What I did NOT work tirelessly for these last 6 years

Remember Intrastate Elections Have Little to Do With National Leadership

We have a decennial redistricting and the future of our state coming up this cycle.  This has very little to do with Obama's leadership, Senate preferences or lack thereof.  Though money resources may be less available from the national party, it's imperative that we elect majorities in the General Assembly, as well as the Secretary of State, Attorney General and Governor. It would be nice to keep the Treasury as well to keep our finances on a steady course. If the General Assembly and/or the governor's seat lost, we will see major changes in our state including major difficulties for some Congressional current and prospective progressive (?) officeholders, as well.  

A lot is done within a state, and I suggest that our hard work the past six years benefited us with a lot better President than the alternative and a lot better state than we would have had otherwise, regardless of the national government control.  If we walk away from our ideals down ballot, it makes no difference who the US President is; we'll have a state legislature interested in what goes on in private citizens' bedrooms, privatizing our state universities, destroying our water, air and land, targeting minorities, and further eroding our state's very fragile fiscal position.  I, for one. find this alternative unacceptable.

Be angry with the President's organization working against some of our objectives, but  please ignore it and focus on winning all the state offices.

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by: saindenver @ Mon Jun 14, 2010 at 01:40:15 AM UTC

What did you work for?

I think that we in the progressive community think that everyone is working for the same things that we are, so we don't specify what it is that we want.

What are you working for? Your opponents say what they want at every opportunity. You and I need to also.

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by: trainstar @ Wed Jun 16, 2010 at 22:39:58 PM UTC

Insider Dems are at a choice point.

The options are: (a) continue demoralizing the base and expect defeat in November when nobody bothers to ring doorbells, staff phone banks or show up at the polls or (b) antagonize vested economic interests and actually deliver substantive change. Given the culture of the institutional Democratic party, I suspect that the powers that be will choose (a). These people like being in the minority. There are fewer expectations for policy successes and they can always portray themselves as nice people when they wring a minor concession out of the GOP or the corporations. All that rhetoric about compromise and bipartisanship will serve them well in the minority. It's how they talked for 8 years during the Bush administration, and it's completely within their comfort zone. (Think Ken Salazar.) Of course, Zap, once these birds go back to doing what they do best, they'll tell us that it's all our fault for not joining them in the noble struggle for the lesser of two evils. It's sick stuff, but as long as Steve Farber's corporate cornfed ass sits on the top two rungs of the ladder that's what we get. It'll have to get really bad before the time is ripe for real change. My advice: start taking mordant pleasure in the downward spiral.  

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by: Bill Simpson @ Fri Jun 18, 2010 at 19:50:52 PM UTC