Reply #230: Thanks for the False Choice... [View All]

[CorpGovActivist]

1. An honest critic is a friend. Just ask Benjamin Franklin.

2. The Dems held all the cards when Don't Ask, Don't Tell was implemented.

3. Bill didn't even do a symbolic veto of this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Marriage_Act

"Again, the take a number remark was both mis-stated on my part and mis-interpreted by others."

Just say, "Dick Morris made me say it," and be done with it.

"My point is parallel to yours that the gay rights (marriage is one of many) need to be addressed, but not as a central theme in the closing days of this election."

Tell that to the psuedo-Dems who started with the "gays just cost us the NJ Senate seat" threads yesterday. In addition to "taking a number," I suppose those of us who were on the receiving end of that scapegoating should also "hush up" about it, and let that charge go unanswered? From where I sit, you should be taking those scapegoaters to task - not those of us who said, "Nope. Menendez is his own worst enemy, don't blame us."

"Making a furor about it diverts attention away from the bigger picture of ousting a rubber stamp Repugnican House and/or Senate that has put us all in the back seat and won't even give us a number."

Actually, it highlights a central reason why this isn't shaping up to be a Democratic rout of the Mastadons. There is ZERO excuse for any Democrat scapegoating gay and lesbian couples for what's going on in New Jersey. And if the DNC had a lick of sense, they'd have Kean on the defensive on this, instead of the other way around.

"The problem with the Democrats in recent elections isn't the lack of issues...it's too many."

I'd take it one step beyond that: it's almost as if the DNC has grown shell shocked, and is afraid to articulate a comprehensive message.

1. Cut and Run. For crying out loud, there should be a national ad campaign, showing every single Democratic candidate who has served honorably, with Tammy Duckworth and other war-wounded candidates front and center, narrated by Max Cleland. Instead of "Cut and Run" Democrats, the tagline *could* be "Bled and Crawled" Democrats. "No, Mr. President, and no, Karl: unlike some of you who dodged, we bled and crawled for our country."

2. Gay rights: This is so damn easy. Reframe this as true family values. "The GOP is asking you to put your loyalty to the party ahead of your own loved ones."

3. Timetable for withdrawal: Again, easy. "Real family values don't divide military families for wars of choice. The divorce rate in all four branches has soared by x%, due to long - and unnecessary - deployments. We want to reunite these families, bring our troops home with honor, and see the mission through to a stable and just resolution. As General Powell said, if we break it, we buy it. Bush broke it. We bought it. But that doesn't mean we have to spend decades paying for it."

"If we are in legislative mode, I would hardily agree that we can operate on several tracks to address civil and legal wrongs."

Why would a swing voter buy that pig in a poke? Why not tell the swing voters what they'd be getting with a Democratic majority? Lay out the proposed legislative priorities.

If a consumer kicks the tires on a car, and wants to see the full package of options, why wouldn't a voter? Maybe some people buy a used car, sight unseen, but most people want to kick the tires.

"However, in election mode...which is where we are dividing into fractions at a crucial stage defeats even the chance to get those issues on the right tracks and moving in the right directions."

To your way of thinking, would this preclude a last-minute, nationwide push by the DNC to set forth a "close the deal" message, laying out the top X priorities?

"When it comes to having to take a number, no group has suffered more under this regime than the handicapped and the elderly."

I'll agree with you that they've borne the brunt of many cuts.

But they haven't been made the rhetorical punching bag of one party, and the prospective "why we didn't retake the Senate this time" scapegoats of the other.

Did you post a single rebuke to a single thread that suggested that the NJ race had just been lost due to the equality-seeking gay and lesbian couples? If not, why not?

- Dave