Reply #82: I do not think we are going to get any serious challengers in the

[jwirr]

primary because I do not see any contenders out there who are convinced they can win in the general. We have a lot of good progressives who would make great leaders but I do not see them winning. Obama still has high favorability and as long as that lasts he will be our candidate. What I want to see in 2012 is a real push to get more progressives into congress. That will mean identifying states where a progressive can be expected to win if given half a chance. I hate to say it but once again I will bite the bullet and vote for our side even though I do not have a lot of faith that Obama is still on our side. Having said that - if he is reelected he is free to push the programs we want because he will not face another election. 2nd term presidents have often done those things they could not do in the 1st because they would never get reelected.

At the moment the rethugs are digging themselves into a bunch of different holes that they will have to explain to the people of the US. If we can just keep this is the minds of voters we can win with Obama. As I see it our real problems are the money business is going to through to the rethugs and not making it clear to the people just what kind of mess we are in. This is not just a little recession that is going to go away as soon as the people regain their confidence. This is a fight for our lives and sooner or later if Obama really wants to win he is going to have to start telling us the truth. And yes, we may very well panic if he does but it is the only way.