Reply #14: I'm really not that worried, Miss_Bevey. Things are not that dire... yet.

[VolcanoJen]

There are a few points worth making, and you know, I really feel we could all do a better job of using the numbers to prove that Democrats are still hangin' tough in America.

Democrats (yes, DINO's included) occupy 48 U.S. Senate seats, with Jeffords (I) most often voting with the Democratic majority. Republicans occupy 51 seats, with a handful of then voting with us often. Even with our slight deficit, we were able to derail the Estrada nomination, essentially dump Bush's plans to sell off the FCC, and stop the wholesale grab of ANWR more times than I can shake a stick at. Except for the war and that fuckin' Patriot Act, Bush has failed in many of his more important attempts to assert domination over liberals.

In the 2002 Senatorial Election, 20,470,371 Americans cast their votes for the Democratic candidate, while 22,198,747 chose the Republican. That's a difference of only 1,700,000 odd votes. That's no landslide, especially in a post-9/11 world, and represents no mandate. Factor in the 1,606,029 who chose a candidate who was neither Democrat nor Republican, and the current "Republican Revolution" appears even more hollow. America in 2002 was every bit as split and divided as it was in the 2000 Presidential Election.

http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2002/senparty.htm

And, going back to that election, don't forget that in the popular vote, Al Gore received 50,999,897, or 48.38%. Bush received 50,456,002, or 47.87%. 543,895 more voters chose the Democratic candidate. Add in the Nader votes (2,882,955, or 2.74%), and that means that in the 2000 election there were 3,426,850 more liberal voters than Republican, conservative ones. (Joe Conason does an excellent job of making this crucial poing in his newest book.) If we're going to win decisively in '04, we're going to need those 3,000,000 extra votes to go our way. And it wouldn't hurt us at all to pick up a few straggling Reagan democrats, either.

http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/2000presgeresults.htm

It's too early to freak out, and besides, Democrats are going to win back the Presidency in 2004. I'm confident, feeling better by the minute, and energized by our candidates and the real kick-off to campaign season.

Bushies? Bring 'em on.