Contemplating Democratic control of both houses of Congress and the White House .......

[Stinky The Clown]

....... what can we the people do to encourage change?

It seems to me that either Obama or Clinton will be the next President. Either one of them is not a whole lot different than the other one in terms of policy stances or location on the political continuum. Both are light years better than the best Republican, but both have pretty centrist histories.

They'll both need to be pushed to the left - perhaps kicking and screaming.

It seems to me that our best chance to make that happen is to work on Congress .... and more specifically, the House. And I think we get two shots at it. One in this cycle and one in the 2010 cycle. After that, national disaffection could well set in and another 'change' election could be in the offing.

I'm feeling very much disconnected from the presidential race this go-round. My Congressman is a generally good guy who I feel good about and who is pretty much a sure thing for reelection - Elijiah Cummings. So my plan is to work for down ballot candidates and maybe work in a neighboring congressional district to get a horrible Republican unelected - Roscoe Bartlett. Google him. He's one of the worst. He was my congressman for years until they redrew the districts.

Does anyone else have plans like this, apart from the presidential campaign?

[HeraldSquare212]

1. But the president will have a big effect on the midterms

that's probably the best consideration right now.

[Breeze54]

2. We need to build a progressive governing majority! - Vote Out Bush Dogs!

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1073">What is a Bush Dog Democrat? A FAQ...

Bush Dog Democrats are Democratic members of Congress who enable the right-wing
through their support of Bush's policies on core progressive values at key moments.

Here's a list.

AL-05: Bud Cramer
AR-02: Vic Snyder
AR-04: Mike Ross
CA-20: Jim Costa
CO-03: John Salazar
FL-02: Alan Boyd
GA-08: Jim Marshall
GA-12: John Barrow
IA-03: Leonard Boswell
IL-03: Dan Lipinski
IL-08: Melissa Bean
IN-02: Joe Donnelly
IN-08: Brad Ellsworth
IN-09: Baron Hill
KY-06: Ben Chandler
LA-03: Charlie Melancon
MS-04: Gene Taylor
MN-01: Tim Walz
MN-07: Colin Peterson
NC-07: Mike McIntyre
NC-02: Bob Etheridge
NC-11: Heath Shuler
ND-AL: Earl Pomeroy
OH-06: Charlie Wilson
OH-18: Zack Space
OK-02: Dan Boren
PA-04: Jason Altmire
PA-10: Chris Carney
SD-AL: Stephanie Herseth
TN-04: Lamar Davis
TN-05: Jim Cooper
TN-06: Bart Gordon
TN-08: John Tanner
TX-17: Chet Edwards
TX-22: Nick Lampson
TX-23: Ciro Rodriguez
TX-28: Henry Cuellar
UT-02: Jim Matheson
WA-03: Brian Baird

http://action.openleft.com/page/s/bushdogs">Join the Campaign

Sign-up for Updates from Open Left & the Bush Dog Campaign

From failing to stop the war to expanding Bush's wiretapping authority, the swing vote
of conservative Democrats in the House are forming an effective conservative majority
that is enabling President Bush to govern as he wishes.

This Bush Dog campaign has both short-term and long-term goals. In the short term, we aim
to help progressives win the next fights in Congress over FISA and Iraq. Over the long-term,
this is part of a broader effort that touches on the core of the purpose of Open Left:
building a progressive governing majority.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. Yup ...... that's pretty much what I'm atlking about .....

.... that and getting good people elected to local offices.

[robbedvoter]

4. Very important post! (assuming they won't steal it again)