If Democrats had been very vocal on the Terri Shiavo incident do you think

[Toots]

the nation would still have been 80% against what was happening? I believe if the Democrats had opened their mouths it would have driven thirty percent of the population to agree with the Republicans just so they wouldn't have to agree with Liberals. I think the only way eighty percent of the population will agree on anything is if the Democrats don't get involved. Let the masses figure some things out on their own. Am I saying Democrats should just shut up and sit down? Hell no but there are certain times when it is best to remain silent and thought a fool then to open your mouth and remove all doubt..

[Catch22Dem]

1. I think you have a point (n/t)

[Jade Fox]

2. Very good point. The Democrats need to be vocal on.....

their own issues, and stop trying to best the Republicans on focusing
on the idiotic.

[whistle]

3. I agree, silence was golden in the case of Terri Schiavo.....

...because the repukes completely showed their hand that they were baiting the issue and by the democrats remaining silent, the more intense the republican efforts become and the more obvious the republicans' real motivations became.

[xultar]

4. Yup! It was a no win situation so forefit to the Thugs. Let them play

and lose all by themselves. I think it worked out perfectly

[Warpy]

5. I don't think so

because the legislative and executive involvement in that circus in Florida and then nationally tripped that "just plain WRONG" circuit that a lot of our fellow citizens still possess.

The Democrats just showed (as usual) that they were spineless wimps with no message.

[mattclearing]

6. I like this to a point.

It is good to let Republicans take the blame for all that is wrong right now. If the Dems plan to take the high road and silently oppose what is happening, waiting to welcome back the sane voters when they finally get their chance to come back, that is not the worst strategy in the world.

I just get the feeling that when push comes to shove, our people are going to roll over. I don't like it.

The Schiavo thing is one issue. The Dems can't sit on the sidelines indefinitely and expect to win for it.

[Warpy]

7. They might have taken the blame

had spineless wimpy New Democrats not joined with them on that shameful legislation.

[applegrove]

8. They didn't walk into that trap. The Dems got wise. They were

unpredictable. That is exactly how to handle evil manipulators. The evil ones trust that humans (Democrats in this case) will behave in predictable ways.

The Democrats have disengaged. They are not looking deep into Dick Cheney's eyes so he can dance them outside of themselves.

Repukes.. out of control. Gotta love it.

[Sparkly]

9. It would have morphed into a different battle

in which Republicans blamed and villified Democrats, twisting everything they said.

In this case, Republicans didn't get their battle and were left out in the open, making something political that shouldn't have been political, with no help or cover from Democrats.

I think the Democrats did the right thing by speaking up in Congress, and other than that staying out of it.

[blm]

11. The media spin would've blamed Dems for "politicizing" the issue

by attacking the poor Republicans who only acted out of concern for moral values.

Anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't been watching TV news for the last decade.

[illflem]

10. Their silence was good

but what would have been better is if all Demos had abstained from voting on it.

[TexasSissy]

12. If half the population hates Dems so much that they would take the

other side just because it's the side that the Democrats aren't taking, then that means the Democrats need to rethink the party platform, don't you think?

Think about it: If a political party loses when it voices its opinion on the issues....and can only win by default by not voicing its true opinion, then that political party will never be in the majority again. Time to go to the strategy table, something that Republicans excel at and, as far as I can tell, Democratic leaders don't do at all.

[kevsand]

13. I'll go one step further.

If all of this is true, then the Democratic party has already ceased to exist.

I mean, seriously folks, if opening our mouths is a guaranteed loss, then it's time to lock the doors and transfer the assets. The posters on this thread are the best argument for creating a new party I've ever seen, and I'm a lifelong Dem and local party official. Fortunately, I don't believe any of it is true, so the point is moot.

Yes, the Repubs looked bad, but the Dems didn't bother to look good, so the moment was lost. There was no nail in the coffin. Repubs can bounce back, if there's no credit for Dems. There was no attempt to gain a transfer of loyalties or even affinities.

The problem here was that the Dems could have said what 80% of the public was already thinking, and failed to do so. This is known as "not closing the sale," and it's the biggest fault of the Dems today, IMHO.

[TexasSissy]

18. I couldn't agree more. There were a few voices, such as Barney Frank,

but generally, the Dems skulked away into their various safe corners, not knowing how to play the game. It was a game for separation of powers, no less. And some 40-odd (and I do mean odd) Democrats even voted in favor of the Republican bill that violated separation of powers and did not support their own Democratic leaders.

Leaders are supposed to lead...not hide in corners until they can tell which way the wind was blowing. It seems to me that the Dems have very few leaders left.

I'm not sure whether strong leaders would change anything, given the mood in the country. The radical Christian right have surely got a hold on our country the likes of which I've never seen before. I shudder to think where that is going to take us the next few years.

[watercolors]

14. Silence is golden

the repugs are doing agood job of destroying themselves from within. I think we should just sit back and enjoy for awhile.

[Still_Loves_John]

15. I agree

Once there is a Republican side and a Democratic side, people kind of fall in line with their team. This even happened to some degree with people I knew. They agreed with keeping the court's decision at first, but after the Republicans made it a partisan issue (which they were able to do, to some degree, even without the Dems' help), they began to fall in line with the Republican party line. If the Democrats had made it a big fight, people would have reacted by following their party line.

[cry baby]

16. Good point, Toots. I've thought that way the whole time.

If the repubs are about to shoot themselves in the foot, don't step in and take the gun away.

[kevsand]

17. Based on some of the evidence in other threads,

I'd say the Dems got blamed for it anyway.

If the Dems in Congress are polling at or below the Repubs:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1714716

And if almost half the people don't even know the Repubs are in charge of Congress:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1714069

then by their silence the Dems have failed to distinguish themselves in any way from the Repubs. They had a chance to do this with Schiavo, and they blew it. In fact, some of them actually supported the Congressional intervention.

As it is, the Dems have gained nothing from this. They should have at least tried. Instead, they were so timid that they were unable to say what 80% of the public was already thinking.

They didn't remain silent as part of a strategy. They stayed mute out of fear of reprisal. As a result, as far as anyone knows, they appear to be equally to blame at this point.

[janx]

19. I think they should have been more vocal about the fact that

the federal government had no business interfering. Then they should have abstained from voting.

[janx]

20. This effort is by no means over. The far right is still determined

to try and keep people "alive" no matter what the cost, and this folds in nicely with the Republican effort to take control of the judiciary. Take a look at this:

http://www.stopactivistjudges.org./

Edit: Also, see this thread. A new case has emerged.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3456051