It bears repeating: VOTE D even if it is for a DINO. HERE'S WHY:

[helderheid]

I have voted for Jim Matheson this year, ONLY because if we take back power, the following will happen:

- At least 9 Congressional Progressive Caucus Members would become Committee Chairmen or Chairwomen
- An additional 35 Congressional Progressive Caucus Members would become Subcommittee Chairmen or Chairwomen.

The following Progressive Caucus Members would become Committee Chairs:

- Congressman George Miller, Chairman of Education and Workforce Committee
- Congressman Barney Frank, Chairman of Financial Services
- Congressman Henry Waxman, Chairman of Government Reform
- Congressman Bennie Thompson, Chairman of Homeland Security Committee
- Congressman Tom Lantos, Chairman of International Relations Committee
- Congressman John Conyers, Chairman of Judiciary Committee
- Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, Chairwoman of Rules Committee
- Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Chairwoman of Small Business Committee
- Congressman Charles Rangel, Chairman of Ways and Means Committee

The following Progressive Caucus Members would become Subcommittee Chairs:

- Appropriations Subcommittees -- Congresswomen Rosa DeLauro and Marcy Kaptur and Congressmen John Olver, Jose Serrano, and Ed Pastor
- Armed Services Subcommittee, Congressman Neil Abercrombie
- Education and Workforce Subcommittees, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey and Congressman Dennis Kucinich
- Energy and Commerce Subcommittees, Congressman Ed Markey and Congresswomen Jan Schakowsky and Hilda Solis
- Financial Services Subcommittee, Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Congressman Luis Gutierrez
- Government Reform Subcommittees, Congresswoman Diane Watson and Congressmen Dennis Kucinich, Elijah Cummings, Danny Davis of Illinois, and William "Lacy" Clay
- International Relations Subcommittee, Congressman Donald Payne
- Judiciary Subcommittees, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee and Congressmen Jerry Nadler and Melvin Watt
- Interior Subcommittees, Congressmen Raul Grijalva and Tom Udall and Congresswoman Donna Christensen
- Rules Subcommittees, Congressman Jim McGovern
- Small Business Subcommittees, Congresswomen Madeleine Bordallo
- Transportation and Infrastructure, DeFazio, Filner, Holmes-Norton, and C. Brown
- Ways and Means Subcommittees, Congressmen Pete Stark, Jim McDermott, and John Lewis of Georgia

It's that critical, folks

[madokie]

1. now matter what, vote Dem this election

we can worry about the dino's tomorrow

[raccoon]

2. K & R. nt

[sui generis]

3. yeah. shut up and vote.

Fortunately all of the D's in our neck of the woods are for equal civil rights though, so I won't have to lodge a protest vote in the hope that our party would grow some balls and exercise some party discipline.

I'm all for optimism, as sour as I sound, but at some point nothing changes if you do nothing to change it.

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. "Nothing changes if you do nothing to change it."

An excellent summary.

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. Every DINO vote is a vote for Republicans. ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTE! n/t

[ClassWarrior]

6. Sorry, the primary's over. I want John Conyers as my Judiciary Chair.

NGU.

[TechBear_Seattle]

8. What difference did that make in Connecticut?

When you elect someone, they are the party candidate for that office until they leave that office. And how often does an incumbent get voted out in the primary anyway, no matter how horrible they are? I stand by my statement: if you vote for a Democrat-in-name-only, you are really voting for the Republicans.

[helderheid]

9. Joe is the exception to the rule. Most would have stepped back and

helped the party.

[ClassWarrior]

16. Okay, so I want John Conyers as Judiciary Chair and you...

...want to teach DINOs a lesson that they'll never hear accurately anyway. If we don't vote for DINOs, Rape-Publicans get elected. Do you think DINOs will take that as a signal to become more Progressive or more conservative?

Think.

NGU.

[helderheid]

7. What Class Warrior said.

[Richard Steele]

18. No, it's a vote for the Committee and Subcommittee CHAIRS listed in the OP.

We have to get rid of the Repubs before we can
start getting rid of the DINOS. Take it one step
at a time, and we'll get there.

[9119495]

10. Ummm Supreme Court Justices?

Some of our dependable lefties on the court are getting old.

[IndyOp]

11. Wow - I JUST sent this out in an email to someone who asked why

he should vote for our DINO - who is really painfully DINO (though not as bad a LIEberman).

VOTE FOR CONYERS!
VOTE FOR KUCINICH!
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

[helderheid]

12. most excellent! I think I changed a few votes with this post when I

sent it to my progressive caucus list. We have a wonderful Green candidate here who's running on getting the US out of Iraq but I HAD to vote for Matheson knowing I was voting for subpoena power.

[helderheid]

13. k

[Donald Ian Rankin]

14. There is no such thing as a protest vote.

There are only three meaningful categories among voters: those who vote for someone who might win and will caucus with the Democrats, those who vote for someone who might win and will caucus against the Democrats, and those who don't give a damn about the fate of their country (with arguably a fourth category applying in Connecticut, where there's a candidate who may win and who's caucusing can't be predicted with total accuracy).

There is no moral distinction whatsoever between someone who doesn't care enough to vote, and someone who wastes their vote by using it as a so-called "protest"; both are achieving exactly the same effect. The only meaningful numbers are +1, -1 and 0 -- how that 0 is achieved is irrelevant.

A protest vote is a non-vote. Make your vote so some good, or don't bother using it.

[helderheid]

17. VERY well put!!

[Kurovski]

15. K&R

Get out the vote.

Offer rides to the polls!

[helderheid]

19. KICK

[robertpaulsen]

20. Oh yeah, and a Speaker of the House!

I honestly like the Green candidate in my district, but there's no way in hell I'm voting anything other than Dem this year for Congress. Go Berman and Go Dems!

[LTR]

21. Two more words: Subpoena power

I like the sound of that.

Also, I plan on voting straight Dem, with one exception. The current Milwaukee County Sheriff is basically a Repug with a Dem label. His own party has more or less disowned him. Meanwhile, the Republican in the race is very non-political. He's running as a Republican because there was an opening there (county is heavily Dem). He'll get my vote.

See this thread for more info:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=186x17831

[ChaoticSilly]

22. It will be hard here in TN

As close as the election is looking and as high as the stakes are, rest assured I will vote for Ford tomorrow even though I am furious at him for endorsing his brother running as an independant over the liberal Democrat that won the primary for his old seat in the House - a liberal Democrat I strongly support (even though he won't be my rep, I really want to see Cohen in Congress).

I will vote for Ford this time because the future of my country is more important than my anger and like you said, having the likes of Conyers and Kucinich as committee chairs is more important that expressing my distaste of Ford family politics right now. I just wished Ford shared my concerns.

[helderheid]

23. VOTE!

[Richard Steele]

24. KICK

[helderheid]

25. KICK!!

[helderheid]

26. KICKETY KICK!

:kick:

[Richard Steele]

27. This REALLY can't be repeated often enough! It's HUGH!!!eleven!!!