Embittered election postmortem (please let's just have this one thread to vent)
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  Embittered election postmortem (please let's just have this one thread to vent)
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Author Topic: Embittered election postmortem (please let's just have this one thread to vent)  (Read 6353 times)
Ljube
Junior Chimp
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« Reply #25 on: November 05, 2014, 04:42:01 AM »

Vacumist election, as I felt the same way in 2004. But we still won in NH and Va our prez battlegrounds. Appeals Crt Nominees for judgeship are held up in cmtee anyways, due to blue slip policy. Trade, resume Iraq airstrikes will be on table. But, this hasnt transformed the senate for 16 as NH, IL WI and Pa will be pickups as well as winning them for prez.

Quinn had no business running, he should have been primaried.

Yes. If we can't win in NH and VA in off years, it is going to be tough, next to impossible to win there in presidential years.
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retromike22
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« Reply #26 on: November 05, 2014, 04:43:10 AM »

I'm down but not depressed. This is not as bad as how down Democrats felt right after 2004. Just 2 years ago we won the presidency and kept the Senate. And now you guys are like lemmings jumping off a cliff.

People need a reason to vote for us. Instead of saying 'This Republican will do (blank), don't vote for them' we should have doubled down on what the democratic party has actually done since 2008. Where were all the ads promoting Obamacare? Oh no, we passed something significant?! Let's run away! Instead of owning up to it. Hell, even the GOP is still mostly confident that invading Iraq was a good thing.

Democrats need DISCIPLINE. There's such a lack of coordination between Obama and the Congressional Dems. I always thought there would be since he was a former senator, but i guess he wasn't there long enough.

What gives me hope is that on the specific issues... Democrats actually support those issues. ARKANSAS voted to increase the minimum wage. Run on that fools! Want an expansion of Medicaid? Vote for us! How about... expanding Medicare so that everyone under 18 is covered? Democrats need to remember what they stand for and stand proud for it so voters know. Remember those 'keep government out of my Medicare' folks? Go up to them and remind them who gave them Medicare in the first place.

You can't win by having flimsy positions or running against your own party's accomplishments. Stand up for what you believe! Americans actually support many of those same beliefs. Democrats just have to remind them that we support these causes, we have a great record of enacting these changes and with these beliefs we will continue to move forward!

FORWARD TO VICTORY 2016!
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Ljube
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« Reply #27 on: November 05, 2014, 04:46:38 AM »


What gives me hope is that on the specific issues... Democrats actually support those issues. ARKANSAS voted to increase the minimum wage. Run on that fools! Want an expansion of Medicaid? Vote for us! How about... expanding Medicare so that everyone under 18 is covered? Democrats need to remember what they stand for and stand proud for it so voters know. Remember those 'keep government out of my Medicare' folks? Go up to them and remind them who gave them Medicare in the first place.


Most Republicans support those same things.
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BM
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« Reply #28 on: November 05, 2014, 04:50:20 AM »

The old white demons plaguing this nation were even more bitter and emboldened this year knowing they'll never be able to vote out the black man in the Oval Office. This was their last shot to stick it to him. It's quite sad.

Everyone else wasn't given a clear enough reason to vote.
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Boston Bread
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« Reply #29 on: November 05, 2014, 04:52:13 AM »

Most Republicans support those same things.

So why haven't republicans implemented them in the states they control? Oh wait, because republican politicians are out of touch with the priorities of even their own voters. I'll give you the occasional medicare expansion, but that's such a no-brainer the fact that half the states haven't done so is yet is damning.
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politicus
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« Reply #30 on: November 05, 2014, 04:52:55 AM »


What gives me hope is that on the specific issues... Democrats actually support those issues. ARKANSAS voted to increase the minimum wage. Run on that fools! Want an expansion of Medicaid? Vote for us! How about... expanding Medicare so that everyone under 18 is covered? Democrats need to remember what they stand for and stand proud for it so voters know. Remember those 'keep government out of my Medicare' folks? Go up to them and remind them who gave them Medicare in the first place.


Most Republicans support those same things.


Roll Eyes
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BM
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« Reply #31 on: November 05, 2014, 04:53:10 AM »

I'm not that happy about holding NH and VA. They shouldn't have even been on the damn table. Both would have been lost if they were open seats.
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memphis
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« Reply #32 on: November 05, 2014, 05:02:01 AM »

Republicans won 75% of the white vote tonight. That pretty much sums it up.
This is not even close to being correct. In any case, what the 2014 election was, above all, was a victory for American Christianity and pervasive view amongst American Christians that they should impose their religion beliefs on the entire nation. Without religion's retarding influence of man's ability to think critically, the Republicans would never win any elections.
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Antonio the Sixth
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« Reply #33 on: November 05, 2014, 05:14:55 AM »

That was a magnificent post Nathan, thank you so much for expressing everything that I have into myself but am to depressed to express coherently.

One thing on which I don't entirely agree about is your conclusion that Americans expressed they adhesion to the crooked, malicious cultural outlook championed by Republicans. My impression is even worse: they do not even care about fundamental values and basic moral principles. I think voters were too lazy to even think about these issues, instead they resorted to the old logic of sanctioning the "ruling" party or sitting out of the election. They have no f**king clue how much is at stake in their political system. It's the ultimate triumph of apathy.
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GMantis
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« Reply #34 on: November 05, 2014, 05:25:30 AM »

I probably should feel upset, but then again Obama has been a colossal disappointment, especially in foreign policy and most of the senate Democrats have been even worse on this point, so I can't really pretend to care too much about this.
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Ebowed
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« Reply #35 on: November 05, 2014, 05:30:03 AM »

I probably should feel upset, but then again Obama has been a colossal disappointment, especially in foreign policy and most of the senate Democrats have been even worse on this point, so I can't really pretend to care too much about this.

I'm sure that after losing elections to people who want to abolish the Department of Education that the Democrats will really veer to the left. Roll Eyes
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GMantis
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« Reply #36 on: November 05, 2014, 05:44:17 AM »

I probably should feel upset, but then again Obama has been a colossal disappointment, especially in foreign policy and most of the senate Democrats have been even worse on this point, so I can't really pretend to care too much about this.

I'm sure that after losing elections to people who want to abolish the Department of Education that the Democrats will really veer to the left. Roll Eyes
Considering the disastrous turnout among the so called Obama coalition, this might not be such a bad idea.
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Knives
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« Reply #37 on: November 05, 2014, 05:58:16 AM »

I still have hope Landreau could win? Hoping for some tornados in northern Louisiana?
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Antonio the Sixth
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« Reply #38 on: November 05, 2014, 06:29:39 AM »

I still have hope Landreau could win?

No.
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Mechaman
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« Reply #39 on: November 05, 2014, 06:40:11 AM »

This thread really illustrates why the Democrats lost, imo.
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Antonio the Sixth
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« Reply #40 on: November 05, 2014, 07:15:24 AM »

This thread really illustrates why the Democrats lost, imo.

Because we overestimated the American electorate's ability to vote based on what's really important? Yes, I agree.
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Mechaman
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« Reply #41 on: November 05, 2014, 07:30:52 AM »

This thread really illustrates why the Democrats lost, imo.

Because we overestimated the American electorate's ability to vote based on what's really important? Yes, I agree.

No, because you didn't emphasize them nearly enough.
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Antonio the Sixth
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« Reply #42 on: November 05, 2014, 07:42:14 AM »

This thread really illustrates why the Democrats lost, imo.

Because we overestimated the American electorate's ability to vote based on what's really important? Yes, I agree.

No, because you didn't emphasize them nearly enough.

I don't see what Nathan's post (or the subsequent Democrats') has anything to do with that.
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Sol
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« Reply #43 on: November 05, 2014, 07:50:43 AM »

I'll vent, but in a different manner than others are doing. Really I want to address posts like these:

It's really mystifying to me what the GOP stands for, or why the US electorate saw fit to send 245+ of them in the House.

I don't really understand these results and I can think of a lot of really angry snipes at the Republicans but before I feel comfortable doing that... I still fundamentally don't comprehend what policies, platform, or message they actually have and ran on so successfully.

I cannot comprehend why people would want to vote for such an evil to the roots party.

What a load of crap, to be quite honest. You don't think you understand why people vote this way? Go  listen to Republican voters and hear what they think. Maybe their reasons are facile, or they voted off of falsehood. But reasons are reasons, and we have a duty to reach out.

I can think of many reasons why someone would vote Republican this cycle:
-Given we want to cast a pox on all congresspeople anyway, we may as well vote the ones who are at least promising to shake up the system.
-Incidents from ebola to the secret service have shown how messed up the federal administration is, and we need to elect people to keep them in check.
-We still haven't recovered from the recession, and I like people who promise not to raise taxes.
-None of them seem divisive on social issues, and to hell with the law if they want to regulate our lives anyway. Their character matters most.
-Democrats are a bunch of elitists, litigious and uncaring, and they seem to take pride in it.
-Barack Obama does not represent our values.

And so forth. The Democrats can counter these points, but it takes time. What happened was that the hundreds of millions that could have been spent to counter these points were burnt on social issue zealotry, amassing a turnout that never did materialize. And why would they - after four years of gridlock and getting zero promised improvements, why would the Obama coalition reach out again?

Everyone plays identity politics. Don't hide in your Democrat bastions and pretend as if you can't understand identities outside of your own. Of course you do - take the time to learn it.

You can hide in your states, Democrat bastions, and insult the voters further. The presidency's on the line.

Well, of course I understand it on an intellectual level. But on an emotional level, not at all.
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Cassius
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« Reply #44 on: November 05, 2014, 08:18:03 AM »

Thankfully I'm taking part in Movember, so hopefully the razor stocks will have been adequately replenished by December 1st. Though judging by this thread...
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Mr. Morden
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« Reply #45 on: November 05, 2014, 08:20:29 AM »

So much of the language Dems are using today (re: not just disappointed in the result but feeling alienated from their own country, hopeless about American politics, etc.) mirrors what was being said the day after the 2004 election, when we had a lot of jokes about Democratic states seceding from the Union in frustration.  Remember this?


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Mechaman
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« Reply #46 on: November 05, 2014, 08:26:13 AM »
« Edited: November 05, 2014, 08:28:05 AM by Mechaman »

This thread really illustrates why the Democrats lost, imo.

Because we overestimated the American electorate's ability to vote based on what's really important? Yes, I agree.

No, because you didn't emphasize them nearly enough.

I don't see what Nathan's post (or the subsequent Democrats') has anything to do with that.

TO be fair Nathan's post did admit that mistakes were made.  However, the overall impression I get is that "those evil elitists bought everyone off!" when many Democrats, up to today apparently, had been mouthing off about how people who don't vote for them are a bunch of subhuman hicks and were pretty enthusiastic for a Wall Street-in-Chief candidate in 2016.

Yes, this might be an unfair characterization, but the attitudes of Democratic supporters ultimately does have an impact on peoples' perceptions of it.  The sooner the party throws out the WASP supremacists and banker cronies, the much better off it will be.  Contrary to popular opinion.
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Antonio the Sixth
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« Reply #47 on: November 05, 2014, 08:33:54 AM »

This thread really illustrates why the Democrats lost, imo.

Because we overestimated the American electorate's ability to vote based on what's really important? Yes, I agree.

No, because you didn't emphasize them nearly enough.

I don't see what Nathan's post (or the subsequent Democrats') has anything to do with that.

TO be fair Nathan's post did admit that mistakes were made.  However, the overall impression I get is that "those evil elitists bought everyone off!" when many Democrats, up to today apparently, had been mouthing off about how people who don't vote for them are a bunch of subhuman hicks and were pretty enthusiastic for a Wall Street-in-Chief candidate in 2016.

Yes, this might be an unfair characterization, but the attitudes of Democratic supporters ultimately does have an impact on peoples' perceptions of it.  The sooner the party throws out the WASP supremacists and banker cronies, the much better off it will be.  Contrary to popular opinion.

You're talking about two completely different kinds of Democrats, though.
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Boston Bread
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« Reply #48 on: November 05, 2014, 08:54:49 AM »

My take-aways for Dems:
1) Defend your policies: Democrats got hammered continuously on ACA but didn't fight back. This made their plan look weak which in turn made it less popular. Republicans always defend their plan out of principle no matter what public opinion is. They have us beat on that.
2) GOTV cannot work without motivation: Big plans in many swing seats did not pan out, and in areas without expensive GOTV operations turnout fell dramatically. We can't spend millions in every state and competitive district. People need a reason to vote. Same idea goes for advertising campaigns.
3) The party needs to be the agent of change again. Voters who wanted change or to express anger at elites voted republican. That must change. Democrats have given no reason for the non-engaged to believe that they are different or genuine. But now democrats are true outsiders in most state governments and now congress. To rebuild, democrats must rebuild their grassroots organizations and start a conversation about New Deal-style economic ideas in a bread and butter fashion. Start implementing it in blue states instead of languishing. Go nuts because anything is better than the status quo.
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dmmidmi
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« Reply #49 on: November 05, 2014, 09:05:02 AM »
« Edited: November 05, 2014, 09:24:16 AM by dmmidmi »

You know what? It's hard to blame the Democrats who were heading into adverse headwinds (Grimes, Begich, Pryor, Nunn, Curtis, and Tennant and Landrieu to some extent)--they were set up for failure. I blame Kay Hagan for losing to Thom Tillis. I blame Bruce Braley for being an absolute moron. I blame Mark Udall for also being an absolute moron. I blame Rick Weiland for not knowing what the hell he was doing.
Democrats probably got lucky in a couple of races--they were fortunate enough to have a carpetbagger running in New Hampshire, someone dumber than a box of rocks in Michigan, and
some nobody in Minnesota.

By the way, the Democrat in Michigan? He stood by his Obamacare vote, made an issue of clean energy, and campaigned right along side the President.

It's incredibly frustrating though, that unemployment is dropping, GDP is growing, gas is below $3.00/gallon, the Dow continues to break records week after week after week, we aren't in a slew of wars, the response to Ebola was fine, and more and more people are gaining access to health insurance, and voters still say to themselves, "F*** this! I'm voting out the bums!"

Maybe the success achieved in 2008 was simply unsustainable, and this is a reversion to the mean. The last time I felt this frustrated was 2004.

I don't recall. What happened the last time the GOP held majorities in both the upper and lower chambers?

Get ready for a whole lot of nothing to happen over the next two years. The President's going to make good use of that veto stamp.
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