Will You Ever Lose Interest In Politics?

[THUNDER HANDS]

Or, if losing interest isn't the correct term, just become fed up with all this?

I've noticed that since the election I've kinda tuned everything out. I waited 4 years for Bush to get the boot and now that its not going to happen I kinda feel like 'well, what's the point of paying attention anymore, it didn't do any good last time.'

Thank god for sports, because I've been able to channel my interests elsewhere. I don't know what I'd do if sports didn't exist and the only thing I could focus on was the next four miserable years of Bush.

It would be one thing if there was a viable opposition to him and the GOP, but the Democratic Party is a joke. Really, its a fucking lame knock knock joke at this point.

And it has nothing to do with centrism or moderation or corporatism or anything - it just seems to be a complete lack of will to fight.

If the Democratic Party was a basketball player, it'd be Benoit Benjamin (NBA fans will know what I mean by this, everyone else, well, just continue to be confused).

I can't say I'm washing my hands of all this. But I'm getting to the point at which I might just throw my hands in the air and say 'screw it' for the next two years until the primary season begins again.

But what happens if we lose in 2008?

Already I'm not expecting anything out of the 2006 midterms, with redistricting there's no point in even expecting the Dems to re-take the house for another decade - imagine that, 10 more freakin' years with an extremist right-wing House of Representatives.

But like I said, what happens if we lose in 2008?

I don't know if I'll even be able to pay attention if we don't take back at least one branch of the federal government. I can't live my life as a political junkie in permanent minority status.

Its bad enough I root for the Jets.

[stevebreeze]

1. It is lack of attention being paid to politics for too long that is

the problem. Politics never stops affecting us. When not enough of us working people do not pay attention we pay with our paychecks.

[THUNDER HANDS]

3. i don't think lack of attention is the problem

as much as it is a lack of being able to affect anything.

Remember right before the Iraq War resolution, when thousands upon thousands of letters were written to Dem senators and hundreds of thousands of people all across America took part in protests.

Fat lotta good that did, most Democrats just said F-You and voted yes. Including the guy I supported for president.

If people think that their voice makes a difference, they'll pay attenion. If they think all politicians are crooks, they won't.

And for the most part, most politicians ARE crooks.

[Danmel]

2. I've been interested in Politics since I was 8 years old

I remember arguing with my mother when I stayed up to watch Nixon- Humphrey returns in 1968. I was upset then that Nixon won. In 1972, at the age of 12, I volunteered for the McGovern campaign. I'm hopeless. I finally got to vote in a Presidential election in 1980, when of course, my candidate got creamed. It wasn't till 1992 that I finally voted for the winner. No, I don't think I'll ever lost interest. My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes, but I maintain interest.

[latteromden]

4. I got started when I was 6 - that makes nearly 9 years, now. I tried

taking a break earlier this year... unsuccessful. Hah. It's never gonna happen. I might TRY to distance myself a little once in a while, but, as Hubert Humphrey said, the only cure for politics is embalming fluid. It just won't last. ;)

[4_TN_TITANS]

5. My interest just started....

This was my first campaign to ever be active in. After the selection of 2000, I just couldn't sit on the sidelines anymore. The loss was devastating, but I think I'm in it for good. If nothing else, my fervor this time around has turned my little girls into solid active democrats.

[Eloriel]

6. I hate politics, with a passion. And no, I'll never give up paying attn

But it's not because I love it or even like it, it's purely a matter of self-preservation. In fact, it was that very instinct that got me involved after years of non-involvement: "Hey, these guys could hurt us!" And indeed they can.

However, I am increasingly in a bad place. I can barely stand to watch ANY TV lately and am also having increasing trouble stomaching DU, with all the wishful thinkers and fantasy clowns awishin' and ahopin' that their man John will magically save them come Jan. 20 or so. Ain't gonna happen, and it's increasingly painful -- and disgusting -- to watch.

[Nay]

10. I'm with you, Eloriel. I have always been appalled at how things get

run, and I'm no fan of human nature as demonstrated by run-of-the-mill humans, but I DO pay attention because it's my neck on the block.

And yes, I can see myself getting so sick of the BS that I stop following it closely and just vote Dem when the opportunity arises. I never have watched much TV at all anyway, so at least I didn't have those godawful 'news' shows to contend with. I would be throwing things through the screen if I subjected myself to that.

My sneaking suspicion is that Kerry had, and has, no intention of doing any fighting for us or himself. Not any meaningful fighting, anyway. He's too tied in with the big boys. And this leads to the question: how are our nominees REALLY selected? People loved Dean, lots of people loved Clark (my guy) and Kucinich had the right ideas. But they were swept away by. . .money? Who knows.

[porkrind]

7. I'm more cynical and pessimistic now

Since the 2004 election fraud/fiasco. I need a break for awhile. I don't think much will change for the better, in fact, I think it will get worse. This sucks.

[ieoeja]

8. Other

I do take a break now and then. Like right now. If there was massive vote fraud it be a long time before investigations yield consistently accurate results. So there really isn't much going on right now.

And I could really use a vacation from politics after a presidential election. Time enough to get pissed off all over again by 2006. Particularly since the f-ing Pubes went on an orgy of Clinton bashing following their 2000 "victory" that made it impossible to ignore.

I will never forget even the so-called liberal media pundits in DC chortling that they "always knew the Clintons were white trash". And the demonstrators jeering "the hillbillies are gone". They really let their whole blue-blood bigotry shine through. I will never understand why Democrats won't replay those scenes ad nauseum in the upper south during the general election. "This is how Dubya and his friends talk about you when you ain't watching."

[American Tragedy]

9. No, never.

Even when it's at its very worst, American politics is surely one of the greatest spectator sports in the country. I'll be there no matter what happens.

[IStriker]

11. No, never.

My family talked politics at the dinner table every night, Democrat politics that is. By the time I was in kindergarten I was participating in the conversation and learning. I have a photo of me as a toddler sitting on Harry Truman's knee when he was campaigning for President. My father took me to see him when he came to my hometown soliciting money and votes.

[orpupilofnature57]

12. I just wont subscribe to the same medium anymore, mass media

D.U has been a great source,more pure information and fact's than a month of (the today show)just to mention the worst.

[DemGirl7]

13. I will never lose interest in politics...

heck I want it to be part of my career even...thats why Political Science is my major in college. It's an addicted drug to me.

[LWolf]

14. Other:

I only gained interest in politics for a brief, shining moment of hope. I registered with a party for the first time in my 44 years to take part in the primaries and be part of the political process. I've always voted; never supported any party, and always voted holding my nose, because I just can't tolerate the spin, the rhetoric, the strategies, all of the things that make it dirty. I like to be clean, clear, honest, straightforward, and blunt. I spent my time. I found a politician I felt comfortable supporting and campaigning for, as well as voting for. He wasn't nominated; I sent money to Kerry, shut up, and voted for him, because as far as I was concerned, the whole thing went downhill beginning with the convention. I was passionate about wanting bush gone, but my tolerance for listening to the "Kerry will save us all" people, when I didn't see any light at the end of the tunnel for the issues that drive my life, was at low ebb. So I quit posting about politics at all, hoping that when the election was over, we could actually discuss issues instead of campaigns.

I'm still here on the fringes, because there are a few places to discuss issues here at DU, and I'll still work for progressive causes.

But interested in American politics? Call me when we have campaign reform that funds all candidates equally; when we have IRV and proportional representation. When our candidates are given fair and equal media treatment. When there is a party willing to take on the corporations, and remove them from the halls of power in our nation.

Call me when political parties and politicians become clean, clear, honest, straightforward, and blunt.

[orpupilofnature57]

15. Lennon and Zappa are dead dude, I'm taking it to the ? % who aren't

Hooping it up no more, one by one they realize,they've been duped.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

16. Naaah. It's always good for the comedy.

Watching politicians turn themselves into pretzels trying to please everybody. Just when you think that lying has reached it's ultimate depths, the politicians show their command of the art.

Hell, just watching the DLC(R) try to convince people that their "progressive Democrats" is good for a laugh. Or, Kerry trying to tell people he didn't know that Bush was going to war. Or, killing that goose to show he was a real "guy".

[yellowdogintexas]

17. Born with it! Seriously, been interested in politics IKE vx ADLAI

in 1956.
My mom was raised to be politically aware, and she raised me the same way. Interestingly, my sisters (younger) did not take it in the way I did. This could be due to the fact that Mom and her dad would sit around talking about this stuff, and since I thought my Grandaddy hung the moon, I was going to be hanging around listening even if I didn't know what they were really talking about.

And I was 5 years older than my next sister, so I had a lot more history with this up to the point he died when I was 18..I was cast in stone by then!!!

Yellow Dog all the way.

NGU
Never Say Die

[hippiechick]

18. As we continue to self-immolate ...

..my passion for activism rapidly wanes.

Having to deal with people who used to be on 'our team' but who are now turning into 'Dawn of the Dead zombies' attacking anyone who doesn't agree with them, is a HUGE turnoff.

Time to head to the HippieCave for some winter hibernation.


:hippie:

[vixengrl]

19. I think I'm tempermentally unsuited to the prospect of ignoring politics.

My mom was scheduled to deliver me 11/1972. I was born in September, and joke that I "came out early for McGovern". I can recall being a partisan Democrat since...forever. And although I consider myself spoiled that I cast my first Presidential vote for Clinton (1992), I don't think that even a run of losses would dampen my enthusiasm for the liberal point of view. I hated the '94 revolution crap. But then I hated the Reagan/Bush years. I hate this administration--but I can't see being so fed up that I don't hope. Without hope, no fight. Without a fight, no win.

[Left coast liberal]

22. Yah, it sucks especially after * stole this election too but I will never

loose interest. It's too much a part of me now.

But, one thing that did happen on that horrible night when the world went topsy-turvy is I realized I couldn't just focus primarily on the National sceen. I had a lot more control and influence locally and I should start paying attention to that more.

So, that is different. And, it makes me less crabby about what I feel I can't change.

Look! It worked here in WA. We have a Dem Gov now!

Cheers! :hi:

[foo_bar]

20. post-traumatic stress, not disinterest per se

[Forkboy]

21. Sometimes I wish I could lose interest

The people I know who dont follow politics seem a lot happier than me.Ignorance really is bliss.

I'm drawn to it because I dont know any other way to change things and deal with the injustices I see all around us.

[Endangered Specie]

23. Never.

No surrender!

[Lexingtonian]

24. yeah, I'll lose interest- when Democrats have majorities

I'm more tired of the defeatists and hysterics and pessimists and latent conservatives and the power-needy than I am of setbacks or shortfalls.

It's politics, and its job is to remind us how dreary and mediocre and unbearably slow to change for the better our society is. It's not entertainment, it's about how people don't like each other and don't know much and the immaturity they cling to. It's a proxy for violence.

I'm more optimistic about the R's falling apart. It's the dreary Democratic infighting that worries me more- all the ignoring of the indicators of what the country actually wants from the Party, which is pretty clear stuff, yet people insistently and compulsively thinking that it's about their individual desires and idols and their way of misunderstanding the situation. Still, it fills the time while our basic posture is waiting out the completion of the breakdown of the Bush war(s) in the Middle East.

It's a dead time, creatively and imaginatively. There is nothing to watch on TV except vanity or nostalgia shows or irrealism. It's all the same worldwide- after the Cold War the Right took control of domestic politics all over (sometimes in the guise of center left Parties, e.g. New Labour), after a dozen years its attempts to turn back the clock are crapping out all over.

I dunno whether I care about the 'leaders' so much- they're politicians, they surf the waves of opinion of the masses, it's their skill and their job. I'm most interested in things working out two or three tiers down- ex-felon voting disenfranchisement ending, substantial gay marriage legalization, cleaning up the structural problems in elections, Creationism vanquished, that sort of thing. Clean up the small problems and the large ones will take care of themselves. A general end to 'traditional' privileges of and an end to the present coddling of regressive barbarism, that's the general idea. That takes a Supreme Court willing to bring integrity to its work, though, which involves a Modern kind of party taking control of enough (well, a majority of) government.

[rman]

25. come to DU "for conversation" - in the politics forum?

according to several strange a-political individuals.

[Pushed To The Left]

26. I'm getting more interested every day!

I had never been as involved in an election as I was in 2004. Now I'm hooked! The thought of defeating the radical right wing and furthering the causes I care about will keep me motivated. I think I will get even more involved as the years go by.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

27. I will quit if the Democratic Party does not provide effective.....

and dynamic leadership in the fight against the privatization of Social Security. It is not just a matter of winning or losing but displaying aggressive intelligent leadership and showing that this party is vigorously representing the interests of working class Americans. I am disappointed by the absent or ineffective efforts at standing up for the basic values of our party. I am personally drawing the line after all the other blunders due to lack of competent leadership so if the party does not surface with a powerful response on this vital issue I will spend my time on more productive interests.

[bklyncowgirl]

28. My interest ebbs and flows. Right now it's flowing strong.

Politics is the world's greatest spectator sport--or maybe I should say greatest reality show. I do political caricatures as a hobby--it's one I started back in the 1980s--the 2004 election was fun to draw.

I tend to be very cynical about politicians. I love it when I am proved wrong. Doesn't happen too often--I don't do hero worship.

Right now I'm thoroughly disgusted with the lapdog Democrats. They will happily go the way of the Whigs before they change. I think that on some level they screwed Kerry over--that is where he didn't screw himself by ignoring his instincts. I think there was massive and widespread fraud in the 2004 election. I also think it will never be fully uncovered. An incident here, an incident there, all leading up to the defrauding of the American people. My election year truce with them is over.

I'd like to find a concrete way to work for change. DFA sounds like a good organization, but like I said, I don't do hero worship and I'm not sure I'm comfortable working with a group that's so tied with an individual politician's fortunes--even one I generally admire. I'm not much for third party efforts--unless they are meaningful--usually the only way they effect anything is as spoilers. There's a local reform Democrat group that's forming up out of the ashes of the Kerry campeign and I may attend a few of their meetups and see how it goes.

Until then I'll be sitting back with my poison pen chronicling the cast of character in this sadly hilarious reality show we call american politics.

[blindpig]

29. I am on the verge of utter despair

Some things will not wait, particularly the environment. As bad as the 1st term was the 2nd term is shaping up to be a full scale war against Nature. From drilling uber alles to gutting the ESA to stealth clearcutting to filthy skys to poisoned water to criminal neglect of climate change, you might get the idea. It's as though those bastards want to turn the Earth into Mordor asap.

Although Kerry was not my 1st choice(DK was) I had great hopes considering his excellent environmental voting record. He was fatally flawed and failed. His position on the war WAS too nuanced and that flipflop shit stuck enough to make his difference from bu$h questionable. Like many here I now doubt that his heart was in it.

Doom, doom, doom. This term will tell if there is any worth left in the Democratic Party at all. And due to the laws and structure of our government the possibility of a 3rd party accomplishing much in the short and medium term is nil. Too much of Nature will be lost waiting for the long term. Doom.

Have a nice day.

[DebJ]

30. if you wait until the next primary season begins, that is too late...

and that is one reason we lost last time. No outreach to people well before the election. If you wait until the election, then it becomes a personal thing. If you educate the public for the next two years on issues and responses (or lack thereof) to those issues by representatives, then you are beginning a process of real change.
About the only thing done in my town during the campaign process was registering lots of new voters, and then knocking on Democrats doors to urge their support of Kerry. Too little, too late, too many doors that need more information.
We are starting an Issues Group in our town: getting information on issues now, figuring how best to Frame the debates on these issues, how best to communicate with the public on them. Then we'll be contacting reps and following up. By the time the next election rolls around, we hope to have increased awareness among lots of people here. It was amazing to see how many in our inner city could not even name two political parties (like, Dems or Repubs)...we have 22 parties here, actually. So many completely clueless. A quick knock on the door to register them does not get them involved.

One of our issues will be Social Security. I hope to get together a strong enough presentation to announce in the paper an open town forum on the topic. Democrats working, with a small 'd'....democracy at work. To hell with parties. Lets work the problems now. If the party wakes up and works it later, fine.

But I'm not waiting for them anymore. Either they can come with me, or I'll go with others. But we are Moving On!

[Mountainman]

31. I have a wait and see attitude at this time.

There is no real voice or message from our side other than, "what did we do wrong?" and "how should we change to get more votes?"

Basically we have core values that are right and just. We need to stick to them even though they don't win us elections. But if all we do is become more like repuks to get votes than I'm out.

We have more in common with true Christianity than do the repuks and we have the interests of the common good at heart. That is the message we need to get out there but we have no means to do that like the 24/7 conservative talk shows do.

So for me, I am not getting too excited about politics anymore unless I see us unite behind some kind of unifying message and we find the means of getting it out to the public.

I can see that for the remainder of my life, (I'm 58 now) that I will never see another progressive movement in this country. If I'm wrong then I will get excited again.