not the ‘firebaggers’ or the ‘professional left’ that’s decided the House and the Senate are both gone, and woe is us. That would be a bunch of the *cough* pragmatists *cough* and Blue Dogs and the people who cover for them.
I don’t wanna hear shit about ponies and unicorns and Obama’s fee-fees. Time for everyone on this blog to walk their walk and stop talking their talk.
ornery curmudgeon
Good post, MisterMix … there’s the spirit!
Midnight Marauder
Martin
@SiubhanDuinne: Oh, yes. The Sunday following the election. The city will pick up the signs if the campaigns don’t, so they always vanish, but they get fined for each one the city needs to pick up. I didn’t see the pile in 2008, but in 2006 it wasn’t so bad – maybe a few hundred signs. They do a pretty good job of it – in 2008 the Dems had a google maps app where they marked where each of their signs was placed and they checked them back in at the end.
Comrade Mary
I’m a damn furriner, so all I can do is make posters.
tfhjb
gotfv
Comrade Mary
Bonus poster.
Martin
Ok, and from the not-quite-as-great-as-it-should-be state of California:
1) This year, turnout is pretty much all that’s needed. Boxer needs to hold her Senate seat, and Brown needs to win the Governor race. I’d make compelling arguments for both, but avoiding Senator HP and Governor eBay ought to be enough. There aren’t enough Republicans and Republican leaning independents here to win these races unless Democrats don’t turn out. Turnout is key.
2) This is a very important ballot initiative year. Two in particular:
Prop 23 seeks to overturn AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act. AB 32 limits greenhouse gas emissions for the state to 1990 levels by 2020. Right now it is the primary job driver in the state bringing green energy jobs here as the state needs to replace energy plants, invest considerably in emissions cleanup efforts, improve mass transit, and significantly improve both auto mileage and the number of alternative fuel vehicles on the road. There are tons of small and mid-size firms being created due to this. Prop 23 is being supported by the energy and oil companies (CA has its own gasoline additive restrictions, so we have our own refining industry) and must be defeated. NO on 23.
Prop 25 removes the ⅔ requirement for a budget to a simple majority. This doesn’t eliminate the ⅔ majority required to raise taxes, just the requirement to pass a budget. Passing Prop 25 would give the legislature considerably more flexibility in how to meet the budget. It’d still be subject to a veto (and our Republican governors love to veto the budget) but with a Democratic governor, our 60%+ Democratic majority legislature (both houses) would be able to pass meaningful budgets on time, without being held hostage by the GOP minority. YES on 25.
Prop 26 works against 25 by adding a ⅔ requirement for all fee increases in the state. Currently, a ⅔ majority is needed to raise taxes, but not fees. So because the legislature is held hostage by a handful of Republicans and we have a budget that needs to be balanced, all revenue increases are getting put on fees – vehicle registration, park access, crap like that. Just to drive the point home on how bad the GOP is on this point – years ago a loophole was created that allowed for yachts to not have to pay CA sales tax. It took YEARS to finally shame the GOP to agree to close that loophole. Shit like that is what the ⅔ requirement is protecting. Prop 25 makes it so that pretty much everything that isn’t a cut in services requires a ⅔ vote. NO on 26.
And CA has enough seats in the House to pretty much determine who is in the majority. Every Democratic vote you can turn out here for these other races will go a long way to determining who controls the House. Get out the California vote!
Jackie
@Comrade Mary: I knocked on doors with a nice young man from Holland. You can’t vote and you can’t donate money but time you can give. (not that I don’t appreciate the posters)
Mowgli
I’m on it. OFA Phone Bank @ my house tomorrow night. Knocked on 83 doors on 8/28. Also hosted phone banks on 8/25 and 8/4.
One thing I noticed in that activity is the election did not start in August. I spoke to a lot of people that no one reaches with polling (they have no home phone number and they’re never home anyway- they work for a living) and they ‘get it.’ Go out and knock on doors… It starts now.
JC
Obama has said what needed to be said, and hopefully, will keep repeating it. “We can’t do anything but give tax cuts to the wealthy”, doesn’t seem to me to be a very good campaign motto, but this is what the Republicans are going with, it seems.
That the Republicans look to reap the benefits of their intransigent know nothing-ism, just shows how messed up the political system is.
catclub
@Jackie:
I believe that foreign _corporations_ can donate money – or spend their own politicking now, thanks to the Supreme Court.
Just not foreign citizens – makes sense – no?
James E. Powell
@Face:
Media disinclined to spread the Dem’s message. Ergo, it doesn’t go unsaid, but it goes unbroadcasted.
True, so far. The portions of MSNBC I saw this morning was all negative for Dems, all anti-Obama, all Republican wave of indignation against horrible failing Democrats who are clearly responsible for every one of the nation’s miseries. The headline in the LATimes is that Obama is proposing $200B in business tax cuts.
But I do not think it has to stay that way. Dems need to hammer their message, not merely give a speech and wait to see what happens. When the Republicans have a message, every single one of them repeats it, loudly and proudly, for several days. It can be anything, usually a lie, but they repeat it and it becomes the story.
Dems do not do this. A few weeks ago, Biden gave an good response to Boehner. There was no follow-up. Not by Biden, not by anyone. The message hung in the air for thirty seconds then drifted away on the wind.
The Democratic argument, while not great, has advantages over the Republican. But none of those will matter if they argument isn’t heard.
Steve
@catclub: Corporations, foreign or domestic, are still forbidden from donating money directly to candidates.
SiubhanDuinne
@Comrade Mary: The gotfv and tfhjb posters are very cool, but your bonus poster made my day! Are these seriously for sale, or is it just a parody site as the disclaimer says? ‘Cause I would buy that poster!
curious
i think that glenn beck revival actually did the democratic side a huge favor. he may have convinced a few more people that the tea party is inclusive and diverse by having a thousand (?) clergy people of all hues on stage but he also managed to do what i think till now the rest of the tea party had wisely tried to avoid: he muddied their message about high taxes and government overreach and a forgotten constitution with a bunch of talk about god. and the bible. and it was also about the troops. all told, it just made it a little more obvious that the tea partiers are the same old republicans, just with better marketing.
and even with months of free advertising it only managed an audience of 100k. and now less than two weeks later it’s been largely forgotten.
so basically gb and his sermon on the mall showed the tea party to be a paper tiger. they’re loud but they probably don’t surround us and they certainly don’t have november in the bag. i hope i’m not being too optimistic.
SiubhanDuinne
@curious #62:
“Sermon on the mall.”. Heh.
sparky
@NobodySpecial: yeah, though for some reason many people here seem to prefer whining about straw-people they call whiners.
incidentally, i don’t think that was a good “talking point”. it’s too long and too complex and is only going to appeal to people who already think the same way.
simple is preferable, IMO:
the point is that the words in the post are a response, not an attack. if you are are going to castrate yourself in terms of what you can say, at least make your attacks short and to the point.
Gus
@cervantes:
People are fucking idiots.
catclub
@Steve:
I had that in the back of my mind. But I am accurate that they can do political things like put up political ads with their own money (as can US corporations), right?
Jackie
For those who feel unsuited for direct voter contact (but really it’s easier than you think, try a few phone calls before you give up on yourself) find a local campaign headquarters. Donate some food, sweep a floor, nail up posters, answer the phone, Make coffee or tea,collate some paper, input some data. Use that adrenaline for Good. An hour a week is work that might otherwise not get done or could free someone up who is comfortable talking to strangers. Just your showing up is a pep talk for them and some days they really need that.
sparky
@Gus: some of them are idiots, certainly. c.f. the brilliant “crazification factor”. but many of them are not, though they may be woefully underinformed. if you lost your job in 2008 and voted for Obama hoping that something would get better (“change”) and you still don’t have a job in 2010 or you have a crap one, and don’t follow politics with the breathlessness of those who do it’s not completely crazy to just say let’s try something different. that the different is essentially a toxic mess hiding behind a slick ad campaign is not necessarily something you could or should expect the average disengaged voter to know. hell, half of the people who could vote in this country don’t. is that good or bad?
edit: @Jackie: excellent suggestions. i’d just add that if even i, who some people here think of as a firebagger (if they think of me at all ;)) encourage you to do something, anything, to help the Ds get the vote out. even assuming the Empire is going to hit a brick wall, it’s sure better to hit it at a slower rate of speed. and FSM who knows who would climb atop the rubble of the American economy from the R side.
Steve
@catclub: That’s what Citizens United allows. Independent expenditures. They can run the ads themselves, or donate to an independent group that runs ads.
Nellcote
@merrinc:
But it’s not just the next two years. Reapportionment happens next year and that lasts for 10 years. Governorships are up in most (all?) states. It’s not just a mid-term election we’re talking about here.
Munira
Thanks, Mastermix. I’m so tired of the whining and it looks like I’m not the only one. I vote in Washington state but live in Quebec so I can’t knock on doors, but I can send money and make GOTV calls for OFA. My daughter-in-law is working for Suzan Del Bene’s campaign. She can definitely use some help. And Patty Murray and my congressman, Rick Larsen, also need support. Depression and negativity are self-reinforcing. Time to change our own message and quit complaining about the Dems. We’re the ones who will have to pay if the weirdos take either house.
scarshapedstar
I don’t know what the fuck they’ve been waiting for, but I hope you’re right.
Mnemosyne
@scarshapedstar:
They’ve been waiting for people to start paying attention to the upcoming election, which generally doesn’t happen until after Labor Day. Us nutty partisans follow this stuff 24/7, 365 days a year, but most voters don’t really think about it until a couple of months before.
JAHILL10
I love you, mistermix! Here’s the in-your-face, fight for the right, I love about this site that has been so sorely lacking lately! Sorry, just had to gush a little there.
Linda Featheringill
This thread reads like the script for a revival meeting.
Hallelujah!
Gregory
Yeah, and we have the liberal media on our side!
Oh, wait…
Moses2317
And here is another amen! Let’s get out there and fight!