We are really afraid to get our hopes up about November aren't we?

[Mountainman]

I keep looking for posts that give me hope about the coming election. The news stories point to a great Dem victory and I think the stories are correct. I think the mood out there is one of fear of the future that people see if the repukes remain in power. They see endless war, the end to Social Security, the vanishing of good jobs and along with it the middle class, America being hated around the world, no health care or higher education for their kids, the religious right controlling the government.

Yet we all think the repukes will steal this election. We are afraid to get our hopes up just to be dashed again like the last three elections.

Well I really wish that wasn't so. I am a believer in positive thinking and yes I am afraid to get my hopes up but I am more afraid of not thinking positive about the coming election. I think the right is crumbling under it's own weight. I think we give them much more credit than they deserve when it come to winning or stealing elections. I think there will be fraud and disenfranchisement but that it will not be enough to over come the will of the people to bring about a change in this country. The collective mood in the country is for change and that is the best thing we have had going for us since 2000.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Kinda snakebit after last time. Don't want to jinx it.

[Eric J in MN]

2. After stolen elections in 2000 and 2004...

...I won't be surprised if November 8, 2006 at DU is filled with posts about how Republicans stole the 2006 election and stopped Democrats from gaining control of either House.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Mountainman]

7. I know what you mean. In sports you have to have confidence in yourself.

To me the up coming elections are more like buying a lotto ticket. Until I know I've lost I can still think that I could be a winner. I will feel like shit if we loose again. But right now I really think we will win the House and possibly the Senate. I have my hopes up and am picturing in my mind Bush with a Democrat congress.

[truthisfreedom]

4. pukes are too scared to steal this one. diebold has so much attention on

them this time around that everyone will be looking for signs that it was stolen. there will be madness if the Dem candidates who poll strongly are not elected... the margins are just too large this time in too many races.

i think the thugs will not attempt to diebold us unless a race is very close. there will be extra observation going on at the polling stations, and more reporting of any odd diebold machine activity.

[FredStembottom]

5. I think your last sentence puts you where I am.

>>>> I think there will be fraud and disenfranchisement but that it will not be enough to over come the will of the people to bring about a change in this country. The collective mood in the country is for change and that is the best thing we have had going for us since 2000.<<<<<

I do think that the right has crumbled enough - and the general populace is fed up enough - for the Dems to win.

What I just can't put out of my mind completely is a scenario in which the election totals are stolen through some combination of fraud anyway. A 51% retention of the House and Senate just would not be believed at this point.

Just what will happen if such a scenario comes true?

Civil unrest?

Worse?

[alcuno]

6. The media likes to make it seem close.

Okay. I'll make a prediction. Dems take the House and have a big win. Afterward, everyone in the media will say that they knew this was coming all along.

[question everything]

8. No, not stealing, but a simple math

Yes, many voters dislike the Republicans and do not trust Bush. But when it time to kick out their R Representatives, how many will do this?

Since 2000, most Congressional districts were drawn that they favor the incumbents (of both parties) and the most brazen, of course was DeLay in Texas.

How many races are really competitive? Do we, or the party, actually has a list of where we can actually take a seat from a Republican and get a Democrat, instead? Even Foley's seat. If this is a Republican district, in four weeks the voters will decide that, after all, it is the party that they want and will vote for his stand-in, who is not exactly an unknown, having been a state representative before.

From last week TIME:

Thanks to aggressive redistricting in the 1990s and early 2000s, fewer than three dozen House seats are seriously in contention this election cycle, compared with more than 100 in 1994, the year Republicans swept to power with a 54-seat pickup in the House. Then there's what political pros call the ground game. For most of the 20th century, turning out voters on Election Day was the Democrats' strength. They had labor unions to supply workers for campaigns, make sure their voters had time off from their jobs to go to the polls and provide rides to get them there.

Now, though, Democrats are the ones playing catch-up when it comes to the mechanics of Election Day. Every Monday, überstrategist Karl Rove and Republican Party officials on Capitol Hill get spreadsheets tallying the numbers of voters registered, volunteers recruited, doors knocked on and phone numbers dialed for 40 House campaigns and a dozen Senate races. Over the next few weeks, the party will begin flying experienced paid and volunteer workers into states for the final push. The Senate Republicans' campaign committee calls its agents special teams, led by marshals, all in the service of the partywide effort known as the 72-Hour Task Force because its working philosophy initially focused on the final three days before an election.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,154129...

[countmyvote4real]

9. It's in the hands of the people (that vote).

Absentee or paper verified ballots are the best choices for people that vote.

IF you vote, please, allow yourself to be interviewed and polled about your choice if someone should ask. We must not let our voice be stolen again by third party software.

[nevergiveup]

10. We could have won in 2004

if we had all worked just a little harder....a few more phone calls....a few more bucks....recruited a few more volunteers. The votes are there this time for a Democratic victory if we get out the vote. I pay no attention to polls because the only relevant poll would be one that questions folks who are going to vote and although I don't deny the problems with voting machines I also don't dwell on it because all the time spent in a dither about fraud could be used fighting fraud and ringing doorbells.

[gumby]

13. "We" DID win in 2004

Just like "we" won in 2000
Jult like "we" won in 2002

It has been proven, for years, that doorbells are no match for voting machines.

[gumby]

11. History sez that fascism has to be defeated from without.

What are the limits of American fascism?

Do the traditions of democracy, like voting, have any real value anymore?

Is American democracy a "quaint" facade?

Those are some of my questions.

[Demobrat]

12. I probably shouldn't post in this thread but

not only do I believe that the Pukes will Diebold us again, I believe they will do it, thumb their noses at us and dare us to do something about it. And get away with it. Sorry.

[bobbieinok]

19. they do everything else in plain sight and did in 2000,2002,2004

[Demobrat]

23. And don't seem all that worried now.

Cheney is so sure they have nothing to worry about - kinda like W on election night when he was told Gore was ahead in the exit polling.

[bobbieinok]

25. on election day 2004 LIngraham was encouraging the faithful

She reported a Cheney speech ca 1 week ealier in which he predicted a W win. The % he gave was EXACTLY the % W 'won' by.

[think4yourself]

14. Can't stop now.

With every poll conducted and reported people are watching. I agree, the last two were too close and Diebold closed the gap. But this time EVERYONE is watching and aware of the coming trend. They are done with and they know it.

[seabeyond]

15. i think the people ready to vote dems. all in the fraud. they did 2004

but all in the corruptness of republicans with our vote. so no i do not have the expectation of the win though i think it is clear democrats should

[watercolors]

16. I think many repugs will not vote

this year, its up to the Dems to get out the vote! Its ours to lose!

[bermudat]

17. Democrats won't call Repugs out when they steal elections

Remember on the Daily Show, Zogby told Jon Stewart that Kerry was going to win. When there was a discrepancy between exit polls and the election results, the Ukrainians overturned the election. When there was a discrepancy between the exit polls and the results in Ohio, the sheeple just yawned. I refuse to get excited about a possible Democratic victory until November 8th. The repugnantcans lie, cheat, and steal but more importantly they know no Democrats will get in front of a microphone or tv camera and call them out.

[BeFree]

18. That's the sad truth

The repugnantcans lie, cheat, and steal but more importantly they know no Democrats will get in front of a microphone or tv camera and call them out.

You know the freepers would raise hell if they were in our shoes, but our Dems will pussyfoot around with the results, scratching their heads and wondering, again, what went wrong.

When I told a congressional campign staff member about the evoting theft, all he could say was that they were going to win. No comprehension that the dirty, crooked, lieing repugs would steal votes.

He should have been telling me they would make sure the votes got counted. And that they were prepared to fight to the bitter end. Eh?

[bobbolink]

20. The good thing about all the polls and the stories of Dem takeover

is that it will make it harder for the RW to lie and steal.

That is, if the Dems have the will to actually fight for it this time. sigh...

However, I've seen a bit too much of this crime syndicate, and I fully realize they have too much to lose. So, I fully expect they will do SOMETHING to pull this one out. Either election fraud, or .....?

We need to be on our toes with this one, and not have our heads so much in the clouds that they completely broadside us.

[leftofthedial]

21. I no longer live in a democracy

why would I have my hopes up?

[laugle]

22. I tell you your post could have been written by me,

I feel the same as you except for the part about giving them to much credit, i.e. stealing elections.

The stakes have never been higher for all of them, and I have no doubt they are willing to do anything to win!!

Watch closely, the states which are the closest races and necessary for them to win.

I watched all of the last two elections and noticed when they were losing....all of a sudden......bingo, the tide turned in their favor......not!!!! (i.e., Florida/Ohio)

They are sneaky bastards!!

I just hope the dems are ready to give them a big fight if that happens and not to automatically conceed.....I hope dems have grown a spine since the last election!!

Time will tell.........

[johnnyrocket]

24. If the Dems don't win House and Senate in a few weeks...

...the Democrats have NO REASON to be a political party, have no reason to raise money, and will simply have to be dismantled and eliminated.

THE DEMOCRATS WILL *ROUT* IN NOVEMBER, MARK MY WORDS!!!!