If you were going to write the DNC or Kerry Campaign

[OrwellwasRight]

about the biggest message mistakes over the last four years (McAuliffe's tenure, during which we lost seats during every election), what would say are the top three failures?

Include commercials you would like to have seen, arguments not made, issues not addressed.

Hey, I figure WE are the Democratic party, so WE might as well give the new leadership some direction. Power to the people!!

:dem:

[TryingToWarnYou]

1. Of course, neither the Kerry campaign or the DNC seems to be around

They both jumped ship on us.

[gauguin57]

2. How can you be so sure they jumped ship? If Kerry were going to

prepare to challenge the votes after the provisionals are counted, do you think he'd really be doing it out in the open right now? No WAY he could do that -- he'd tip off the Repugs, who would be giving him the "sore loserman" treatment and gaining the psychological advantage in the p.r. war. Not to mention they'd bury him in dirty tricks. Kerry has to completely fly under the radar right now; in order to watch out for our votes, he can't say what he's doing. I don't WANT to hear from him about how he's going to deal with the vote fraud ... I want it TOTALLY SPRUNG on the Repugs!

Skinner says the Kerry campaign & lawyers are closely following developments. Kerry can't ask for a recount until all the votes are counted the first time -- and they haven't (provisionals, overseas absentees).

His concession can easily be taken back and he can easily ask for a recount when the irregularites have been looked into.

[OrwellwasRight]

4. I'm not so sure we win the p.r. war by "unconceding"

They can use clips from his concessin speech in their ads, and it is just another flip flop. I know that concession speeches have no legally binding effect, but they do have an effect on the public's mindset. To the public outside the DU, it is over, Kerry lost and Bush won. It is over. They won't be too happy to see uncertainty take over again.

See this link for more thoughts on why not to concede:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=34735&mesg_id=35208

However, I'm trying to get opinions about pre-election strategy failures. Got any to share? Pleez?

[frylock]

7. don't hold your breath waiting for criticism of kerry or his campaign..

it's just a big Kerry lovefest here; he fought so bravely. There's already a group of people who couldn't wait to impugn Nader for having the audacity to ask for a recount in NH.

[OrwellwasRight]

8. What happened to Fighting and Acrimony?

Maybe I'm on the wrong forum. What happened to the buckets of fire that were spewing about commercials that never ran?

Isn't it after my bedtime anyway? Maybe I should pick this up again tomorrow. ;-)

[frylock]

9. was just gonna send you a pm..

asking you what the hell you were doing up so late? :hi:

[PATRICK]

14. The DNC appears

not to even know that it jumped ship. The wake up call that they are no longer a functioning party has not reached their ears, nor any responsibility alarms that have been clanging rather more clearly for several years.

Blind irrelevance. And because they don't even get it, democracy continues to be lost and ignorance rules, accountability zip, the future nullified.

Of all the fantasies, there's is the worst. The mad RW is more comprehensible and certainly more realistic in practice.

[Mz Pip]

3. I got an e-mail

from the Kerry campaign.

I responded and laid into them for not making a fuss about the voter irregularities.

This is huge and they do nothing. Maybe they don't deserve to win.

MzPip
:dem:

[FrenchieCat]

5. Dear Senator Kerry,

Your campaign theme song was "No Surrender". All I want to know is....what happened? You said that you would fight FOR US....not for your reputation.

John Edwards came out and said that we were not giving up...and that you all would fight for US. Next morning, you step out waving a white flag.

Was that a flip flop or what? I need to know. Surrender or No Surrender? Which is it?

[gauguin57]

6. I repeat ... why should they tip their hand by making public statements

right now? Why should Kerry/Edwards tell US what they're up to? This must be done QUIETLY. I'm not assuming they've abandoned the fight till I have proof.

[TryingToWarnYou]

10. What more do you need?

I would not give up this fight if there was a chance that we would prevail. But it is now clear that even when all the provisional ballots are counted, which they will be, there won't be enough outstanding votes for us to be able to win Ohio. And therefore, we can not win this election.

Kerry *has* given up. I hope you are right though, I would love to see him come back with facts and information that showed a vote discrepancy, but Im not holding my breath.

[demokatgurrl]

11. I already wrote, and we ALL should, right now.

Mistakes we are about to make:
pandering to the religious right
REQUIRING our next nominee to be from the south

Mistakes we made:
trying to fight "clean" against dirty, no-conscience repukes
letting the Swift Boat liars get away with it
picking the wrong VP candidate
not attacking Bush on his WEAKNESS in national security and his
f'ing up the Iraq war

[OrwellwasRight]

13. I agree, we all should write, call, be heard!

Why not Edwards, btw? Who instead?

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. I am sure they really want to hear from a Green. *lol* I'll leave it to

the dems to set the Dems straight. ;)

-----------------------------------------------------------
FIGHT! Take this country back one town and state at a time!
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/electionreform.htm

[PATRICK]

15. OK, I'll bite

Are the Greens or any third party challenging the loss of their right to a fair election, the loss of the vote entirely? Or have they gone along with de facto de-legitimization, become irrelevant and non-functional as a party?

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. Well, most third parties I know of are calling for election reform

-----------------------------------------------------------
FIGHT! Take this country back one town and state at a time!
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/electionreform.htm