Time to ask again: What actions are you taking in advance of the vote this November?

[CBHagman]

16 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	Donating money to candidates, parties, or causes.
	6 (38%)
	Participating in postcard campaigns.
	3 (19%)
	Making get-out-the-vote calls.
	0 (0%)
	Registering voters.
	1 (6%)
	Canvassing.
	0 (0%)
	Writing (blogging, writing letters to the editor, using social media).
	0 (0%)
	Several things (Feel free to specify what).
	4 (25%)
	Still trying to decide what to do.
	1 (6%)
	None of the above (Feel free to add your own activities).
	1 (6%)
	Not taking any action this year.
	0 (0%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[Frasier Balzov]

1. Pondering the reasons why Jimmy Carter lost in 1980.

Trying to learn from history why the supposed advantage of the incumbency failed in that election.

[DFW]

2. Three words: gas, inflation, hostages

The Republicans knew what they needed to make Reagan the choice of a majority of voters. Dominate the media (Carter was made to look pretty inept at the time. I remember that quite vividly), make a deal with the Ayatollahs not to release the hostages until after the election, it was a rather simple solution.

Incumbency is only an advantage if it is used properly (as Joe Biden has), AND an impartial press reports objectively. If the vast majority of the media has an agenda that includes the defeat of the incumbent president, the advantages of that incumbency diminish rapidly. It’s the old dilemma of a president putting together a project that cures cancer, and the press reporting: “President puts oncologists out of work.”

[CBHagman]

4. Oh, the framing!

Yes, all of those issues matter.

I have spent some time on giving feedback to media, and frankly there appear to be hordes of us who care about framing and about ghastly omissions in U.S. coverage. The Washington Post, for example, has coverage that is full of holes at this point, such as what appears to be near-silence on that revealing Time Magazine interview with The Former Guy.

[DFW]

5. My dad was a prominent member of the Washington print press

Thomas L. Stokes award, president of the Gridiron Club, THAT kind of prominent.

He already was yelling out warnings of the nasty direction the fourth estate was taking between 1996 and 2000, when he passed.

It's maybe merciful he never lived to see the perversion of his beloved profession that came after that.

[Prairie_Seagull]

6. DFW, his input on you shows abundantly.

What an interesting life his and yours must have been. I am sure yours still is.

I still feel the pain of my own fathers passing, especially on that anniversary.

Somber thoughts on Memorial day brother

[DFW]

7. My dad was felled by pancreatic cancer. It wasn't easy to take.

He was diagnosed in January of 2000. In late November, my mom called me to say that things were looking bad, and that if I wanted to have a last visit, I should get a move on. This was at the beginning of the week, I asked, "like tomorrow?" She said, maybe not, but not much later. I booked a flight over to Washington for that Saturday, returning to Germany the next Tuesday. I called when the plane landed, and my dad answered the phone. Still there, luckily. But Monday morning, he was in a bad way, and didn't make it til noon. It was hard to take. We laid him to rest at Arlington a month later, when my wife and daughters could come over for the ceremony.

I have never posted anything of him on DU, but I will make an exception here. Of the two journalists being interviewed, he is the one from New York. It was about the withdrawal of the nomination of Douglas Ginsburg for the Supreme Court. He only rarely did TV appearances, was more comfortable in his main role as a print journalist. This is from 1987.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?205-1/douglas-ginsburg-withdrawal

There aren't many journalists of his caliber left--if any. It's why I never even tried to go into journalism. Those were shoes I never even attempted to fill.

[CBHagman]

15. I am sorry.

Thank you for sharing his legacy with us. May his memory be for a blessing.

[brooklynite]

8. Another point: he was a bad politician

He was a great POLICY MAKER, but he never built the political coalitions within the Democratic Party to build support for his policies.

(nb: I was in college at the time and took a special class on Presidential election strategies, taught by a professor with contacts in both Parties. We had regular briefings from members of both Parties, including Carter's Press Secretary.)

[DFW]

10. Good point

Great ideas go nowhere if there are no great promoters of them, and in American politics, that has to start from the top down.

[Polybius]

13. And 4: Running against a charismatic, generational speaker

It's very, very tough to run against a person who's charismatic and a great speaker. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama also were generational speakers.

[CBHagman]

3. Now there's an answer I hadn't considered, but...

...I would suspect that many Democrats are considering the lessons both of '68 and of '80.

Thank you for bringing up that particular angle on the election.

[TheProle]

11. Being primaried by Ted Kennedy didn't help

[Niagara]

9. It's on my agenda to participate in postcard campaigning

I've only been working per diem (about once a week) for the last 2 months.


I've had several unexpected big ticket expenses recently and so currently I will have do what I can within my limited budget.

[Dulcinea]

12. Postcarding & harassing my daughters' friends about voting.

My girls are in college & both they & their friends are really motivated to vote. That does my heart good. I tell them, "When my generation is playing poker in the nursing home or one with the earth, it'll be your country. Do you want it to be a good place or not?"

I'm also postcarding with Postcards to Swing States. They need help!

Please help if you can: https://www.turnoutpac.org/postcards/

[BannonsLiver]

14. Is constantly whining about Bibi and Gaza taking action?

Asking for some very gulllible, myopic people I know.