Yeah, until the DNC starts putting together an effort like that, we are going to be saddled with the Rubber Stamp Congress. If anyone sees Howard Dean down there, kick him in the rearend and yell, "More effort, Marshmallow Boy! Mehlman is kicking your ass!"

No need to wait for the DNC to organize calling. Unpaid MoveOn.org volunteers (including myself) made over 10,000 calls on Busby's behalf last weekend. Join MoveOn.org's mailing list to assist with future calling efforts.

We in California stopped answering the phone or immediately hanging up for a week before this primary. Everyone who had caller ID never picked up.

Who wants to listen to all those stupid recordings please? Those get out the vote phone calls are enough to make one vote for the opposition.

Throughout California cost Busby, but it cost the whole state new libraries, too. It seems clear to me that the heavy Republican districts still managed, through effort, to turn out some votes, whereas the Democrats didn't really have a GOTV campaign up and running yet. All I got, sitting in the heart of Dem Country, Sonoma County, were robocalls from people I was already voting for.

I am moving out of state before the November elections, but I sure hope the DNC gets organized at the grass roots before then, or it won't be looking good in CA. The figures I heard said about 28% turned up at the polls, and a whole lot of people used absentee ballots or just plain stayed home. Burnout and apathy are our worst enemies.

The Democrats in California have a myopic view on how to run their campaigns (please see the pencil-neck geek just elected to go against Ah-nuld in November; they should just save the money now and use it for 2010 because there is no chance for victory with this guy). For some reason that utterly escapes me, the Dems out here are of the mindset that policy alone is enough to drive an election, that voters will read the candidate's stance on issues and be thusly motivated to act. It's absurd. Campaigns take strategy and mobilization that it just seems the Democrats do no possess. The Republicans win not because they have the better candidates in terms of ideals but because they know what needs to be done and will do whatever it is necessary to achieve the victory. (At least when it comes to elections; the War in Iraq? Not so much.) The Democrats instead keep foisting upon the voters candidates who fail miserably to inspire. Am I really supposed to be excited about Phil Angelides (or however you spell his name; I've no interest in learning). And Francine Busby? Really? Her? There was no one else who could have been convinced to go for it? Of course, this is the party that nominated Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, and John Kerry and is likely to present us with the bitter banquet of Hilary Clinton in 2008. Must ours always be the party of the least charismatic candidate (Bill Clinton obviously aside)? When will they learn that personality and organization are the two things that will beat intellectualism and ideals every time?

I'll never forget when I was on the bus headed back from Las Vegas to Los Angeles after John Kerry's crushing defeat in 2004 and we pulled over in Random Town for a lunch break. When I asked the woman in charge (whom I like to refer to as CG 'cause that girl was crunch granola) what time we should all meet back at the buses, her airy reply was "you know, whenever." I looked over at my seatmate and said, "This is why we lose each time. If we were on a GOP bus, they’d have told us to be back here by 12:30 or be left behind." Instead, we lingered in Random Town far longer than necessary and prolonged the agony of the entire experience so our day was completely ruined. Which, honestly, is kinda what it feels like to be a Democrat in California: in a prolonged agony headed for ruin.

Why would the DNC pay for staffers to makes hundreds of thousands of calls where even the most optimistic partisans said that the odds of a Demcoratic pickup were long at best? And if the DNC had paid for those staffers, how long would it be before the next NY Times/WaPo article quoting insiders telling us how the DNC was burning through too much money now and wouldn't have any left for the fall?

Another issue: This was a special election that only fills this seat until the fall when we line up and do it all over again. It doesn't seem that the best use of resources would be found in throwing them at a seat you only get to hold for half a year.

According to the www.moveon.org web site, "MoveOn members supported Busby, making 179,255 phone calls, contacting more than 33,500 CA-50 voters." Quite frankly, I'm finding MoveOn to be a far more viable and relevant institution than the DNC these days.

I have to agree with The previous letter by Trey, the dems have no direction and still don't know how to preempt the gubernator.

The only saving grace is that Phil Angelides was the only deomcrat to go after Arnie. The rest, besides voting for him, ala Lockyer, rolled over and played dead. The only reason that Arnie lost his ballot measures was due to grassroots campaigning by the unions and associations. I did not hear any loud noise from the dems in that costly election. They were afraid of being excluded from the cigar tent,I guess.

California is fast becoming a republican state and the win down in San Diego for the 50th congressional seat proves that the regime of incomptence, cronyism and corruption will continue.

Until the democrats are willing to come out and take a stand against illegal immigration they will lose California.Many of those same Union members who worked so hard to fight against Arnies proposals are now being repaid by the democrats by having those illegals take their jobs and reduce wages so that they have less negotiating power at the table when contracts are up. The dems had better look at their base and the unions had better look elswhere for candidates that will help them in Sacramento.