GOP Approval Rating Like Chum in the water, but...

[CarlSheeler4U]

... isn't this the time to pounce on the prez' and those human-cockroaches working for him?

Can't we democrats be compassionate sharks and still have a feeding frenzy on behalf of our doubting supporters?

Time to bite the jugular of the GOP, Contract With America II.

Carl

Sheeler for US Senate
www.carlsheeler.com

Democrats, not aristocrats.

[LynneSin]

1. And we know how popular Chum is!

[CarlSheeler4U]

7. GOP = Chum or Scum. It all floats to the top.

[bryant69]

2. Contract on America?

But I do agree that we could use some sort of unified theme. However our leaders have apparently decided that such is not to be.

Bryant
Check ito ut --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[CarlSheeler4U]

8. Americans First!

Our rebuilding first! Our energy resources first! Our health care first! Our kids first! Our seniors first! Our education first! Our security first!

[bryant69]

12. That slogan is not inspiring

And it goes against liberal principles. That's essentially isolationism - turning our backs on the world.

Why are Americans so special that they should have the good life, while the rest of the world can go to hell?

One possible reason is a conviction that when we involve ourselves with foreign lands it always goes bad - there is plenty of evidence to support that view (particularly in Iraq and Vietnam) and some counter evidence. That said, predicating a policy on America being a failure is not very inspiring.

Bryant

[Atman]

15. I agree...being a "proud American" is not a winning issue right now.

Maybe being an American wracked with guilt, or a Sorry American. But I know very few Americans who'd want to be thumping their chests about our greatness right now, seeing as how badly we've fucked up the rest of the world under BushCo.

[bryant69]

16. I'm just contrary

Cause I don't agree with this either. While an acknowlegement that the Bush years were a mistake is probably helpful, just being apologetic isn't very inspiring either. Rather Americans like believing they are the greatest nation in the world.

Rather, to make this approach work, we need to talk about the contrast between what we are capable of and what we have settled for. We could have made the world safer after 9/11, instead the Bush Administration made it more dangerous. We still have the potential for greatness on the world stage, if we will but unleash that potential.


Bryant

[Atman]

18. Agreed, the message has to come with a look to the future, though

We can do the "greatness of America" thing, as long as it isn't a boastful approach. It needs to be framed as being hopeful, without being an admission of hopelessness. Recalling the greatness of better days.

"Democrats -- For a nation we can all be proud of."

[CarlSheeler4U]

26. We're getting there

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[CarlSheeler4U]

23. And to boil that sentiment around a cogent phrase that will rally

americans on both sides of the aisle is......?

[CarlSheeler4U]

22. What, pray tell, should we do to restore that sense of pride...?

I ask because if I was coaching a little league team I wopuld not tell them you suck, so we're going to call you losers until you start winning again.

What Dems get slammed for is much critism and an absence of original ideas. Mine was a suggestion - I'd be realy happy to see your idea.

[CarlSheeler4U]

21. I respect your sentiment, but I'm unsure I agree.

As in individuals, you are unable to love others if you can't love yourself. Anecdotally, if I think of Norway, it has a very progressive country where the population is well taken care of cradle to grave and a philosophy of expending a % of its GDP on helping other countries.

I'd espouse that when we have successfully fought (made forward progress as a fundamental belief, not just fluctuating policy) to correct our health care, human rights, education and environmental problems, we should extend our hands across the globe.

I'm mindful that there is a spectrum of beliefs and I must be respectful of the tax dollars that will be borne my middle americans.

[Atman]

3. NO "CONTRACT WITH AMERICA II"

We might as well hand the GOP talking heads a script saying "We have no original idea!"

Why call upon the legacy of Newt Gingrich, one of the biggest slimes ever to grace pre-BushCo Washington, as our standard? That is crazy talk.

[Roland99]

5. Exactly.

[CarlSheeler4U]

9. That sound of inevitability Mr. Bush is the derailing of the GOP train

...and buddy let it be full of DeLay, Frist, Bush, Cheney, Rice.....McClellan that pig.

[CarlSheeler4U]

6. The GOP took the Congress with CWA and We Need Our Msg

to Be Strong and Uniting. Americans First!!!

[Roland99]

19. "Pledge To America", perhaps?

[CarlSheeler4U]

24. Now we're getting somewhere

[BuyingThyme]

4. Go get 'em, Carl!

[CarlSheeler4U]

10. You hold 'em down. It's time for neutering the bull.....

[KharmaTrain]

11. This Requires More Simmering

I know we're anxious. The problem isn't that Democrats don't have an issue...we have too many. The corruption of this regime and its enablers has been so enduring and so entrenched in the body politic of this nation, it's not going to be easy to cut it out...but the time is rapidly approaching when that procedure will be needed.

Get some popcorn and enjoy the show...there's more bombshells and chickens to come home to roost on the Repugnican party before the fall election season begins. Between ongoing investigations and the constant revelations of some form of booosh corruption or criminality or another, the perception of the Repugnican party of being responsible for a lot of the messes becomes more and more of a focus. A perfect storm is brewing that still hasn't been read on the GOOP radar as anything more than isolated showers...let them continue to be fools as there's precious little we can do now to stop the on-going damage.

Remember, the most dangerous animal is a caged one. The Repugnicans are wounded, but far from dangerous and this regime is feeling cornered and who knows what way they'll react. Methinks this election campaign is yet to be defined by a long shot...

[Atman]

14. We need to stick to an OVERALL MESSAGE re: GOP corruption

and disregard for law. Period.

OP is exactly right, we have so many issues, they'll just overwhelm most Americans and make us sound like perpetual whiners.

But 90% of what we're talking about, from the illegal arm-twisting on the Medicare vote, to the Dubai deal, fall under this big umbrella of GOP corruption and lawlessness. That's the only message we should be hammering on. Let individual questions and answers be discussed in smaller venues, town halls and such, but always under the larger message of "GOP corruption and lawlessness has made America less safe, and bankrupted our children's future."

Every American understands it, because they see it every day.

[KharmaTrain]

20. This Needs To Be Defined Even More Specifically

The corruption is so deep that virtually every Repugnican is implicated either directly or can be tied to a special interest that has been discredited. The game is to connect each incumbent with their specific mess and how that has hurt whatever district they represent. The last thing this election should be is a plebecite on booosh. Yes, we should play up this regime's ongoing ineptness and scandals, but that should be a secondary attack point using it to further discredit a Repugnican candidate after their specific flaw is exposed and exploited. Booosh hate didn't work in 2004...this has to be on the asshat's "results", not on his personality.

This country is fractured on what they consider as the most important issue and that will be even more obvious on election day. Outsourcing will be a major issue in one district, immigration in another, Iraq in a third, Abramoff in a fourth...this is where Dr. Dean's infrastruture building needs to start mobilizing on a door-to-door, ear-to-ear, voter-by-voter basis.

Cheers...

[CarlSheeler4U]

28. A Better America One Community at a Time?

[CarlSheeler4U]

27. Negative messages do not put hope in hearts and the public

feels no more loyalty and trust to Democrats who "let it happen".... so

the concept of working together for a better america needs to be captured.

As you say, they already know.

[CarlSheeler4U]

25. A Covenant of Vision?

[katinmn]

13. Yes! And thanks for helping lead the Impeachment Movement!

It's real now. Is there anyone who isn't aware that this is a real movement?


Towns draft resolutions for Bush impeachment
President's approval ratings hit all-time low
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11746261 /

Impeaching George W. Bush
http://www.alternet.org/story/32977
But the distant rumbling is growing louder by the day, creating a resonant echo that is rapidly taking root in public discourse. “Impeach Him,” reads the cover of this month’s Harper’s magazine. And in a public forum in New York City last week, journalists, lawyers, and political figures came together to discuss the case against our president.
http://ads.harpers.org/phpads/adview.php?what=zone:2&n=...

Impeach Bush
The man was lost and then he was found and now he's more lost than ever -- and he's taking us into the darkness with him. It's time to remove him.
By Garrison Keillor
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/03/01/keillor...


George W. Bush & Impeachment News
http://www.uspoliticstoday.com/news/GeorgeBushImpeachme...

Media Joins the Massive Call for Bush Impeachment
http://usliberals.about.com/b/a/2006_03_09.htm

Carl Sheeler: U.S. Senate

[CarlSheeler4U]

29. Thanks Kat, optimism is such much better than criticism

Direct rage at the source, not the cure.

[Swamp Rat]

17. yep

[CarlSheeler4U]

31. Me thinkest the post has run aground

Shouldn't that be Rove chomping down on the Shark - the Bitch is a man eater. Plame knows.

[Swamp Rat]

Insert Chinese Proverb Here_______________________.

[CarlSheeler4U]

33. A generation is just a moment in time.

Find the promise and find the truth.

[Swamp Rat]

35. 'Real gold is not afraid of the fire of the crucible'

[Jack Rabbit]

30. You're running for the US Senate in Rhode Island

What do you propose for a Contract with America, part 2.

(BTW, I agree long past time to eat 'em alive.)

[CarlSheeler4U]

32. "A Promise Kept" is what I would like to call it

After Vietnam, we promised no more. That did not mean no more wars, but wars based on just principles, not personal interests of a few.

If we rolled back the millionaire and corporate taxes to 2001 levels, brought our troops home and invested in cutting edge technologies like stem cell research (Bio-tech) and alternative energies, we'd be back on the global map in job creation and a cleaner environment. If we adopted policies where health care was everybody's responsibility, we'd hold insurance companies and HMO's accountable and make health a right not a privilege. If we made education an investment, we'd see stronger communities and a more competitive society. If equality was a mandate and not a special interest target, we could focus on the needs of all Americans and not target a few.

[Jack Rabbit]

34. Very good

Now, what are the positions of Mr. Brown and Mr. Whitehouse?

(I'm in California, but your interesting posts caused me to do some research.)

[CarlSheeler4U]

36. Depends on what the polls are saying that week. - Honestly

They don't have a f-ckin' clue. Can you tell by their websites? I can't?

[Jack Rabbit]

37. They both seem to oppose the Iraq war

Brown seems to be trying to paint Whitehouse as you paint both of them. From Brown's website:

Still No Response from Whitehouse to Debate Iraq
Brown calls on Whitehouse to discuss Iraq and sign Iraq petition now

CRANSTON – Sheldon Whitehouse still has not responded to an invitation to debate the war in Iraq from Rhode Island Secretary of State and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Matt Brown. Brown called on Whitehouse and Carl Sheeler in late October 2005 to debate this important issue. Whitehouse refused to debate in 2005, saying he was waiting for the election year to debate. Sheeler accepted the invitation immediately.

I salute you, sir. While my research suggests you will finish behind both of them, you are doing your part to make them talk. If you can do that, you will have performed a great public service. You have my respect.

Whitehouse, for his part, says he's been opposed to the war all along.

I’m the son of a Foreign Service officer who grew up all over the world. I think that’s given me a perspective that’s valuable today. America is a beacon for the world, but when we go it alone, we make it very difficult to succeed. It’s one of the reasons I felt the President’s decision to go to war in Iraq was premature, and a big mistake. Had I been in the Senate, I would have opposed the President’s decision.

I support a rapid and responsible withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. We can and should have most, if not all of our troops, redeployed out of Iraq by the end of this year.

It is easier to find what Whitehouse says about issues on his website than what Brown says on his. This may be because (again according to my research) Whitehouse is trailing Brown at the moment. I would also suggest that Whitehouse is guilty of making it appear that he is saying more than he actually is in a way that is typical of campaigning politicians.

You are pulling few punches. openly talking about impeaching Mr. Bush (I still refuse to call him President Bush). It is good that you do. While I will not expect every Democratic congressional candidate in November to declare that he will vote to impeach or remove Bush, I would hope that most of them will proclaim that they are open to the idea and ready to fight for it if it is warranted when the time comes. Of course, not only do I believe Bush and Cheney should be impeached and removed, but that they should stand trial for war crimes as well.

[CarlSheeler4U]

38. Yep, but here's the real deal

Go back further. Brown announces campign for US Senate with "stay the course". I post on my website in July a ltter to 7,000 RI vets for Iraq wuithdrawal and make as key point in my announcement that Iraq was about blood for oil. In August Brown flips to withdraw troops AFTER Cindy Sheehan pulls through RI - but no exit stategy. By November, Sheldon has given up his "I'm with Jack Reed stay the course" and in a non-descript way is saying some kind of withdrawal would be good. Straddling the line not to offend. Leadership not.

Every comment he posts is scripted by DC advisors, which is why there really is nothing there. It has to be "safe".

More vanilla.... ugh.

[Jack Rabbit]

39. That's why I like people like you running

Professional politicians have mastered the arts of saying nothing in 25 or more and flip flopping their positions and making it sound like they've had the same one all along.

Keep 'em honest, Mr. Sheeler. Make them talk about what they would do under what circumstances.

[CarlSheeler4U]

40. It's Carl. And we staying informed can do just that....

the GOP corruption evolved, it was not a take over. We were asleep.....

[yurbud]

41. every message should have two parts: 1) GOP F up 2) Dem fix

conflict gets people's attention.

If you JUST say the nice things you are going to do, people yawn and fall asleep, and forget to vote.

present yourself as a team you want them to join, and the other side as exactly the way they present themselves--the opposing team.

[CarlSheeler4U]

42. Now that has a ring of wisdom. Thank you sage.