Is this any time for a Democratic President?

Why on earth would you wish that on any decent Democrat? I mean, get serious. Consider the magnitude of the mess created by Bush. Consider the impossibility of dealing effectively with that with both Houses of Congress controlled by the ReThugs.

No. Let no Democrat take the blame for the chickens coming home even now to roost. The only cure of the American people's addiction to neoconservative dogma is to smack hard into the bottom, to taste the bitter fruit of the bad seed they have sown. Hope we all survive the experience but there it is. (Revelation of voting fraud is just part of the bottom hitting experience, folks ... but an important part so we can't let up there!)

Can you not feel it? Even here in Georgia the odor of Buyer's Remorse is overpowering. All I have to do to counter the gloating of my ReThug acquaintances is act happy and say, "Man, I'm glad Kerry lost. You jerks deserve what happens next, and I don't want a good man wasting his life trying to clean up Bush's mess." Try it and watch their arrogance crumble. It works every time.

But we Democrats now must get serious about putting together a sensible platform that addresses core substantive issues of importance to the the American people. Like, how are we going to make a ton of money by solving the global warming problem? (We can, ya know.) What should our science policy be? How do we deal with out sourcing in the era of global economics? How do we achieve social and economic justice here and abroad, and thereby establish peace and stability? How do we restore quality to our educational system? How do we build human prosperity, freedom, and dignity in America? How do we keep America from falling behind?

Bush will self destruct. But we must prepare real alternatives to the tired, old, conservative cookie-cutter rhetoric. It is on us, folks. We got homework to do. Lots of it.

First of all, the time-for-change factor kicks in. More importantly, the magnitude of the crises facing the country means that there's a heavy chance that the country is going to be in a very big mess in 2008 with the GOP thoroughly discredited. Now, frankly, I don't want this to happen - I've gotta pay for grad school or medical school in 3 years and the last things I want are a catastrophic recession brought on by a crumbling dollar, a draft due to endless war in Iraq and Iran, continued fears of terrorism from a reinvigorated Al Qaeda. Frankly, that scares the sh*t out of me and I'd rather Bush have a good second term than a bad one, b/c I fear for us all.

But from a political standpoint, if the Republicans do poorly in the next few years, even not to the level I described above - just badly, we have an excellent chance. This may prove to have been a good race to lose.

An excellent analogy is the 1992 British elections. Labor was expected to win, but lost in a startling upset. However, the Conservatives went on to bungle the next 4 years, brought on by ruinous fiscal and economic policies. They were thoroughly discredited and Labor under Blair went on to win heavily in 1997.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1061-1343295,00.html

The key is that we have to provide strong opposition and craft a coherent ideology and vision, particularly on foreign policy, but on domestic issues as well.

But I am thinking more about 2006 and making some headway in Congress as a necessary step towards 2008. I really think the next year will result in opportunities ... but again we need to get our act really well together to exploit them.

You wrote:

The key is that we have to provide strong opposition and craft a coherent ideology and vision, particularly on foreign policy, but on domestic issues as well.


I very much agree with that statement.

We have to set the table, so to speak...

When Bush crashes it, we all burn.

So yes this was the right time for a Democratic president. Just like it would be the right time for a pilot who wasn't blind to take the controls of the airplane.

Sure 2008 could be a great sweeping win. I'm sure those of us who have survived that long will celebrate heartily.

No matter what we are in for a tough time because of those self centered power hungry coke snorting illegimate spawn of interspecies breeding.

I come from a military background, so I tend to think of things tactically ... how does one turn one's opponents strength against him? How does one exploit one's own defeat to achieve a greater victory?

Hang on tight! It's gonna be a hell of a ride.

trying to rewrite history.

With Democrats running the show right now, we might be able to stop some of the damage, but probably not all of it. Any future problems would be blamed on them.

So, the job now is not to to worry about 2008, or what could have been, but to take back Congress in 2006.

You have your sights right on the center of the target, bud.

Allow the Republicans to have their way after 2000 - with the war, with the tax cuts, and then we will win when the policies fall flat. Is that what they tried? If so, it seems to have failed.
My mom said something like, "Now Bush is going to have to fix his own messes." Trouble is, he denys that they are messes. It is like he is a pyromaniac who set a school on fire. The town re-elects him as fire chief anyway. Is he going to put out the fire, or is he going to set more fires?
The more fire there is the more the townspeople panic and do stupid things like re-elect the party of pyromaniacs. Good lord, isn't there enough smoke and fire damage now? If they were not held accountable, or even close to accountable in 2004, why should 2006 or 2008 be any different?
The only way he is going to care about the fires is if we find some way to hold his feet to them. How?

I am convinced that America must have a bottom experience before the majority of the people give up on the neocon song and dance.

The bottom is not fun, and unfortunately we have to take the wild ride down with our less informed countrymen. That sucks. That's life. We gotta keep the pressure on re: the voting fraud issue and get our ducks lined up for 2006 and 2008.

When it "gets bad enough" we will have no power, no rights and no voice. We are in trouble.

"the Supreme Court and federal judiciary"

and

"The rest of your adult life"

Which is why I talked my ass off for Kerry, donated, etc. But still, we are where we are. A dangerous place but not without opportunities. Short of a miraculous revelation about vote fraud overturning the election, we have to start there.

What will be left of the America we knew after 4 more years of * misrule?

> Bush will self destruct

He already has, many times over. He has the reverse Midas touch.
He has fucked up totally everything he has touched, and as pResident
he get to touch practically everything. The media keep covering for
him, and the fundiefascist machinez steal elections for him anyway.
They want him there because they want to wreck the world to bring
on the "Rapture". (Doesn't it say in the Bible somewhere that you
aren't supposed to "bring it on" on purpose? Or have they cast
Booosh in the role of the Antichrist without telling him?)

They haven't been great in my lifetime. Ike had such rotten health, they say Sherman Adams was running the contry a la Al Haig in 1974. The trickster had Watergate, Ronnie had Iran-Contra, Bill had Monica and W will be worse than any of them, having made so many enemies that Hosni Mubarak's quote about the spawning of a million bin Ladens will have come to fruition - this unless Kerry ultimately wins in Ohio. I agree it would seem a waste for Kerry would have to clean up the mess but hope it's not too late.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

compassion...? Friendship to other nations...? Strong wartime leadership...? Trustable government officials...?


I think so!


DownNotOut

It's wonderful to have a pragmatic strategy for winning over the majority of Americans. However, I firmly believe we did that this year and the election was stolen again. We must insist on investigating the allegations of vote fraud in any state in which the returns are at all suspicious. Otherwise, it doesn't matter what our message is or who our candidate is, it doesn't matter if we vote in massive numbers; as long as they have the machines and they count the votes, we will not win. It's possible if we let it go this time, we may never win another election for the rest of our lives. With war criminals running this country, losing an election is not an option for them. What is a little vote fraud to people with blood on their hands? But for those of us who love democracy, we must demand a fair and verifiable electoral process. For us, it's now or never.

the way i look at it, let em sit in their own sh*t.

i'm pretty sure if left to his own devices, he will ruin his family's "good" name to the point where no one will vote for a Bush again.



So let em have it. they wanted it.

Those in the republican party now remind me of children. When you tell them not to do something and they think they know better, they go ahead and do the opposite of what is best for them. Afterwards they finally realize what you said was in their best interest. Sometimes, you just have to let them learn the hard way, it is the only they learn. The only problem is that we all have to suffer while they learn.