When (not if) we control the White House and Congress in 09 ...............

..... the Repubicans will fight us on every issue at every turn. It is what they do and what they do best.

Do you think they'll have any success?

I do.

of the coporate media. It is only the combination of the truth AND the internet that has gotten us this far.

from the Heritage Foundation Press Room and the lazy -ass "reporters" still won't take the time to pick up the phone and call a Democrat for an opposing argument...

If you see him as some miracle-working Bob the Builder dude who actually means what he says and has, against all evidence and appearance, the ability to run the White House with experience, craft, and skill, then the successes of the Republicans will be minimized, though they will still make some gains, just as we have even under Republican rule.

If you see him as a naive, unskilled, lying snake in the grass who will do anything to get elected despite his own lack of ability, and who means little to none of what he says, as I do, then the Republicans will find it easy to push him around, and worse, he will also wind up at odds with his own party, so his presidency will resemble Clinton's first year, or Carter's last three, and we can pencil in an R next to the name of the winner on 2012.

If you see him as somewhere in between--say, a well-meaning candidate with definite goals despite his penchant from promising everything to everyone, and a hitherto undiscovered leadership ability despite a complete lack of any experience that even seems slightly relevant to the job, then maybe he'll do minimal damage, the Republicans will only make modest gains, and maybe we can survive. He could turn out like his hero Reagan--a failure who is so worshiped by the media that they create the appearance of success despite obvious failure.

Looks like we shall see. First we have to see him get elected, though. That's a long way from a given.

If the insurgents in the Democratic Party insist on putting a vulnerable and untried candidate forward, then it is the insurgents who should have to fight to protect him when the attacks come.

I know an awful lot of people who have spent more than the last decade fighting to protect Democrats from the RNC and the right-wing and the media. They (we) fought off the attacks on the Clintons, they fought to keep Bush out of the WH, they fought for Gore, and they fought for Kerry, and they have fought for impeachment. They (we) are exhausted by this relentless, bitter work.

The prospect of having to rescue Obama from the certain attacks is just too much in this year when we should have been able to easily take the WH and Congress. This should have been a year of glee and reward. Instead, we will either lose in 2008 or have in the WH an extremely vulnerable and unseasoned POTUS.

So I think the defense of Obama must rightfully fall to the hopeful. I hope they are up to the task.

I recall the millions of phone calls, e-mails, faxes, personal visits that were made to save Gore, to save Kerry, to save Bill Clinton, to stop W. It was heartbreaking work by citizen activists. And we usually lost the battle.

Are Obamans up to this? The torch is passed. We will see.

That's how I feel. Like Obama is someone else's candidate. I've never felt this about a Democrat before. And I can't muster the strength to defend him or fight for him when I really don't like him or believe in him. And don't want him. I'll cast my vote for him, but I'm not only exhausted, as you say, but betrayed. I guess I expect Democrats to understand who has worked for them (especially the Clintons) and at least respect that, and to see beyond the petty smears that always get hurled around. But there is a faction now that doesn't get it, and their candidate doesn't get it, and they are fighting what I see as progress as certainly as the Republicans. So, I'll watch. I'll vote. I'll even hope Obama wins, probably. But I'm not likely to spend the time I spent defending Gore and both Clintons and Kerry and Jesse Jackson and others from the same types of slanders Obama is going to face. For one thing, I don't believe in him. For another, I have this feeling that I'd be helping those who have betrayed us in their betrayal. And I just expect him to do as I expect him to do.

Like you say, it's up to them.

Which demonstrates that experience is not the right criterion. You have to have a capacity to learn, and a strong moral compass. That is what Hillary, Rummy, and Darth lack.

the aisle and gets his hand bitten off he learns that you cannot "work with" those cretins and, if the majority is large enough, treats them with the disdain and insignificance they deserve.

I do not, however, believe that he has the courage and toughness to do so. Thus, we will be stuck with a do-nothing administration because he does not want to offend the enemy.

I would like to think he is strong, but when he even hints that we should work with the criminals, he is telling me he is either naive or weak.

:P

If we had 67%, maybe. If our wimpy reps will be able to stand up to name-calling.

60 is a majority in the Senate and we need more in the House too. (to many Blue Dogs!)

majority it won't matter what they say.

They'll realize that they have no future in this country and adapt. The conservative base is shrinking. The liberal base is growing. If we get super-majorities, the Republicans on the national level will take on the same significance as the Republicans here in California...they can make some noise and delay things now and then, but they have little real power. The only Republicans with any real clout are the relatively liberal ones.

Over the long term, the Republican party is going to have to shift left if it is to survive. If they're smart and do that in '09, they may not fight us much. I expect they'll be stubborn though, and will have to be trounced for a few election cycles in a row before they'll grow up and get the message.

If McCain loses the election this year, a lot of the RWers will say it is because McCain was too moderate and too willing to compromise with the Democrats, and that they need to nominate a true RW conservative next time around - and they'll nominate somebody in 2012 that makes Ann Coulter look like a moderate...

If we take that route. I seriously doubt we will do much better. I would prefer the democrats take the humble public servant route.

they'll filibuster everything that comes along that would help the poor, working class and/or middle class.