democratic party

Keeping The Faith

January 23, 2010 By mario piperni

Discouraged and down on the liberal/democrat state of affairs these days? Thinking of giving up? If so, read this Sullivan piece first.

The whole point of the Obama candidacy – why he matters – is that he is a liberal of doubt. But he also showed in the campaign that this was a strength. And when he needed to, he revealed a ruthlessness and radicalism and won.

And that is why this moment is so vital.

He must not just rally the House Dems, he must rally the country. He must bring us back in. And we must back him up.

This is not just about a centrist comprehensive health reform bill. It is about defeating an entire brand of cowardly, cynical, spin cycle bullshit that has brought this country down and promoting an adult and reasonable discourse that grapples with our problems.

That’s what we elected him for. If he caves now, if he does not mount a huge effort to retain this bill, he will have surrendered on that critical ground. He will have lost his nerve. And if we cave now, all that work we did, all that energy, all that hope, will be squandered as the old politics gets its hands on our collective throats again.

I refuse to believe he has given up; and I refuse to believe we will. This moment is too important as a fulcrum on which this country’s future hangs for him or us to give up now. The polls show a divided country. At this point in the adminstrations of my idols, Reagan and Thatcher, the polls were overwhelmingly against them. They faced them down and won.

Mr President, fight. Show you’re a fighter. And start to enjoy it.

Sullivan is perfectly right. As dark as it might all seem, it would be a mistake to give up the fight at this time. Liberals are on the right side of the issues and the country is closer to reform than it’s been inf fifty years. If there was ever a time to not walk away, it’s now.

Call, shout, yell, write…whatever it takes. Let your voice be heard.

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Filed Under: Barack Obama, democratic party Tagged With: Barack Obama, democratic party, photoshop, political issues, politics

Wake Up Time For Democrats

January 22, 2010 By mario piperni

Do Dems not realize that this is the image they’re portraying every time they crumble and show weakness by not moving boldly ahead with the policies they were elected to enact?

Wake up time guys!

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Filed Under: democratic party Tagged With: democratic party, political issues, politics

How To Not Be A Democrat

January 22, 2010 By mario piperni

If there was one issue which Democrats could rally around during the Bush years it was their criticism of tax cuts for the wealthy. Now even that is lost.

Two House Democrats in tough reelection races are asking Congress and President Barack Obama to extend the Bush administration tax cuts.

Reps. Bobby Bright (D-Ala.) and Mike McMahon (D-N.Y.) asked members in a “Dear Colleague” letter Thursday to support extending the tax cuts, which passed in 2001 and 2003 and are set to expire this year, for at least another two years. Specifically, Bright and McMahon are asking lawmakers to sign a letter to Obama asking him to include the tax cuts in his budget plans for 2010.

[...]

That would put them in opposition to Obama’s stated plan of letting some of the tax cuts meant for the wealthy to expire while keeping breaks in place for the poor and middle class, consistent with his campaign pledge of not raising taxes for anyone making less than $250,000 a year.

It’s getting harder by the day to define exactly what Democrats stand for anymore. They’ve already screwed up health care reform beyond recognition and now with this latest demand, some of these guys are barely distinguishable from Republicans.

What is wrong with these people?

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Filed Under: democratic party, Dicks Tagged With: democratic party, morons, photoshop, political issues, politics, tax cuts

Dems Need TO Just Do It

January 20, 2010 By mario piperni

Politics is an easier game for Republicans than it is for Democrats for a number of reasons. First and foremost, Reps are not burdened by having to rely on facts or truth. They are free to say what they please based only on the degree of fear they are able to instill on a wary public. As I’ve mentioned on these pages before, fear is a potent political tool.

Secondly, Repubs feel they have no need to propose alternate solutions for the problems which face the country. Simply stating every imaginable reason as to why implementation of a liberal policy is equivalent to imposing socialism on the country appears to be enough for them. Real solutions for real problems are for suckers. It’s easier to just shout out ‘No!”.

Next, Repubs have a unified and disciplined conservative media at their disposal. Having an entire cable ‘news’ network at their disposal to spread lies and muddy up the waters, be it health care, global warming or the economy, is a wonderful thing.

Also, Dems are a timid bunch when it comes to playing politics. Unlike Republicans, they hem and haw and negotiate and compromise and adopt the role of people pleaser. They lack the fortitude to just move ahead with an agenda they know is right.

Bottom line: Democrats need do just do it. They were voted in by a majority of people to implement change. They have a 59-41 majority in the Senate. They have a commanding House majority. Barack Obama is in the White House. And most important…they’re on the right side of the issues.

If Democrats cannot push their agenda through at this time in their history, then they never will. Republicans are intent on making the country ungovernable and if there is no change in attitude by Dems on how to play this game, then the next three years will indeed be ungovernable.

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Filed Under: democratic party Tagged With: democratic party, photoshop, political issues, politics, Random Musings

Brown Wins or And Then There Were 59

January 19, 2010 By mario piperni

A Republican senator from Massachusetts – not unheard of but the first in 30 years. What does it all mean? There will be a lot of finger pointing over the next few weeks and enough analysis to drive the sanest of us insane. Conservatives and Republicans will see it as the beginning of the end of the Obama presidency while Dems and liberals, when not blaming cons, will hopefully see it as a wake up call.

For the moment, I’m liking John Cole’s open letter to Massachusetts Democrats.

Remember when you jumped through hoops a couple months back when Kennedy died, and changed the law (again!) to make sure there was a Democrat in office- that was the kind of arrogance and sense of entitlement that led to tonight’s defeat. Some of us tried to point that out then.

I know a lot of you are really upset about the loss, but if people want to be honest about what happened tonight, this is not the fault of progressive activists. This is not the fault of the adminstration and Barack Obama, because if Coakley had Obama’s numbers in Mass., she would be the next Senator.

This is about an arrogant state party, a horrible and lazy candidate who was unprepared and unmotivated, out of touch with the voters, incapable or unwilling to put in the work and shake the hands and massage the egos and put in the hours, and they got their asses handed to them. I’m sure the exit polling will give us more information, but right now it looks to me that this was about the fundamentals of running a good campaign. Coakley and company didn’t adhere to them.

There’s a lot more to this Dem loss than the performance of a state party but in terms of pinning blame, it’s a fair place to begin.

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