What are the ticket, the platform, and the convention theme calculated to win back the Senate?

[Attorney in Texas]

We don't need control of the House or the Senate to deregulate Wall Street and the rest of the financial and banking sector, to cripple domestic labor by one-sided foreign trade agreements, to boost fossil fuel extraction, to expand the role of private prisons in our justice system, or to create boondoggles for the pharmaceutical industry.

To accomplish Democratic goals, however, we will need to take back the Senate.

There will be a number of close races where we will have an excellent of winning if we can inspire our voters to show up at the polls:

Ayotte vs. Hassan in New Hampshire
Johnson vs. Feingold in Wisconsin
Bennet vs. Glenn in Colorado
Kirk vs. Duckworth in Illinois
Portman vs. Strickland in Ohio

Democrats lose close contests when voter turnout is down, but win close contests when voter turnout is up.

The decisions about the ticket, the party platform, and the convention should be calculated to increase voter turnout among our base in November. Otherwise, we lose.

Ask yourself -

what ticket would increase enthusiasm and voter turnout in November?
what could we do with our party platform to increase enthusiasm and voter turnout in November?
what could we do at the convention to increase enthusiasm and voter turnout in November?

[onehandle]

2. Hillary Clinton, The Democratic Platform as is, Democrats United To Defeat Trump.

Easy-peasy

[Attorney in Texas]

8. That's half your ticket, an out of date platform, and a convention theme that offers no outreach to

any voters who are not already on board with the goal of defeating Trump (and probably we don't need to reach out to any such voters).

[larkrake]

9. She does not inspire, the dem platform as is is toxic and will keep voters at home

United to defeat Trump, maybe

[Tarc]

3. Yet another calculated plea to the superdelegates, I see?

If you wanted Sanders to be the nominee, he had to win more pledged delegates.

He didn't, so he won't be.

How hard is this to accept?

[Attorney in Texas]

6. The "ticket" includes a presidential nominee and a VP nominee. This post is not suggesting any

candidate for either post.

All I'm saying is if Hillary is at the top of the ticket, we ought to fill out the ticket to encourage more enthusiasm. If Sanders were at the top of the ticket, she does not have an enthusiasm problem to needs to be addressed by the selection of a running mate who might make up for that weakness, but Hillary should be motivated by that concern.

[larkrake]

10. she should address that concern, yes, but she will not allow a VP who can

upstage her- its not in her DNA. The DNC may insist she take a strong VP, but for the life of me, I cannot see who that would be

[Attorney in Texas]

11. The list of VP candidates who would not upstage her is a list of candidates who will not inspire

enthusiasm.

Most candidates are wise enough to pick a running mate who makes up for a weakness. Hillary's weakness is the lack of enthusiasm from a perceived lack of commitment to positive change, perceived lack of candor, perceived lack of likability and trustworthiness. These are factors that should guide her VP analysis.

[larkrake]

22. can you think of anyone? Can Obama be VP?

his favorability is high

[Attorney in Texas]

32. Hillary would not be upstaged by the modern day Joe Liebermans: Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, Evan Bayh...

[larkrake]

33. OK, lets consider them

[Attorney in Texas]

37. Not me. I wouldn't vote for a ticket with any of them.

[Tarc]

13. Sanders will not be Hillary's VP candidate

[Attorney in Texas]

15. Seems unlikely. That does not erase the fact that she is in the midst of losing the general election

before it starts and she does not seem to be focused on fixing the fatal lack of enthusiasm and trust that will elect Trump is she fails to fix the problem asap.

[Orsino]

4. Still to be determined.

Another more-of-the-same nominee wouldn't seem to promise much change, but this year's convention will be leavened with a lot of new progressive faces and delegates.

Let's mix it up, folks, and try getting some new things done.

[YouDig]

5. A socialist who lost the primaries. Huge tax increases. Angry dudes wielding chairs.

On second thought, no, that would be a horrible idea.

[AgingAmerican]

23. You left out "Paid internet 'supporters'"

[YouDig]

24. Are you paid?

[AgingAmerican]

26. No Im not a Hillary supporter

[YouDig]

27. Do you really think I'm getting paid? Like, truthfully you think that?

[RandySF]

7. Does anyone remember anything about past platforms?

[Attorney in Texas]

14. Of course, don't you remember the progressive disappointment over the 2012 platform's failure to

repudiate the death penalty and its support for lowering corporate tax rates and its craw-fishing on the 2008 platform's statement against human rights abuses at Guantanamo and its addition of we-love-fossil-fuel-pipelines language new to the 2012 platform?

The 2012 platform was pretty craptastic.

We must do better.

[RandySF]

19. I remember winning the election

[TimPlo]

29. It not about making country better.

It is about Winning. We must beat the Letter (R) because that letter is evil and corrupted. It is a R and must be taken down by the D. That is all that matters.

[Attorney in Texas]

31. Not everyone votes based on team spirit. For example, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval is a Republican

who is preferable to West Virginia Governor Earl Tomblin who is a Democrat.

Democrats are only preferable to the extent that they promote Democratic principles, and Republicans are only questionable to the extent that they promote a reactionary agenda. Beyond that, it's just labels.

This "D = good; R = evil" nonsense is a formula for children who cannot think for themselves. There is a lot of that in this forum.

[AgingAmerican]

25. Of course every serious voter does

[QC]

12. "Who else are you gonna vote for, ya dirty hippies?"

I predict that it will work about as well as it always does.

[Attorney in Texas]

16. I have nightmares of her thinking "Joe Lieberman is retired so who can we find to bring Joementum

to the ticket - someone as well loved by the party as Joe Lieberman and with same level of credibility with the grassroots - who is the 2016 version of Joe Lieberman to run with me without upstaging me? Hmmm"

[QC]

17. Zell Miller is only 84 and has immaculate New Dem credentials.

He can bring in the youth vote!

[Attorney in Texas]

18. Don't give her any ideas.

[QC]

20. Maybe I should become a "consultant." n/t

[TheKentuckian]

21. There is no such intent, I think the plan is just to negotiate ideological surrender as always

while whining about obstruction and liberals abandoning them as the excuse for selling out.

The Turd Way is ideologically bankrupt and has been for years, about as soon as they were able to complete their hostile take over as evidenced by then scavenging the Heritage Foundation's rejected notions for policy that they can sell to us as beneficial in some part that also serve their true masters.

[larkrake]

34. wow, thats a mouthful Kentuk, and disturbingly correct

just follow the red dot, kitty kitty, ignore the man stealing your life

[Exilednight]

28. We can't win either chamber, regardless of who is at the top of the ticket. It's going to be a hosti

Congress no matter who wins.

[larkrake]

35. absolutely , so concentrate on state races, its the only power we will get this rotation

[highprincipleswork]

30. A simple Progressive platform and ticket will win all these things. A complicated, triangulating,

not to be trusted platform and ticket will not.

Whether he wins or loses, Bernie's success, and the success of the Progressive politics Hillary has copied him in during the whole primary season, prove the appetite right now for Progressive/Populist politics.

[larkrake]

36. Thanx for posting