Are you ready for the worst possible case scenario?

[MadHound]

Are you ready, emotionally, intellectually, physically ready for a Romney win?

I don't ask this as some sort of way of depressing the vote or other such woo. I ask this in all seriousness because a lot of people around here have a lot invested in Obama winning. If he doesn't, much like in 2004, it could get really ugly around here, with accusations, counter-accusations, recriminations, etc.

Don't dismiss the possibility, don't take it lightly. If you haven't considered the possibility of an Obama loss, please take the time to do so, to prepare yourself. A bit of preparation now could very well preserve your emotional, intellectual and physical health later.

Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, always good words to live by.

[pwb]

1. Cheer up

We will win and take back the congress. IMO.

[MadHound]

5. Maybe we will, maybe we won't,

It is much more likely that we retain the White House and Senate than take back the House. But I believe in being prepared for any possible outcome.

[roguevalley]

69. I have some fish in the freezer. :D I think you need a hug, madhound. We're all

suffering whiplash from bush/cheney times. Obama will win and congress is going to flip. Women will make it so. You may start worshiping us now and avoid the rush.

[WinkyDink]

2. Well, I'm not gonna croak myself, if that's a concern. :-)

[Logical]

3. Jesus what a horrible thing to post two weeks from the election. Thanks for your "concern"!

[MadHound]

9. Were you around here in 2004?

Oh, that's right, according to your profile, no you weren't. But hey, deign to speak out on the subject anyway, even though you have no clue as to what you're talking about.

Look, it got really ugly around here for awhile back in '04. A lot of good posters got burned, many dropped out and left. I think a little preparation would go a long way to preventing a repeat of that scenario.

But hey, be a noob, go ahead and try to call out a ten year, long term poster as a concern troll. Pfft!

[blue neen]

30. I was here in 2004, and I agree with the "noob."

Flame away.

[laundry_queen]

38. I was here in 2004 and I don't.

So there.

[deaniac21]

66. You are right again, Sir.

[HERVEPA]

10. Nothing wrong with the post.

[StarryNite]

11. Bush stole two elections...

do you think it couldn't happen again? After all, they are already trying to manipulate the outcome with voter suppression. Nothing the rethugs do would surprise me.

[jmowreader]

75. The people who actually run the GOP don't want a Romney presidency

The people who run the GOP are NOT the talibornagains, but the industrialists. Romney's austerity program would hurt most of them, because selling things to the government made most of them rich.

[Autumn]

17. Where were you in 2000 and 2004? Politically unaware of what was going on?

In grade school? Yeah, you can bet your ass I'm concerned, and I will be concerned until Obama is declared the winner. You think it can't happen? Wrong. But thanks for your "concern".

[Nye Bevan]

40. Do you buy life insurance?

There are some things nobody wants to happen, but it is advisable to be prepared for the worst.

[scheming daemons]

51. it is what madhound does

[treestar]

62. +1

An evil post.

[HockeyMom]

4. Keep the Senate and block everything Romney wants to do

What goes around, comes around.

[regnaD kciN]

13. If this worst-case scenario comes about...

...even if we retain control of the Senate, I'm sure there are enough "moderate" Dems there who will want to "work with the new President" (just like Reagan, just like Dubya -- party discipline is for Republicans only) to give him a blank check, even on ending Medicare and privatizing Social Security.

[Freddie]

41. Disagree

IF the worst happens we should definitely keep our Senate majority. And our side will make a solemn vow: the biggest priority of all is making Mitt Romney a one-term president.
Nah, Mitt Romney will be a no-term president. A paragraph in my granddaughter's HS history book.

[GreenPartyVoter]

77. No. We have seen the moderate Dems reach out to the Repubs before. Seen them say "No" to

President Obama, even. There is no lockstep on the left.

[deaniac21]

68. Pencil in Mark Pryor

[Warpy]

6. I have a passport and enough ready cash to get a start elsewhere

if it's so bad that I just have to lock the front door and leave with a suitcase and cat carrier.

I hope Romney flames out. I hope he comes in second to Johnson in the GOP vote. I hope Obama wins and his coattails are big enough to sweep all the teabagger trash out of Congress.

I hope this country gets back on track and stays there. I hope the Koch brothers and their merry band of billionaires spend themselves broke and get nowhere except where they already are with angry dimwits. I hope we manage to reject fascism utterly and permanently.

If the delusional outvote the rational, I can leave. I think I might have to leave.

[MadHound]

12. Not to insult you, but I think that's the coward's way out.

Stay and fight for your country, fight to take it back from the insane and delusional. If you made it through the Bush years, you can make it through four years with Romney. Hell, I made it through Nixon, Reagan and both Bushes. No way am I going anywhere.

[Warpy]

48. I'm old and in renal failure.

Fighting is for the young, although I will continue to write wherever I am.

If Romney gets in and we're presented with Vouchercare, I am out of here. I can no longer afford to stay in my own country.

[rivegauche]

7. NO, FUCK NO. No way am I going to prepare

for that OR accept it. The Dubya years were bad enough. A Mittens presidency would send this country right into the shitter for good, no recovery, no refund. Why would you ask that anyway? DU sems to me to be Obama's base, no one here is open to that.

[MFM008]

8. no i wont

prepare. If he steals it he becomes as non existant as Bush and then you put a lot of pressure on your democrat reps to block, filibister and do the same crap the gop did to us.

[BeyondGeography]

14. Nothing will ever be worse than 2000 for me

First off, I was younger. My sense of time and suffering was unlimited. Second, I just knew Junior would screw the pooch in a major way, and he exceeded expectations. Third, that was the worse case of electoral theft I trust I'll ever see.

Romney, if he won, which I still don't expect, would be one term of fail. No way America signs on for two terms of top-down obfuscation, retirement and health care insecurity and unstable behavior. The Bush's had real power and pull with the media, which made Junior, who was a lot younger than old Mitt, hard to defeat. Plus Romney would make 2016 a Democratic year instead of Jeb Bush's coronation.

So, yes, my defenses are already in place.

[Jersey Devil]

15. The only proper "preparation" is to help GOTV efforts - channel your energy in a positive way

Imagine if Eli Manning had had your attitude before taking the field the past two times against the Patriots?

[MadHound]

16. Sorry, but this isn't a football game, this is real life

I agree that GOTV is immensely important, and I'm in no way discouraging people from doing that, or investing themselves in other efforts to help Democrats succeed. However, having watched this place melt down in '04, having watched lots of political people breakdown after a hotly contested, but losing effort, I think that a bit of mental and emotional preparation is good for everybody.

[Jersey Devil]

23. It is a competition that, like athletics, requires concentration

If you go into it believing you can be a loser chances are you will be a loser. It is a lot more like an athletic competition than you think.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

21. Imagine If Muhammad Ali Had That Attitude Before Getting In The Ring With George Foreman

George Foreman had dispatched of Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, each in two rounds in brutal fashion. While Ali had split decisions with both of them, winning his rematch with Ken Norton by one round.

[Samantha]

34. I think I have a thread for you if I can dig it out of the archives

Political sporting comments from inside the Beltway
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6005693

Sam

[deaniac21]

70. Ali has said himself that he was scared to death

going into the ring with Foreman.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

74. He Did?

He (Ali) explains it as simple confidence in his own abilities: `An experi­enced pilot flies a plane through a storm without gettin' in a panic. If new things happen he is cool. I have been boxin' twenty years and I'm a pretty good fighter. I can walk into the firin' line with a man like Foreman and I got no fear. Nothin' can happen that I don't understand. I been to school.
'I was a pro nine years before he was. When he got knocked down it was new to him and he was lost. I've been down. I've been humiliated. Had my title taken away. Had my jaw broke. Had so much trouble with my hands for seven years now the doctors been tellin' me to quit. This time they were strong. I was able to hit the heavy bag and I fought without Novocaine injections for the first time in years. But I been through all these things. I know the hard side.

It was an amateur against a professional, a kid against a man. I tell you somethin', if he had got up I could have humiliated that boy. George has been actin' up with fancy clothes and all that stuff with his dog, and misusin' people, runnin' the press around, talkin' funny when he does talk. He used to be a nice fella but he's changin'. You know how big it makes me to get the title back ten years after I won it from that other big bad bully Liston, to be just the second man to regain the heavyweight championship and the first to win it twice without ever losin' it in the ring. Yet you can walk in on me here and talk to me, no sweat. Tomorrow I'll be back in the ghetto pickin' up black babies and drinkin' soda at a corner store. I talk plenty but I don't act up like George.'

http://www.kilmarnockacademy.co.uk/famoushmcilvanneygreatestagain.htm

[deaniac21]

81. His trainer tells a different story

[jberryhill]

18. Of course we are. We're Democrats!

Our battle cry is, "Did we forget to worry about something?"

[AsahinaKimi]

19. I AGREE..I am hoping the President has Boots on the ground..

TO make sure there are NO STOLEN VOTES.

[gollygee]

20. I lived through W, twice

I can live through anything.

[Hamlette]

22. The worst? Obama wins popular vote, they tie for electoral votes, house gives it to Romney OR

even worse. Obama wins popular vote and electoral college, they scream voter fraud get the SCOUS to install Romney.

I'd rather be happy now, keep working hard and donating money, and if the worst happens deal with it then.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

25. What Would Be The Mechanism To Install Romney If He Lost The Pop Vote And EC Outside Of A Putsch ?

[NoOneMan]

24. A Romney win isn't the worst case scenario

Thats just a side-show. Worst case is oceans rising, rivers becoming too warm to incubate salmon, wheat belt moving northward, away from best topsoil, acidification of ocean causing mass extinction, expansion of equatorial climates promoting virus and parasite growth & migration. Add in a little fresh water crisis and energy crisis, and you a full fledged breakdown in modern civilization. Kind of puts things in perspective.

So which candidate has the immediate solution to our real worst case scenario?

[mainer]

26. I hear ya. Hubby and I were talking about this today.

We lived through 8 years of W. We can live through 4 years of Mitt. And we'll live to fight again.

[ThatsMyBarack]

27. If the election gets stolen, will Obama fight back?

[NightWatcher]

31. yes, they have a shit ton of lawyers in place in key states ready to take this to the courts

and not back down.

Here in Florida I know for a fact they are ready for this eventuality. We were briefed last Saturday by Democratic sponsored election attorneys and they said the Obama For America group has a ton of them en route for Early Voting (Oct 27) thru Election Day. They will fight shenanigans on the ground and take it to court if need be.

[vi5]

37. Heard the same thing about Kerry's crew in 2004

I'll believe it when I see it.

[AverageJoe90]

59. TBH, in '04 it was probably just a rumor and nothing more......

Here? I can actually believe it. Remember '08?

[vi5]

80. Won't make the cynical comment I want to right now.

Trying to stay positive in the last weeks and days of the election.

[leftstreet]

28. If Obama can't beat Romney, he shouldn't be running

Of course he'll win over Romney. How could anyone seriously think otherwise?

[Swede Atlanta]

29. I am prepared....

I have told my financial guy to start looking for offshore places to invest my retirement funds....

I have been researching expat communities in Belize and other Central American countries.

If Robme wins, I leave.

I don't want to see the wholesale destruction of a country I love so much.

[Shankapotomus]

32. I have thought about it and

my take is even if Republicans win (and I have predicted before Republicans have one more President in their belt before they are finished as a party)...but even if Romney wins, in four years Hillary Clinton will be recharged and ready to run. She won't lose. In the mean time, the American people will have four years to be reminded why they don't want Republicans in power.

That said, we should fight to win this like we are losing.

[struggle4progress]

33. Gotta take a deep breath and listen to Jimmy here for a coupla minutes

[Shrek]

35. A Romney win may not be all that consequential

Unless the Senate changes hands, Romney won't be able to advance any significant legislation. Obama faces the same hurdle with opposition from the House.

We're in for at least two years of legislative gridlock no matter what happens. Obama might be able to get judicial appointments through a Democratic senate, assuming the nominations aren't fillibustered.

Romney won't be able to do even that much. If the Democrats in the Senate are so inclined, they can pretty much stymie anything he tries to do.

[vi5]

39. Yes, but all it would take...

Is a few cowardly Dem Senators (and god knows we have more than a few of those) to peel away and give Romney what he wants and needs.

When Republicans lose elections they dig in deeper and get more ornery. When Democrats lose elections they navel gaze and think that it must be because they were too radical and not centrist and accomodating enough.

[outsideworld]

36. You know what

I really emotionally may not be able to take it so staying positive

[RomneyLies]

42. No, nor will I be.

If he loses, I'll enter a depression so deep I doubt I'll ever recover.

[cali]

43. This is a valuable post. thanks

[Liberalynn]

44. I've tried not to think about it

because I don't think I will be able to emotionally deal with it at all well.

The very thought terrifies me to be honest. I am 50 on SSD and Medicare, and am worried they will be taken away not just for me but for everyone. What are people going to do? My sis says she will always be there to help me, but I still worry.

Not to mention that R&R plan to devestate Women's Rights.

I am doing all I can to stay positive in advance and believe that Obama will win. I've been volunteering, tweeting, etc.

That's all I can do is keep hoping for now and take it day by day. I know we survived Bush but I think Mittens/Ryan will be far worse because at least Bush wasn't calling for the end of SS and Medicare.

Obama just has to win.

[Nye Bevan]

45. DU will be a very ugly place if the worst happens.

Many DUers are quite invested in an Obama victory, to say the least. The bitterness and recriminations if this does not happen will be very ugly indeed.

[GreenPartyVoter]

78. We lived through it in 2004, we can get by again if we have to. In the end we all know that this

special community of people is a lifeline when the Repubs are running the show.

[Le Taz Hot]

46. If Obama loses

(and I don't think he will), DU will blame the progressives. Count on it.

[AtomicKitten]

49. LOL. Hardly.

Y'all give yourselves too much credit. Short of Stein/Honkala being arrested at the Hofstra Univ debate, there has been little oxygen for third party contenders. No, if O loses, it will be because of True the Vote challenging thousands of Democratic voters forcing them to vote by provisional ballot which will then, of course, be tossed out. You're gonna have to really turn up the volume to drown that mess out.

[Le Taz Hot]

76. Actually, it's the Party Faithful

that give us too much credit. I'm using 2004 as a hard and fast example of how progressives were blamed for the Kerry loss. It's in the archives and easily accessible.

[OldDem2012]

47. Tell you what...I'm ready to trash every single DU doom and gloom thread. Later. nt.

[AverageJoe90]

61. I'm starting to feel the same way.....

...and it isn't just for the political forums, either.

[ibegurpard]

50. Of course I am

I lived through eight years of Bush.

[DCBob]

52. IMO, there is very little chance that Romney will win.

I think we should prepare for 4 more years of Republican obstruction.

[Nevernose]

53. No, the worst possible scenario

Is that the day after the Romney inauguration, the zombie apocalypse begins; when Romney goes on tv to tell us not to panic, he unzips his mask, Mission Impossible style, revealing that we'be been hoodwinked into a third Bush term. He then says, "Don't worry about them zombies, just go shopping at your local mall."

Don't laugh. It could still happen: has anyone seen Bush and Romney in the same place in the last five years?

[quinnox]

54. yes I'm prepared and think its not unlikely either

I haven't liked the direction of the polls for some time now. The momentum has been with him ever since that first debate which was a disaster for us. Unfortunately as one who tends to be a realist I have to face the reality and it seems to me Romney has a real chance of winning at this point. That said, of course I'm still hopeful of an Obama victory. I just recognize that the possibility of a loss is very real.

[Caretha]

55. OMG

I finally found a use for that little menu icon that says "trash this thread"!

Dang, those site owners sure knew what they were doing.

[StrongBad]

56. If that were to happen, I want Dems to obstruct as much as possible.

[SidDithers]

57. I'm sure the "lesser of two evils" crowd will be just fine with a Romney win...

after all, a Romney win will make things so bad that the glorious progressive revolution will rise from the ashes of destroyed America.

Or so the thinking goes.

Sid

[FSogol]

60. That old chestnut?

[H2O Man]

58. It's a sickening thought.

Among the people who came to my house last night were some old friends, who I think represent the very best of the "Hippies" from the late 1960s - early '70s. They are comfortably well-off, in the sense that they would benefit financially from Romney's economic policies. But they detest Mitt, and all that he stands for. I found it interesting that they said that among their social group (they live in Florida most of the year), people view Romney as the very worst person ever to run for President. Worse than Nixon, Reagan, and Bush(s). These are well-educated people, with a good grasp of political-social history. And they view it as vital that Romney be defeated.

[fadedrose]

63. No. Would rather go to sleep and my soul the angels would keep...anytime...

or just go to sleep and not wake up, in case there are no angels (which I suspect)

[blue neen]

64. The worst case scenario if Romney wins?

Well, for some people it may mean that they will be out of a job.

[Bobbie Jo]

65. Don't marinate in it,

Vote.

[lonestarnot]

67. I'm already ill, so I can't.

[fishwax]

71. I'm not ready, no. And no amount of preparation will keep this place from melting down.

"Don't dismiss the possibility, don't take it lightly. If you haven't considered the possibility of an Obama loss, please take the time to do so, to prepare yourself. A bit of preparation now could very well preserve your emotional, intellectual and physical health later. "

I'd rather invest all my energies now on keeping that from happening. I know it's a possibility, and it would be very tough to take. I don't see the point in planning for it, but different strokes, as they say.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

72. On the bright side, I would actually get off my computer and do something

[slackmaster]

73. I consider that a trifle compared to a giant asteroid striking the Earth and wiping out all life

I think you could set your sights higher, MadHound.

[marions ghost]

79. I'm ready for election theft, yes

--not ready for RMoney to be installed like Dubya though.

-----------------------

This just came out in November 2012 "Harpers"--it is the BEST article summarizing the corrupt state of our election system I have read in a long time:

http://harpers.org/archive/2012/11/how-to-rig-an-election/

If you can find a copy it is WELL worth it!

[hiphopnation]

82. believe it or not

but this kind of navel gazing CAN affect turn out, methinks. Attitude is EVERYTHING. Get out of your house, wherever you are, and drag people to the polls. Let's not engage in these pointless exercises. Mmkay?

[MadHound]

83. Ah yes, like such advice, given on an anonymous political chatboard, is going to throw the election

I think that you're waaaay overestimating the influence that this place, with less than 200,000 members, has.

[cap]

84. not going to worry about it until after the election

As Psychologists say, "Don't Forecast". You don't know this is going to happen so why bother our pretty little minds about it. Deal with it should it come.

Yes, there may be some accusations, counter accusations, recriminations for a short while. But we will heal and begin early preparations for the Congressional elections in 2014 and get ourselves ready for Hillary in 2016. Coming back bigger and stronger especially after the undecideds get a load of MittWitt and Queen Anne and see the PTB in their naked glory.

For right now, GOTV should be our greatest concern. Any anxieties can be burnt off with a healthy amount of exercise that door to door canvassing can bring. I suggest that any nervousness is dealt with in a nice healthy way with a good dose of exercise.

[davsand]

85. "Worse case" is waking up from a black out drunk and finding the Mittster nekkid on your vinyl sofa.

Especially if he's trying to tell you that you are now the Second Mrs. Mittster (behind Ann, of course...)

His chances of wining this election are even more remote than that, so I'm feeling pretty safe right now.




Laura

[Phentex]

86. How are you feeling?

I remember GWB, so I won't take anything for granted ever.

But I am breathing a little easier since Tuesday.

How are you?