What is the best way to send the Democrats the message that we are PISSED!

[boston bean]

And not just pissed, but that if they don't do something about the issues like healthcare, torture cover up, war, lgbt rights and womens rights there will be political hell to pay?

Is it to sit out the 2010 elections?

Write letters and call??

Vote 3rd Party??

What is the answer to this question?

If we could find the answer, we all could probably agree and make some headway.

I do know one thing for sure, all of us sitting around here saying we need to just get along, is not going to change one thing in this country.

[AllentownJake]

1. Do not sit out in 2010

Best way to send the party a message is if the President is still pissing you of in 2012 to campaign for his primary challenger.

I cannot emphasize this enough, do not, I repeat, do not sit out in 2010.

[spoony]

3. Good points.

That's really the only way to scare them but not shoot ourselves in the foot in the meantime.

[emulatorloo]

4. True, the last thing we need is an influx of Teabag Senators and Reps.

Because the Teabaggers are not going to stay home.

My Republican Senator is up, I will do everything in my power to unseat him.

My Dem Senator is one of the best there is.

[sellitman]

9. I use to be on that page

Now I'm not so sure it matters.

If we get bad desisions and more of the same with either party then the lesser of 2 evils may be just to work for good local candidates and forget the national election.

Mind you....I'm not there yet...it's still early but what we are witnessing is gut wrenching and disheartening.

[AllentownJake]

11. I'm fucking pissed right now

However, the last thing anyone needs is a Senator Toomey.

[jtrockville]

23. I think "the Democrats" refers to more than just the President. (nt)

[AllentownJake]

26. If your choice is Evan Bayh or a Tea Bagger

Do what you feel is right, they are about morally equivalent. However, don't be pissed when the GOP has an additional caucus vote.

[jtrockville]

35. I'll be no more PISSED then, than I am now without GOP's additional vote.

DEMOCRATS have the majority, but the GOP is running the show. I'd be delighted if you could tell me how that would change if the GOP gains a seat or two.

FWIW I would rather have Democrats in charge. Voting them in didn't seem to accomplish that goal.

[AllentownJake]

37. Pat Toomy is an awful human being

My choice in 2010 is him having the title of Senator or lodging a protest against the party. I choose to hold my protest for 2012.

[dysfunctional press]

24. the party isn't going to change if people keep rewarding shitty reps with their votes.

get a clue.
things often have to get worse before they can get better.

[AllentownJake]

28. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater

Don't not show up. If there is a real bad dem, do a write in. There are probably down ballot races with good dems.

[dysfunctional press]

34. unless they pass a healthcare bill that is to my liking- i'm sitting out 2010.

and i'm not alone.

sorry. :shrug:

[AllentownJake]

43. Do what you feel is right

However, you will probably have a good guy on your ballot in 2010, not one of the assholes in the Senate Race. You probably should at least be involved in the primary.

[lsewpershad]

80. I agree

Do not sit 2010 out. Recruit and vote for real progressives and kick out the pricks who are pissing you off.

[Jakes Progress]

101. This, too, is my inclination.

But I am sometimes persuaded by the concept of the nihilist philosophy of change. We thought things were bad under bush. Maybe they didn't get bad enough for people to really want change. They thought they could elect a black president and then everything would be better. Then they let corporate America off scott free. I have friends who think that we need maybe 12 years of republicans - maybe 16 - before people get it. Really get it.

As it is. The Corporate Party (both the D and the R wings) just keep stringing us along, playing bad cop-worse cop. They swap out flavors to make you thing Pepsi is a world of difference from Coke. We put in a D majority in the House and Senate, but got what we had before.

I, too, am scared of the hell unfettered neocon rule would do to the people of our country. But until people wake up, we will just continue the corporate merry go round.

[emulatorloo]

2. 1) CALL THEM 2) work to get better candidates

Even in the "Blue Dog" territories I think we could find moderate Dems with more principles than the ones we have now. Those districts may not elect a liberal, but the "moderates" they have now lack integrity and aren't representing their districts.

[NJmaverick]

7. The primaries are where the common person can most influence policy

[Waiting For Everyman]

38. +1

[tabbycat31]

124. +1

and I wish the party would start utilizing primaries more, especially with unpopular incumbents

[gateley]

5. I think we need to keep calling and e-mailing and maybe a

demonstration?

I'm not willing to sit out the 2010 elections, nor am I willing to vote for a 3rd party candidate just to get the point across. If a Repub gets the seat, we've shot ourselves in the collective foot, hurting us more than it hurts them.

We've got to figure out a way to get them to do what We The People want them to do -- that's why they're there.

[ClassWarrior]

6. Do NOT sit out the 2010 elections. Write letters and call, definitely. Visit your Dem reps too...

...in fact, take a delegation of folks to visit them.

Support primary challengers against DINOs.

And...

Never Give Up.

[graywarrior]

8. Take out full page Help Wanted ads looking for dems to run against them

[gateley]

14. I LOVE that!

And it sounds do-able!

Get all those who have 'bad' Dems up for an election to run a full page ad in their newspaper on the same day. Across the country -- hundreds of of full-page help wanted ads! They'd be sure to take notice.

Those of us who aren't in that situation could maybe contribute a few bucks to the fund.

How do we organize that?

[graywarrior]

18. I'd donate to have an ad in CT

[gateley]

54. I think lots of people would donate -- I really think it's a GREAT idea! nt

[graywarrior]

84. We should promote it.

[OneGrassRoot]

93. +1 -- Great idea! :) n/t

[gateley]

97. I've actually been giving it some thought.

Not sure where to begin except maybe at our local Dem headquarters?

I was thinking there has to be a number to call, or a Please Apply To provision. So maybe the Dem headquarters would work.

I'll go to the Washington State forum and ask for suggestions for my state, maybe we can really get something going.

Any ideas? Since it was YOUR idea to begin with. I just gotta say again -- it's brilliant!

I can just see it now on the national news "Democrats ran Help Wanted ads in 300 newspapers across the country today..."

[Lydia Leftcoast]

67. Ooh, I like that one!

Get together however many like-minded friends and buy an ad that says:

HELP WANTED
POPULIST DEMOCRAT WHO PUTS ORDINARY PEOPLE FIRST

MUST ADVOCATE FOR THE FOLLOWING ISSUES:

BRINGING LIVING WAGE JOBS BACK TO AMERICA

UNIVERSAL SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE

CUTTING BACK ON WASTEFUL MILITARY SPENDING... (List other issues that may be of local interest)

AVAILABLE TO START CAMPAIGNING IMMEDIATELY

[graywarrior]

89. You heard it here first, folks!

[gateley]

10. PS -- I heard that Obama told the Bankers, "I'm the only thing

standing between you and the pitchforks" -- so I think they know we're pissed. They just don't seem to care all that much.

[Cleita]

15. Maybe President Obama should get out of the way and let the

pitchforks fall where they may. It might be interesting how it plays out.

[AllentownJake]

19. Once an angry mob starts

It is hard to get it to stop, better to take a Roosevelt approach.

[Cleita]

39. Well, we aren't settled in Hoovervilles yet outside the Washington beltway.

I'm all for sit-ins on K street though, the Ghandi approach. Obstruct the entrances to their offices, peacefully, of course.

[ldf]

44. the only "angry mobs" that materialize

are always on the right.

and we see how much that got THEM...

(at this point, that may, or may NOT need the sarcasm smilie... :shrug:)

i think angry mobs on the opposite side are all we have left. and we know THAT is not going to happen. we have idol and lost and tiger and hundreds of other more important things to worry our beautiful minds about.

i will not reward democrats for pushing forward the republican agenda. the time of voting for the lesser, because that is all we have, is over, for me.

apparently we need to hit rock bottom, before some "democratic leaders" get the message. so be it.

and apparently rock bottom means having their asses handed to them on a silver platter. and we know that the dlc crowd will never allow more progressive dems to win.

so that doesn't leave much choice.

the dlc banks on the fact that we have nowhere else to go. and they control our choices.

and i am beginning to think that the american people, bless their little hearts, deserve everything they get.

what if the teabaggers DID gain control, and ran wild? do you think that would wake the moderate/centrist/independent/middleoftheroaders up? or are we in a coma?

no, don't answer that. it is too depressing.

[greymattermom]

12. the phone calls

Now, when I get fundraising calls, I tell them that I'm contributing to individual candidates rather than to the party as a whole. And that's what I do.

[mascarax]

70. same here - tell them, "We're not donating to the DNC, DSCC or DCCC...

only directly to candidates that represent us."

[Taverner]

13. Flood and keep flooding your reps and senators with mail

[Rosa Luxemburg]

16. Visit your congressman's advice session or ask for an appointment

they don't think they are doing anything wrong.

[seeinfweggos]

17. don't know, but as someone who isn't pissed i plan on voting a straight democratic ticket

go dems go obama

[mmonk]

20. Visit them with a boatload of money in your pocket.

They are deaf without that.

[stray cat]

21. Act just like the pissed off teabaggers on the extreme right?

we all know they are pissed and I'm sure we all respect them for it.....:rofl:

[Aramchek]

22. Hold your breath.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

25. Peace of the Action is where I'm putting my energy.

writing letters doesn't work anymore, nor do phone calls- nor apparently does a landslide vote for "Change"

and your correct- sittin' typin' and bitchin' ain't changing a thing either.

Marches on the weekend with a permit don't work, and will only attract media attention if you go to a Michelle Bachman 'media event' with
tea-bags taped to your home made mis-spelled hate placard.

The greens have tried 3rd party for a long time, and never really bust through- but if a Bernie Sanders type politician ran with them, they might.

The answer is a constant daily stream of individuals coming together, day after day- clogging up, slowing down, and making the daily life of our
politicians more difficult to work in DC- A committed group of 1000 people per day laying down in major thorough fares, high traffic areas who
know the mission is peaceful resistance and likely arrest- jamming their courts, jamming their jails- DAILY- everyday during the week while congress
is in session- claiming to do work for the people.

I'm getting the word out on Peace of the Action, to start this spring in conjunction with the 7th anniversary of our illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq.

This action is not just about our wars, but the entire military industrial complex, which includes all the big businesses, banking, wall street, insurance companies,
because they all have lobbyists who are truly the only masters of our politicians.

The link for this action is here. http://peaceoftheaction.org/

We need 5000 committed soldiers of peace to start this action- Videographers, bloggers, those who will put it on the line for our future.

[Journeyman]

27. Yes, sitting out the election or voting 3rd party -- that'll show 'em!. . .

When our Democratic reps have to return to their districts as private citizens and live with a-hole representation from a teabagging asshat, that'll teach 'em not to take advantage of the opportunity we gave them to make meaningful change in the country. Maybe the next time (if there is a next time, given how unbelievably screwed we'll be if irrational teabaggers take control), but if there is a "next time" and we're able to generate a majority again, maybe then they'll know how to use the power we invested in them.

Or come to think of it, maybe we should try to get better candidates in place for the primaries, or perhaps devise new, more useful methods to influence our present reps. I don't know yet what those methods may be, but I'm convinced sitting out an election and essentially handing my fate over to crazed, irrational reprobates, won't serve my interests, the interests of my children, or the future of the society I dream may one day be possible.

[dysfunctional press]

29. a MASSIVE march on washington dc would certainly send a message...

that people aren't going to continue to be good little proles.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

45. Marches don't work! Because they only allow permits for weekends

When our congressmen and senators are safely back home in their districts where
they claim they meet with their constituents.

My peace group cannot get a meeting with our congressman and he used to be a vote
we could count on. The one time we got a meeting with him was after we refused to
leave his office- The police were called, we all got arrested, but the charges were
then dropped in court because NO ONE wants to prosecute us as they know we would
air our claims of war crimes.

The only way a march can work is if it's done without permits, illegally, but peacefully
on a WEDNESDAY while congress is in session.

[dysfunctional press]

64. people don't need a permit to descend on the capitol.

it's a free country.

if all of the unemployed and all of the uninsured, and the rest of the citizenry that cares were to show up in dc, demanding CHANGE...i think that they'd notice.

[boston bean]

71. maybe a march planned for a Sunday

that out of shear exuberance didn't end and with no planning fell over into monday morning?

[cali]

30. In 2010 I will happily vote for Senator Leahy and Rep. Welch

Not everyone here has a dem Senator or Rep who they think sucks.

[ChiciB1]

90. That's Something That I Don't think Will EVER Happen Where I Live!

Florida DOES have a certain reputation by now, but MY DISTRICT is more than awful! Repukes for more years than I like to recall! At LEAST 30 years! Katherine (Cruella) Harris was ACTUALLY my Representative for TWO terms!

It's NOT easy being a Democrat here, and more than difficult getting ANY type of Democratic coalition together! Believe me, I've tried!

[csziggy]

118. Yeah, in my district we are "lucky" to have Allen Boyd and Bill Nelson

Because if all voters left of center did not vote for them, we'd have Republicans in those offices - Katherine Harris ran against Nelson last time around. I WILL be voting for whoever runs against those two the next time they are in primaries, and volunteering for their Democratic opponents if they are more progressive but I will NOT be sitting out any elections.

[lovelyrita]

125. I'm Florida Congressional District 12.

We've had a fundy do nothing Adam Putnam who has thankfully decided to run for statewide office this time and vacate his seat. This conservative district actually has a chance to vote for a true liberal that could actually win in Doug Tudor. I will not be sitting out in 2010 because I actually want a representative in congress that represents me.

I think in times like this where it seems the national party has abandoned the left, people should try to change their local areas. Go to county DEC meetings, local democratic clubs, and join groups like DFA or PDA. It is possible to sway local groups to the left, you just need to show up and do something. Even in Florida.

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

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

[WeDidIt]

36. So you choose to move the Democrats further right

The Democrats seek votes from the political mainstream.

The political mainstream is comprised of those people who vote for either the Democrats or Republicans. Third PArty voters are considered out of the mainstream and too radical to seek votes from.

Thus, every time somebody votes Green or Socialist, they move the Democratic Party further to the right.

[Kermitt Gribble]

60. Bullshit.

Dems got record numbers of votes in 2006 and 2008, yet the party is still moving rightward.

To continue giving your vote to a representative that doesn't vote in your best interest sends a message that you approve of their performance.

[WeDidIt]

61. You are very very wrong

The Democratic Party is further left right now than any time during the 21st century.

Want it to go more to the left? Get active in those races where a liberal primary opponent could unseat a blue dog. Case in point, Arlen Specter.

[Kermitt Gribble]

68. The whole 9 years of the 21st century???

Well, there's not a whole lot to compare to considering they spent 6 of those 9 years as a minority party.

"Getting active" didn't work out so well for the left after 2006 and 2008. You can't expect people to work for the Party when the Party doesn't work for them.

[WeDidIt]

72. Again, you are very very wrong

2006 and 2008 were breakthrough years for the left and finally the agenda is shifting to the left.

But the purist idiots on the left are too stupid to realize it takes time and have already given up, which will only force the Democratic Party back to the right.

[boston bean]

73. please spell out, because sometimes I can be a bit thick

exactly the bold progressive agenda that is being pursued by our elected democratic officials?

And when I say pursued, I am referring to a real push, arm twisting, republican like tactics to get the party to commit to what was promised to us.

If the Republicans could get through that disgusting agenda they got through, Democrats should be able to do the same.

I don't care about being better than them and not resorting to their political tactics.

Not being like them is enacting policies that aren't like theirs.

[WeDidIt]

75. I get your problem

You want Democrats to act like Republicans.

:eyes:

[boston bean]

76. Answer my question, if you can, please

What progressive agenda have they been pushing??

I do want them to use whatever the hell tactic they need to use to get progressive legislation passed. Since they won't, I can only come to the conclusion that they don't want to pursue a progressive agenda.

[WeDidIt]

78. Health Care Reform

It needed to be pushed for the past fifteen years. It's being pushed now.

Climate change needed to be pushed for the past decade, it is being pushed now.

Wall Street regulation. It needed to be pushed for the past two decades and it is just beginning to be pushed now.

Those are only three examples. That you disregard them demonstrates your ignorance of how politics works. That none go as far as you would like and thus you ignore the agenda is further evidence of your ignorance of how politics works.

[boston bean]

79. okaaayyyy...

health care reform has been beaten down to health insurance reform, in favor of insurance companies.

We are now begging wall street to lend to main street after giving them nearly a trillion in welfare..... There is no regulation regarding CDO's and CDS's.

Climate change, will have to wait and see.

Is it enough to just address these issues, even though they resemble nothing progressive?

Is that how low the bar has been set? If so, we deserve what we get.

[WeDidIt]

81. I see more from your disregard of the agenda

and it definitely shows your ignorance of how politics works.

[boston bean]

82. my ignorance of how politics works? let me let you in a little secret

It is you who are ignorant of how politics works.

In your little world, just bringing something up for a vote is success and ignore the result.

You are a simpleton and a sycophant.

The Republicans most definitely would have brought healthcare up and would have made it exactly what it is today. A give away of billions to health insurance corporations.

[WeDidIt]

85. Medicare SUCKED in 1965

But it took from 1947 to 1965 to get it passed.

It took until 1972 before it become something truly good.

So yeah, you are IGNORANT of how politics works.

[boston bean]

86. Give me a freakin break. Trumans dream was national universal healthcare.

Not mandated private insurance with no public option.

This bill isn't pursuing Trumans dream, it's dismantling it!

[WeDidIt]

91. What a steaming pile of bullshit

You will NEVER get what you want in one single shot.

Again, you demonstrate your ignorance of how politics works. HEalth care reform was first proposed by Theodore Roosevelt more than a century ago. FDR wanted to do something about it but did not have the political capital to do so. Truman tried and failed. LBJ got MEdicare started, and it was built upon. Hell, there was even an attempt under Nixon.

Clinton's failed attempt was the classic example of over reaching.

You must start somewhere, but no. Liberal asshole purists are going to kill our one shot of haveing anything meaningful in the way of health care reform in place before 2036.

If you pass what comes out this year, you'll have something meaningful by 2016.

But asshole purists want it all right now or nothing at all.

[boston bean]

92. I do not need your history lesson. Let's get on with the facts, ok?

The starting point is mandating Americans to buy insurance from a private corporation with NO public option?

What is this meaningful start you speak of. Tell me what it is? What is this opening the door too?

This is not healthcare reform, it is health insurance reform, private health insurance reform at that.

I'll continue being purist while you continue on your merry little incrementalist, pragmatist, asshole sell out ways that kills any chance of a national healthcare program for a century.

This legislation is the national healthcares death knell, not its opening act.

[Kermitt Gribble]

77. Not sure what 'agenda' you see

as shifting to the left. Pro-corporate 'health care reform', support of the Patriot Act, escalating a pointless war, destroying public education in favor of charter schools, looting the treasury for bank 'bailouts'...

There has been no 'shift to the left'. We have 2 parties with the same agenda. The only 'idiots' I see are those 'moderates' who keep getting shit on and saying thank you sir, may I have another.

[TheBigotBasher]

100. I the Democrats lose

the message it sends is not to move further to the left, but further to the right. The News Media have pretty much, signed, sealed and delivered that message. The lesson the Party big wigs will learn is not that health care should have been better, but that the tea baggers were right. Not that the stimulus was not enough, but Americans do not like spending bills.

The Party needs to deliver - so that it drowns out the voices of the far right.

[Kermitt Gribble]

106. Apparently, after wins in 2006 and 2008,

the message it sends is also "not to move further to the left, but further to the right." I guess we're screwed either way.

[TheBigotBasher]

108. Did it?

The DLC campaign got wiped out in 2008, the only way it could have won was by undoing the Florida / Michigan Primaries, where a certain candidate lied about respecting the rules.

The only problem was that the voters did not change the Congress as well. So whoever won the Democratic Primaries, the result would have been the same. Conservadems ruling the legislative roost.

[Kermitt Gribble]

111. Um, hate to break this to you, but

the DLC ran 2 campaigns in 2008 - one lost the primaries, the other won the GE.

[Name removed]

41. Deleted message

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

[Tejas]

48. The poster has a point, do you?

Do you not remember the bloodbath in DC in 1994?

[begin_within]

62. Thank you. +1

[Blue-Jay]

32. Call their offices and say "I'm pissed"?

Was that supposed to be a difficult question?

[PeaceNikki]

42. Writing them an email with the subject line of "I'm pissed" works, too, also.

[boston bean]

49. does it really?? nt

[WeDidIt]

33. Voting Third Party only moves the Democratic Party to the right

Third Party voters are out of the mainstream and both parties seek only to gain votes from the mainstream, thus if voters move to a left wing third party, the mainstream moves further right.

Primaries are the vehicle through which you drive the Democratic Party to the left.

[Shagbark Hickory]

46. Fine. Who cares. What's the difference?

What does it really matter when the policymaking is the same whether it comes from a republican or democrat?

The democrats really brought this upon themselves but this isn't the first time. We must remember that the pendulum has been swinging to and fro since forever.

[WeDidIt]

52. You are operating under a false premise.

Policymaking is NOT the same whether it comes from a Republican or Democrat.

If we had a Republican controlled Congress, health care reform would nnot even be debated, let alone be ready for a floor vote in the Senate.

[Shagbark Hickory]

55. Operating under false premises is what I do best. They call me the Smooth Operator.

Democrat, republican, no matter.
They're both going to take us back to the stoneage. One's just going to do it a lot faster.

[WeDidIt]

59. Buh Bye

Click

[Shagbark Hickory]

69. K! Bah!

Click

[Odin2005]

40. Work to elect liberal candidates in primaries. Duh.

Organize a march on Washington.

Or would you rather sit in a Lazy Boy waxing poetic about violent revolution?

[boston bean]

47. What happens when you do and then they continue to cow tow to the right

and get bought out by corporations??

[Blue-Jay]

53. Well, then I guess you're fucked.

[boston bean]

58. yep.... nt

[Jamastiene]

122. Oh, we are already fucked. n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

50. The only thing that gets their attention is votes. Receiving them or losing them.

Which is why I vote issues rather than party or politician.

If they want my vote they have to earn it.

[boston bean]

51. I agree voting issues, vs. voting party. But didn't people vote

for Barack? The issues he spoke too?? Then we get handed a bag of goods on many issues.

The entire party is sick. How can we make them listen and throw the liberals a bone sometime.

Do they just deserve our vote because they "say" something we relate to, or believe in?

I'm not entirely sure how to do it, but do you think, and I am asking seriously, shouldn't the entire party be held responsible for what they do as a group? If not, then it can be easily manipulated. Rham has done a magnificent job with it.

[amborin]

95. mass, coordinated "un-subscribes" being advocated on common dreams, for starters

[Individualist]

109. Exactly. The vote is the only real power we have.

[ThomWV]

56. TELEPHONE your Representative first.

It is so very easy, it costs less than a stamp, and it only takes seconds to dial and as long as you wish to get your point across.

Call their local office(s), call their DC office, if you can get their home number call it too. Call their committee and leave messages for them, get at them every way a telephone will allow you to. Then move to to the US Mail. With it you get to put out the same letter three times, once to your CongressCritter and then a copy to each of your Senators.

Best of course is if you find yourself in DC, stop by their Office and tell them what you think.

[DailyGrind51]

57. Unfortunately, punishing the Party ultimately hurts us!

Look what happened to Jimmy Carter second term run.

[begin_within]

63. The party is already hurting us

by caving and not doing what they said they would do in the campaign. And they will continue to do the same as long as we fall for it, over and over, every election. I've been fooled too many times by populist talk during the campaign, only to vote for them and see them serve corporate interests. They've done it one too many times for me. I would rather see them lose again to the Republicans and teach them a lesson, why they lost.

[DailyGrind51]

123. Do you remember the Reagan administration?

Disaffected Jackson and Kennedy supporters stayed home.

[Edweird]

65. The trick is getting them to CARE that you are pissed. If you don't have

millions of dollars to 'donate' and a squad of high priced call girls at your command, it's likely they don't give a shit what you have to say. Campaigns run on money. Until there is real campaign finance reform, don't expect anything different.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

66. Before you decide, look at your Congresscritter's record

My Rep (Keith Ellison) has been on the right side of most issues, so I will have no trouble voting for him.

If you have a Blue Dog, my condolences. See if there's a primary challenger. Work for him/her and get your friends to do so. If you can find someone who is good at PR and guerrilla marketing so much the better. Make sure the Blue Dog and the media KNOW s/he has a challenger.

[LWolf]

74. At least one

of the best ways to send a message is not allowed for discussion on DU, so I'll pass that one by.

I think the strongest message is to be sent in the primaries. I will not cast a vote for a centrist.


Personally, I plan to call, email, and mail regularly reminding my reps that my vote is earned, what it takes to earn it, whether or not they've yet done so, and where my votes and support will be going if they don't.

[leeroysphitz]

83. You should write them a strongly worded letter. n/t

[WilliamPitt]

87. Post on a message board.

[boston bean]

88. Works for you, no?

You're a condescending nudge, aren't you?

[WilliamPitt]

103. At times

Go Pats. :)

(the 'Phins avatar is there cuz I lost a bet to trumad, btw)

(go Pats)

(and yes, I am, at times, a full-bird douche with oak-leaf clusters)

(go Pats)

( ;) )

[JackDragna]

110. Since you seem to need some additional piling-on..

Who Dat?

[YvonneCa]

94. I'm sure they already know that. My advice is to take a deep...

...breath and FIGHT HARD to GAIN seats in 2010. Do NOT sit it out...get MORE INVOLVED!

[gleaner]

96. You gave two good ways ....

Right here and now,contact the DNC and the Democratic officials and representatives and Obama and tell them you are disaffected and why, Be polite, but do tell them. Calling if fine, letters are even better. And keep doing it. Every single time they do something offensive to you or harmful to the country, tell them again. Ask as many other Democrats that you know who are of like mind to do the same thing if they are so moved.

As an individual, make an appointment with your Congressman and discuss this in person. I have done it when I had a Republican Congressman. I made a short list of points I wanted to go over and questions I wanted to ask and we had a polite discussion. I suggested this to his other constituents when they complained about him and some of them did it too. My union and I went as a group to see several congress people who were acting against our interest and to try to persuade them that proposed legislation was not a good idea. We kept it pleasant, we did not threaten, we just let them know that they were losing support. At the national level we formed a PAC and saw that what money we had went to candidates of like mind. We gave them good word of mouth. It worked to a degree which was actually quite helpful.

My Republican congressman was voted out in the next election and replaced with a Democrat who was more in touch with the needs of the people in that district, and some of the PAC candidates made it too. One of the things we told them before hand was that we would not volunteer to campaign for or to help people who were holding office and not taking any action in our best interest. They were not so interested at first, but when they needed help and didn't get it, we got their attention. By then we were working for others and told them so. The squeals of pain were audible.

I also regularly wrote to the RNC during the Bush years to tell them how they appeared to people with values other than earning money, and especially about Katrina. They answered me, but I don't know if it changed anything. Probably not. Katrina, however was my tipping point and I could not let them think that my silence meant that I thought it was acceptable. Sometimes you just have to speak up and tell them loud and clear in both parties.

Try any or all of these techniques starting now, before you get too close to the Congressional elections in 2010. See if you can get some positive responses. If not, cut bait and work the primaries. Good luck.

[sendero]

98. I haven't read the ENTIRE thread..

... but I basically don't care for any of the ideas I've read because they don't address the only thing that drives the behavior of most congresspersons.

And that is staying in office. That's all they really care about. Why do corporations hold such sway over them? Because they need that money to get reelected.

If I gave a shit, and I'm rapidly reaching the conclusion that it's hopeless but maybe there is some hope, I'd target certain senators for reelection defeat.

I would tell the 5 blue dogs that gutted the health care bill that the actions they took are going to cost them their perk-encrusted cushy ass jobs. Then I'd set up a web site to collect money for their opponents (dem) and try to simply get them out of congress. I'd use DU and every other progressive web portal to help.

Actually targeting specific congresspersons for their actions and running a few out of office will send a message no number of demonstrations, which will be IGNORED by the media and brutally supressed by LE, will.

[billh58]

99. The United States of America

has been steadily changing since it declared Independence from Great Britain in 1776. Every generation of Liberal Americans since then has declared that "change" needs to happen immediately, or that change does not happen fast enough, under our representative form of Democracy. Every generation of Conservative Americans since then has declared that "change" either isn't necessary, or is happening too fast, under our representative form of Democracy. The fact is that the struggle never ends, and is only passed from one generation to the next -- each with its own set of priorities and perceived needs based on current circumstances.

Threatening to withhold your vote, or voting for an obvious spoiler, will do absolutely nothing to "send a message" to anyone. Writing letters, calling, and contacting your Congressional Representatives by any means possible is the ONLY way to make your voice heard under our system of representative government. In theory, the POTUS should represent the wishes of the majority of ALL Americans, while our Senators and Congressional Representatives should represent the wishes of the majority of their State or District constituents.

Until we can reverse the asinine SCOTUS decision that Big Money (Large Corporations) hold "personhood" status, force Congress to legislate meaningful political campaign finance reform, and establish Congressional term-limits, we will be subject to the Golden Rule: those with the gold, will continue to rule.

Reinventing the wheel by forming Third-Parties will only treat the symptoms temporarily, but the disease of greed and power-mongering will remain. Until Big Money is no longer able to buy the votes of our political representatives, the voters will continue to be left with a choice of the lesser-of-two-evils in most cases.

[rucky]

102. Register as independent (unless there's a good primary challenger) n/t

[lib2DaBone]

104. Demacorps..Republicorps.. it matters not......

2 sides of the same coin.....

[mdmc]

105. I think that we should hold a tea party

:)

[Kievan Rus]

107. Stay home on election day

[Mithreal]

112. nonviolent civil disobedience

[Capn Sunshine]

113. Spend lots of money and work your ass off organizing

support only those whose message is compatible with your views of what should be. Run those candidates in the primary and win. Organize youe own tea party movement.

THAT sends the message.

Now get offline and make it happen. I better hear from you.

[western mass]

114. If you're not willing to withhold your vote

then your concerns mean nothing.

If Democrats know that they can count on your vote no matter what they do, because you're frightened by the "Republicans are worse" mantra, then they can ignore you. And it would perfectly rational for them to do so.

Writing letters, making phone calls, and general griping and whining won't change that...unless you're also willing to NOT VOTE for them when the chips are down.

[LostInAnomie]

115. Designate some of the worst conservative Dems, target them, and sit out their elections.

I think a lot of people are dreaming about running a primary challenger against conservaDems. For one, most of these rightward leaning Dems live in conservative areas. A liberal candidate would never get elected. Two, the media would frame it as liberals trying to "Teabag" an election. So, when the liberal candidate loses the only lesson to take would be that liberal policies don't sell to the general public. What we need to do is let them drown.

Letting the most conservative of Dems drown would show that if you are going to vote against liberal policies, we won't vote for you. If the conservaDem wins, at least he will get a good scare. If they lose, what have we really lost?

Vote for the rest of the democratic field. Just don't vote for the ones that are targeted.

[diane in sf]

116. I make it a point to let them know my time and money are going to true progressives

[apocalypsehow]

117. I'm a registered Democrat and I'm not pissed. What gives?

:shrug:

[Kablooie]

119. We should all send them jars of piss.

[DainBramaged]

120. Does anyone here really think they even stop by here, or give a shit about us?

Really, with what's going on does anyone for one second think Washington gives a shit about us? Maybe if someone got serious about term limits this shit would end. But the rest of you are dreaming if you think they give a shit.

[Jamastiene]

121. Instead of marginalizing true progressive candidates,

we need to just vote for them. No matter what anyone else says or how much we might worry about "the other side" winning, if we see a true progressive on our ballots (primary or general), we need to vote for them. That especially applies to our primaries.

I would have preferred to have been able to vote for Kucinich this last time in the primaries, but he was forced out before my state ever got to our primaries. So was Edwards.

Otherwise, I am honestly at a loss as to what to do.

[Le Taz Hot]

126. My suggestion isn't allowed on this board.

That's your answer.