Elections matter

[dsc]

Bush campaigned on naming these kind of judges. Kerry campaigned on naming a very different kind of judges. Despite this fact Bush's margin of victory came from the 1 out of 3 pro choicers who voted for him and the 1 out of 4 LGBT voters who voted for him. These people gave Bush his mandate to name these judges. The blame for them isn't the Senate's it is the people who voted on the basis of other issues and gave Bush this power.

In all likelyhood Alito will be confirmed. Given the 55 votes the GOP has, coupled with the nuclear option, means he has the votes he needs. Maybe we will luck out and some ethical problem will turn up. But we would be wise not to count on it.

Elections matter. Bush told us so. Too bad so many people didn't listen. We can't count on luck saving us now.

[vanboggie]

1. Temper that

with the fact that elections were tampered with in 00, 02, 06. Some don't believe it, but many of us have no doubt. We can't count on votes saving us until the election process is taken away from the Repuke companies who count the votes.

[dsc]

3. at best in 04 Kerry won like Bush won in 00

an electoral victory but popular vote loss. The fact is that if those pro choicers and gays had voted for Kerry or merely stayed home, Kerry would be president today.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

4. Elections Are So 1996...

That's basically the last time there was a legitimate Presidential election.

[Stevepol]

2. The people listened. Kerry won by 5M votes. Elections matter indeed,

but they're nothing more a meaningless charade as long as the voting machines are counting the votes.

[Tony_Illinois]

5. You're Right.

I have been sick about this appointment all day, but as you aptly put it, these elections do matter, and they do have consequences. We are experiencing one now. The Christ-O-Crats on the right are organized and vocal, and with the support and power of the mega-ministers, want to take this country back 50 years.

I fear things will have to get a lot worse before more mainstream folks decide to get active and off their butts to impact some changes. So far nobody, especially the Democratic power structure, has managed to slow this movement down.

[Alcibiades]

6. Moderate Republican voters

make me sick.

"1 out of 3 pro choicers who voted for him and the 1 out of 4 LGBT voters."

What the hell is wrong with these people?

The good news is that 9 out of 10 Blacks voted for Kerry. This makes Black Americans by far the smartest bloc of voters in the country.

[dsc]

7. Bush actually did slightly better among blacks

in 04 than he did in 00. It was still dismal as you point out which makes them very smart indeed but even there some people actually decided to vote for Bush based on his performance over those four years.

[Alcibiades]

12. Those votes were expensive

The campaign effort aimed at Black voters was huge, in dollar terms. Millions flowed into the coffers of corrupt pastors who tried to work the homophobia angle. Plus, though Bush had less blacks in the cabinet than Clinton, Rice and Powell really were higher-visibility black officials than anyone else in any administration, Democratic or Republican.

Plus, when you factor in the fact that the fraud, under counting and disenfranchisement was aimed at black voters, I am skeptical that Bush really did do slightly better among blacks.

[usregimechange]

8. I agree focus on 06 and 08.

[JJackFlash]

9. But Ralph Nader said it didn't matter

if Junior got into the WH.
Guess he figures we don't need our civil liberties, or control of our own bodies, or our national parks, or global allies, or a World Trade Center.
On another thread I heard a greenie say he finally decided after long reflection not to vote for Nader because he wouldn't be effective on foreign policy.
ROTFLMAO

[Junkdrawer]

10. Stealing elections in 10 easy steps....

1.) Buy a corruptible voting machine company...

2.) Infuse massive capital into said company...

3.) Obtain market share by presenting a "winning" image and by spreading around the dough to the *right* local officials (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

4.) Learn all the local rules on auditing elections. Devise cheating strategies accordingly.

5.) Test the waters by throwing state-level elections. Begin a buzz about "resurgent conservatism".

6.) Use your control of the state houses to further weaken election laws.

7.) Steal the US Congress.

8.) Steal the US Presidency.

9.) Steal the US Senate.

10.) Use the above to vigorously prevent all attempts to reform the election process.

[vanboggie]

13. Excellent summary

Therein lies the problem, and Junkdrawer you summarize it very well. I can't even convince my Dem senators that theft occurred. When DU'ers scoff at the idea it is really disheartening. But then I am in a dark mood tonight anyway.

[wisteria]

11. Are you giving up? This is what they expect and want you to do!

React, contact senators, write to the papers. Inform the media about your feelings. The right wing did this with Meirs, this is one of their most effective maneuvers. We all should be outraged by this appointment. Already, the media is claiming victory for this guy.Bull Sh*t. He may have the judicial qualifications, but he is no moderate. The American people should demand nothing less than a moderate. The judged Harriet Meirs on just about everything, why then can't we do the same with this guy whose credentials are so well known, we can make an educated guess about his ideology.