that even when people want a "change" in Congress, they aren't particularly crazy about changing "their guy."

I've been disappointed so many times over the last 8 years, that I refuse to get my hopes up very high about a possible Democratic takeover of Congress this November. I'm still staying positive, and will work to help the Democrats, it's just a VERY guarded optimism!

... I have absolutely no doubt that the Democrats will find a way to screw this up and snatch defeat -- nay, disaster -- from the jaws of victory.

Enough with Coulter already. Her's is not a legitimate voice. Even to be criticized gives her currency she does not deserve.

Nice to see someone correctly using the phrase "row to hoe" rather than the often heard "road to hoe". Now if we can start working on all those "EK-cetera" bumblers.

...I suspect that on the day after the election, we will be shaking our heads and wondering how certain republican candidates seem to have won even though they were behind in the polls. I've seen this too many times to not expect it again.

Yes, and a lot of polls showed John Kerry winning in 2004, too.

I'm hopeful, but also cautious. Those Repubbicans are a wily lot.

First, I share other posters' worries that after election day we will all be figuring out how Rove got out some phantom base to defy the polling (e.g. computer hackers).

But what is most depressing is that I can't even get excited about a successful Democratic victory. Sure they are better than the GOP, but if the GOP has us headed toward a cliff at 70 mph, all I expect out of the Dems is to slow down to 55 mph.

If we had a Senate led by Reid, a House led by Pelosi, and another Clinton White House, we would still not: pull out of Iraq; raise the minimum wage to a living wage; raise taxes on the rich, banks, oil companies and the like; outlaw offshore tax-dodging; regulate drug and gas prices; enact single-payer health care; increase federal funding for light rail; decrease subsidies for airlines and road construction; sign Kyoto; decrease defense spending; fully and equitably fund our education system; enact public financing of all federal elections; decrease prison populations; provide real anti-trust action; etc. etc. etc.

Then, after 2, 4, or 6 years of continued status quo, the public (or the 30% that still votes) will casually opt for the GOP again - and the car is back up to 70 mph...assuming we haven't already hit the cliff.

The AP article "House Slates Vote on Raising Minimum Wage", shows just how scared the R's are about the upcoming elections, at least in the house. The cheap labor conservatives loath the minimum wage as much as they hate Unions and Social Security. To even consider a vote is amazing.

Clearly they wish to disarm any political weapons the D's may have (they passed renewal of the Voting Rights Act fast enough, and at least tried to pass Stem Cell research), while their own weapons (G-d, Gun's and Gays) do not seem as lethal as they where in '04. Couple this with the Iraq FUBAR and the general feeling of economic malaise, and their lies the Republicans problem.

The good news for the R's is they still own the whore media. The news stenographers will faithfully reproduce RNC talking points, while savaging Democrats (no matter what the D's do or say) as in disarray, not have a plan, not stand for anything, blah, blab, blah, bullsh-t.. And the other good news is Diebold and the voting machines from hell.

Like many other people who have posted here, I believe Democrats will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in November. I don't believe they'll gain seats, and I won't be surprised if they lose seats. The sad thing is I believe this is what Democrats want. Saying, "Help us become a majority again" is guaranteed to help raise funds. For the past six years we've heard that Democrats are becoming increasingly competitive against Republicans when it comes to fundraising. As long as holding out the promise of changing things but never actually having to deliver brings in the big bucks Democrats won't want to win.

Face it, if the Dems win the house in November, then what we'll have is, in the immortal words of General Stockdale (Ross Perot's running mate, for those of you whippersnappers who don't remember) "GRIDLOCK!"

If the Repubinazis get another shot at the whole enchilada for 2 years, things will be so fucked up that we'll get the House, the Senate, and the Casa Blanco. Assuming those black boxes we vote with have a paper trail by then...

July 28, 2006

Dear Mr. Reid, Ms. Pelosi, Dr. Dean, Mr. Emanuel (cc: Mr. Lakoff)

It is 9:02 a.m. and I'm doing a slow burn. Last night and again this morning I googled six for 06 and you wanna know how many results i got on the first page? That would be zero.

Why? Because no one cares. Or more precisely because you said something people care a great deal about in a way no one cares about. I hope you didn't pay good money for that.

If you want to gain control of Congress, here's the idea to beat:

You Broke It; You Bought It

You broke Iraq. You failed in due diligence. You rushed to judgement. You caved in -- I can't believe I'm saying this about the Congress of the United States -- you caved in to peer pressure and bullying. You allowed yourselves to be taken in by people who are either fools or liars or both. And look what happened! The future will judge you harshly. Now get out the way and let's get busy fixing this awful mess.

While we're at it, let's hear some mea culpa from Democrats who were and are complicit in this outrage. If you want us to trust you, admit your error. Francis Fukuyama is lighting the way on this; walk in that light.

You broke the economy. You can't hide behind market corrections at the beginning of the new decade and you can't hide in the rubble of 9/11. You hate working Americans. Prove that you don't. You have kissed the golden hams of speculators. Prove that you haven't!

Someone has to stanch the hemorrhaging of America's middle class and working poor. Get out the way; we're coming in to clean up your economic mess -- again.

You broke the treasury. Your tax cut emptied the US Treasury into the the accounts of the wealthiest citizens. The sacking of America continues and you do not care. There is no money for the remarkable succession of rainy days we have experienced and are forecast to experience into the middle distance. Your mothers would be ashamed of you. We certainly are. Step aside; we're coming to restore order to the House (and the Senate).

You broke health care. On your watch, the delivery of American health care has gone from mediocre to become a national embarrassment. It will take us a decade to unravel this because you tangled it so completely and because those who profit from the confusion will fight us every day until they figure out they're either going to have to join us or go find other work.

You broke the separation of powers. You have given this administration too much, too often. They are running roughshod over the Constitution of the United States and it is your fault. As a consequence you also broke American foreign policy. The Bush Doctrine is an abrogation of 2 + 1/2 centuries of mainly good faith dealings with our global neighbors (I don't mean to overstate this; we have often been on the dirty side -- some of our current problems owing to that fact -- but we did those things in secret; we knew they were shameful). Now you have ratified the Bush Administrations claims to act with impunity. No one has to tell a reasonable person what the postmortem on that is going to look like).

You broke the balance of our government. We are coming to restore the equilibrium.

You broke national security. You signed off on cronyism and deadly incompetence. You allowed the Administration to dismantle highly professional federal agencies, driving legions of our most qualified civil servants out of government and replacing them with rank amateurs. FEMA is the poster-child for America's crippled capacity to respond to crisis. Is there any evidence we are better off today than before the Department of Homeland Security swallowed up 22 reasonably high-functioning professional agencies?

You allowed the Administration to dismiss the wisdom of Pentagon and State Department professionals. You buried their expert testimony in committee. With rare exception, you failed to air true assessments of US military capability in public for the benefit of lawmakers and the public you serve.

Prior to 9/11 you routinely dismissed the findings of commissions you appointed to study national security. Post 9/11, you routinely dismiss the findings of commissions you appointed to study national security. You haven't done your job. You're finished.

You broke Congress. You used the rules to rewrite the rules and crush open and honest governance. If you were a business operating this way in the state of New York you would find yourselves settling with Attorney General Spitzer for billions rather than have the extent of your misdeeds exposed in a court of law. But you are not a business; you are elected representatives of the people of the United States of America. But not for long. Make way: Mr. Smith is coming back to Washington.

Mr. Reid, Ms. Pelosi, Dr. Dean, Mr. Emanuel; Your colleagues on the other side of the aisle broke faith with the American people. They broke it; they bought it. It is up to you call them to account for that in public and in private every day between now and November 7.