"Why National Democrats Rolled Over for Chris Christie"--- The Daily Beast

[bvar22]

[font size=1]Nov 5, 2013 5:45 AM EST [/font]

If Gov. Chris Christie wins reelection Tuesday by even a fraction of the margin predicted by New Jersey pollsters, he’ll owe his easy victory to one group in particular—national Democrats, who all but ignored his race against Democratic state Sen. Barbara Buono.


From President Obama, who twice toured New Jersey with Christie after Hurricane Sandy and then failed to endorse Christie’s challenger, to the Democratic National Committee, which sent just one staffer to the state to fortify local efforts, to major donors and high-profile party leaders such as Bill and Hillary Clinton, powerful Democrats have stayed on the sidelines in the blue state contest that top brass deemed a loser from the start.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/05/why-national-democrats-rolled-over-for-chris-christie.html

...but let a Pro-LABOR/Pro Health Care popular Democrat challenge the virulently Anti-UNION Wicked Witch who killed the Public Option (Blanche Lincoln) in an Arkansas Democratic Primary, and the "national Democrats" are ALL-OVER-IT!

White House steps in to rescue Lincoln’s Primary Campaign in Arkansas
"So what did the Democratic Party establishment do when a Senator who allegedly impedes their agenda faced a primary challenger who would be more supportive of that agenda? They engaged in full-scale efforts to support Blanche Lincoln.

* Bill Clinton traveled to Arkansas to urge loyal Democrats to vote for her, bashing liberal groups for good measure.

*Obama recorded an ad for Lincoln which, among other things, were used to tell African-American primary voters that they should vote for her because she works for their interests.

*The entire Party infrastructure lent its support and resources to Lincoln — a Senator who supposedly prevents Democrats from doing all sorts of Wonderful, Progressive Things which they so wish they could do but just don’t have the votes for.

http://www.salon.com/2010/06/10/lincoln_6/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3971264

Things like this make me go WTF?

President Obama's popularity soared while he appeared to be fighting Republicans over the Shutdown.
This election has National Visibility.
Fighting FOR Democratic Values in New Jersey would have reaped rewards across the nation in 2014 and 2016.

[Laelth]

1. Hear, hear! k&r n/t

-Laelth

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Has anyone from the Beast ever been to New Jersey?

Blue state my ass. I lived there for 15 years and knew the union County Democratic machine well. The largest law firm in the state had its senior partner as state senator and nothing got done without his permission. Hudson and Essex counties had their machines, too, but they got caught a lot. And then there's that huge insurance agency in South Joisey that controls the Democratic party down there. Been a lot of help to Camden, they have. Sure...

Christie, piece of shit that he is, is hugely popular over there because he is a slick Joisey guy who knows exactly when to throw a shitfit to amaze the masses. He plays his almost entirely Republican suburban audience as the guy who gets stuff done. His Sandy ads are genius, even to this day.

But, Joisey guys don't any further in politics than NYC mayors because they can't relate to the rest of the country. Christie will burn out and gurgle "presidential run" as he's drowning before the first primary and the rest of the country sees what a putz and a bully he really is. He'll go down like 9/11 Rudy, or that Donald candidate-who-never-was.

(Woodrow Wilson may have been from NJ, but he wasn't a Joisey guy.)

[sabrina 1]

23. So what? What does ANY of that have to do with Democrats slamming the Dem candidate and endorsing a

Republican?? THAT is the issue. Dems ENDORSING a Republican??? WTF is right!

[TreasonousBastard]

54. Because NJ politicians of any stripe only...

move at all if there's something in it for them.

The Joisey governor is one of the most powerful elected positions in the country-- he appoints all the legislative committees and completely controls the budget process, among many other things. This means everyone in office down the line is going to kiss the ass of the presumed winner, if there is one. And there was one this time out.

Party unity? When I lived in Elizabeth there were three Democratic parties-- two were variations on the county machine and the third was the vengeance war from the guy they threw out.

When I lived there party meant nothing except who controlled the counties, and it was Democrats who controlled Essex, Union, Hudson, and a bunch of others. Power and money was all they cared about, and "party" had nothing to do with policy, but just a mechanism to increase power and money.

Some people I know were all fired up by Dean way back when and made overtures to Union Democrats without knowing who Ray Lesniak really was. The woman who represented the party, and Lesniak, waited until the pitch to endorse Kucinich but then walked out mumbling something about "assholes".

Joisey is a rough place and principles aren't welcome.

[BlueCaliDem]

3. I am very disappointed in President Obama and the Democratic Party here.

I know it's political strategy; knowing Christie will run for president in 2016 and hoping that his connection with the president during Hurricane Sandy will be his undoing in the primaries. But at what cost to New Jerseyans?

It's up to the 700,000 + New Jerseyans to vote for State Senator Buono IF they've been hurt by Christie's policies. And I'm certain that a majority have been.

Were I in NJ, I would NOT vote for the perceived moderate Republican. I'd vote straight Democratic Party because I'll remember what Christie has done to our state. I'll remember the unnecessary Republican Gov't Shutdown, the Republican threat to the full faith and credit of our country, and the unprecedented obstructionism by the new Republican Party, the Teapublican Party, infesting our House and Senate that's wreaked havoc on our economy, our jobs, our chance for affordable health care.

For the life of me, it's beyond my comprehension to grasp why anyone who isn't part of the upper echelons of American society, would ever cast their vote for the Teapublican Party.

[geek tragedy]

7. National party didn't play in NJ because it had no chance of changing the outcome.

Hideously expensive state to advertise in (need to advertise in Philadelphia and NYC media markets) and an incumbent with approval rating around 65%.

They would have been idiots to take money from other races to spend it in order to know Christie down from 60% to 59%.

[sabrina 1]

24. Especially when the Republican gets FREE ADVERTISING from prominent DEMOCRATS.

Why are Democrats endorsing a Republican, a corporate shill like Christie?? All the excuses in the world are not going to explain Democrats ENDORSING a Republican.

I sure hope I don't see any more criticism if anyone here on DU for pointing out areas of agreement with members of other parties from now on. The hypocrisy of all of this, the attempt to ignore that DEMS ENDORSED A REPUBLICAN and actually opposed the Democrat, is pretty sickening but in some ways what we needed to see to confirm what many have suspected for a long time.

[geek tragedy]

26. I have yet to see anyone defending Democrats who endorsed Christie. nt

[sabrina 1]

35. Lol! Okay!

Why did the Dem Party Leadership not go after Christie? Why are there Dems insisting he is a 'moderate' when the truth is, he is a right wing Republican?

[geek tragedy]

36. It would have been great if the DNC chair had come out

like Howard Dean would have, right?

[sabrina 1]

40. I never expected the current DNC chair to come out for a Progressive Dem. Has that EVER

happened yet?? I do expect to see her admonishing Progressives which she does on a regular basis. I also know she is a little too fond of Republicans for my taste, but then I'm a Progressive Dem not a DLC/Third Way Corporate Dem.

[geek tragedy]

42. By now, you should know when you're being set up.

http://jpupdates.com/2013/10/14/nj-gov-buono-gets-boost-from-dnc-chair-wasserman-schultz/

After running for months with little big-name support from out-of-state Democrats, gubernatorial hopeful Barbara Buono rallied with Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Monday afternoon.

The two women, joined by Buono’s Lt. Governor running mate Milly Silva, took turns skewering Governor Christie’s record on gender pay equity, jobs and same-sex marriage.
“Are these the values of New Jerseyans? Not in my experience,” said Wasserman Schultz, a congresswoman from Florida.

“We’ve got three weeks to get this done,” Wasserman Schultz told Buono supporters at her campaign headquarters in New Brunswick.

Buono, a longtime state lawmaker from Middlesex County, said she knows polls show Christie, a Republican, is winning the gubernatorial race, but added she’s overcome the odds before, like going from needing food stamps to attending law school.

“As a woman in New Jersey politics, I’m used to being underestimated,” she said.

She promised she would overcome the odds another time on Nov. 5.

[sabrina 1]

43. Yes, after intense criticism from Dems for their LACK of support, we get a few words,

way too late, and not much else, from the DNC Chair. So what finances did she make available, what, other than some lip service to offset the criticism of Dems, was provided? The very LEAST she could do was to respond to those criticisms with a few words about 'gender issues' and the other issues pretend Dems often use to deceive people into believing they are not actually nothing more than Corporate DLCers.

ACTIONS speak louder than a few words, spoken too late, for appearances sake.

[geek tragedy]

44. The DNC does not have unlimited funds.

Every single penny that would have been sent to NJ would have been taken away from a more deserving race.

And, just to be clear, it's EXPENSIVE to campaign in NJ. You have to buy ads in both Philly and NYC.

So, we're talking about depriving a lot of other races of funding to blow on a suicide mission of race.

[sabrina 1]

47. Dean showed this to be bad politics. He ran in every state and WON. Of course that other

DLCer, Rahm Emannuel tried to take credit for that huge victory but not many took him seriously.

NJ was a significant election and a blue state, turned red with Democratic collusion. If the party wanted to win it, they could have.

Let's face it since it's pretty much common knowledge by now and not even up for debate, the current leadership of the Dem Party is far more comfortable with 'right of center' Politicians, Ds or Rs (see how many Obama has appointed to his cabinet and kept on those leftover from the Bush era) than they are with Progressive Dem Candidates. It's been demonstrated over and over again. This is just the latest example.

Now Progressives have to decide what to do about it. And they are.

[geek tragedy]

48. Your statement that NJ was winnable is a statement of faith, not evidence

or math. Math was 65% approval rating for Christie.

I'll leave the ignoring of math to the Republicans, thank you.

[1StrongBlackMan]

4. Do you think …

It’s because they made the calculation that Buono, no matter how attractive she is to progressives, did not stand a chance in NJ, in this election?

Plus, your Buono/Lincoln comparison is flawed, if for no other reason; Lincoln support was more to hold the Senate, than any particular love for Lincoln; whereas, Buono is not in that position.

That’s not to say I wouldn’t want a Democrat as Governor of NJ; but electoral politics are electoral politics.

Finally, I think you have it wrong …

... Fighting FOR Democratic Values in New Jersey would have reaped rewards across the nation in 2014 and 2016.

President Obama’s popularity soared while he appeared to be fighting and WINNING against republicans over the shut-down … an issue that people opposed, nationally. Had he appeared to be losing that fight, his popularity would have plummeted.

Face it … “fighting the good fight” is NOT what electoral politics is made of … doubly so when you fight and lose.

[bvar22]

5. Support for Lincoln was NOT "to hold the Senate".

If you had read the link, you would know that.

*Lincoln had ZERO chance to win the General.

*Her Democratic Primary Challenger, Lt Gov Bill Halter, was polling BETTER than Lincoln against the Republican in the General.

[1StrongBlackMan]

20. Okay n/t

[sabrina 1]

37. Their support of Lincoln cost Dems that race. It was another example of what happened in

NJ. So what should we do about it now that it has become a pattern, to undermine Progressives in major races?

We certainly can't go on ignoring this trend, or pretending it's going to change any time soon. It isn't. If anything, it's only going to get worse.

[geek tragedy]

6. Enough whining about the national party not being too smart to waste money on an unwinnable race.

The governors' race was over as of Hurricane Sandy. Christie's approval rating was between 60 and 70% all year.

The national party coming in and flushing a bunch of money down the toilet wasn't going to change that appreciably.

That would only have elevated his national stature.

Sometimes voters reach conclusions we don't like. That is politics.

[bvar22]

9. How much does an Oval Office Endorsement cost?

The Dem Leadership was willing to go All Out to rescue Anti-LABOR DINO Blanche Lincoln against a Pro-LABOR Democratic challenger in the Arkansas Democratic Primary. They even sent Bill Clinton back home to try and rescue Blanche's failing campaign.

Lincoln had ZERO chance of winning in the General,
but that didn't stop the Party Leadership from stomping on Lincoln's the Pro-LABOR challenger.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3971264

How much does that cost?

New Jersey was in the national spot light.
Confronting Republican Ideology and putting Democratic Party Policy in the spotlight
is ALWAYS worth the effort.
The Democrats could have picked up some very inexpensive NATIONAL air time had they chosen to oppose Christie in New jersey.

I think that the Party Leadership's refusal to confront Christie's Right Wing Extremism
on the National Stage is very telling.

[geek tragedy]

10. Sure, Obama could have gone all in and turned New Jersey into a national referendum.

Which would have turned the race into a crushing national defeat for the entire party and a repudiation of the Democratic platform.

Obama is smart enough to know that "FIGHT OMG FIGHT" is not a strategy, as Ted Cruz found out.

[bvar22]

15. Instead, the choice was made to give an extremist Republican tha National Stage.

Reminds me of TeaBagger Summer when the Democratic Party abandoned the field to the Republican Loudmouths for an entire Summer.
By the time the Democrats emerged from the locker room,
the Republicans had been able to claim the National Dialog and frame the National debate. We STILL haven't been able to overcome that advantage.

Thom Hartmann today was saying that Christie could be the Republican's next Reagan.
I fear this could be true.
How smart is it to have given him the national Spotlight for this election
with no real Party opposition. and no rebuttal?

How much does it cost to have a few celebrity Dems like Bill Clinton show up in New Jersey to support Democrats? He found the time to go help the virulently Anti-LABOR Lincoln.

How much does an Oval Office Endorsement like the one Obama gave Lincoln really cost the Party?
How hard it that.
Do you really believe that the President doesn't want to be seen supporting DEMOCRATS?

This wasn't "smart" at all.
I believe the smart thing to do is ALWAYS OPPOSE evil in ALL its forms,
and Christie is all that.

[geek tragedy]

16. No, the decision was made to not give him a bigger stage.

The fallacy you're using is that the Democrats gave Christie the national stage.

That is nonsense, since there was nothing they could do to prevent him from having a national stage.

If they had followed your advice, he would have had a bigger national stage, gotten a much more meaningful win, and would have won a decisive victory not just against Barbara Buono, but the entire liberal/progressive policy agenda as well as President Obama and the entire national Democratic party.

Why?

Because he was going to kick Buono's ass up the Garden State Parkway and down the NJ Turnpike no matter what anyone else did.

[bvar22]

17. Yours is not a good strategy.

It didn't work very well during TeaBagger Summer.

I'm a Democrat because I believe that truth has a Liberal bias,
and never turn down a chance to debate Conservatives.....
...or "Centrists".

[geek tragedy]

19. Odd analogy--going all in on a single high profile race is almost the exact opposite

from conducting a nationwide campaign on all levels on a single issue.

Money is a finite resource. So is the time of the President of the United States of America.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz bashed Cristie plenty. Barbara Buono ran a tough campaign.

Virginia was the priority--it was winnable, and was won.

[bvar22]

21. Another of your ridiculous Strawmen.

Nobody said anything about going "All In".
This election was probably not winnable,
but that is not a good reason to just give NJ to Christie.
The Democratic Party SHOULD have shown up and at least put up a fight against Conservatism and Republicanism.
There IS (or should be) a difference between the Parties on Values and Policy,
but the people won't know unless the Democratic Party STANDS UP.

[font color=firebrick size=3][center]"If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for,
at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them."
--- Paul Wellstone[/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]


Strange strategy you have there, Geek,
Just giving stuff away and laying down for Republicans.



Barbara Buono Rips Democrats For 'Betrayal' In Race Against Christie.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023988674

[geek tragedy]

22. It's not the national party's function to bail out a dysfunctional state party.

Especially when there's no hope of any positive result for the effort.

DNC playing in NJ would have been like pissing oneself in a dark suit---gives you a nice warm feeling, but doesn't accomplish anything and no one notices.

[bvar22]

45. And, yet, they go all in to "bailout" a dysfunctional conservative like Blanche Lincoln

... in the Arkansas Democratic Primary 2010 Arkansas.



Ever changing ethics and standards....as long as it moves the Democratic Party ever further to the conservative right,... and some here cheer and rationalize your "strategy"
of NOT fighting Conservatism and Republicanism.

Others wonder HOW in the F**K did the New Democrat Centrist Party wind up to the conservative RIGHT of Nixon, and to the Right of Reagan on some important issues.

I know how that happened.

[font size=3]"Way to go, Lieberdems! [/font]
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023993583


[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center] [center] [/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]

[sabrina 1]

38. Really? Then why did he do it for Lincoln, who had no chance of winning? It did stop the other

Dem from winning though, didn't it?

You'll have to try harder because all these excuses for these, now becoming common, betrayals of Democratic Candidates by their own party, are not convincing at all.

[geek tragedy]

39. quid pro quo for Lincoln--she votes for ACA, he endorses her in the primary.

politics is ugly business

[sabrina 1]

27. BS, Christie's 'handling of Sandy' was under serious attack and you would know that if you had been

following the story of Sandy victims in NJ. That talking point won't wash, all you have to do is a little googling to see how Christie's handling of Sandy could so easily have been USED AGAINST HIM.

NJ Residents Faring Worse Than Neighbors in Hurricane Sandy Recovery

Rising Costs Have Sandy Victims Contemplating Walking Away

“All of this looking forward is the flood insurance issue…The people who still have mortgages have that issue to contend with,” Ryan said. “Gov. Christie keeps saying elevate, elevate, elevate. People are getting to the point where they’re too tired to be scared anymore.”

A representative from Christie’s office did not return calls for comment.

Superstorm Sandy anniversary: One year later, thousands still not home

Lots more criticism of Christie's handling of this tragedy, up to and including his spending of money on himself. Sandy was probably the BEST WEAPON to hit Christie with during this election.

This was a winnable race for Democrats, IF they had wanted it.

[geek tragedy]

28. Those are not surveys of voters.

You're succumbing to the fallacy that sheer will can overcome an incumbent with a 65% approval rating.

Barbara Buono sure as hell didn't do much with those stories.

[sabrina 1]

30. No, I'm facing the reality that the Dem Leadership did not support its own candidate nor did it use

the anger of the people there against Christie for his LACK of action for the victims of Sandy.

It was a winnable election for Democrats, as my friends, not even Dems in NJ have stated to me, because Christie failed miserably to bring assistance to his own state's victims.

To pretend otherwise is a reprehensible defense of Democrats who supported a failed Republican Gov over a Dem candidate, and no amount of denial is going to change the facts.

[geek tragedy]

31. Sorry, the only people pretending are those pretending that

all Barbara Buono's weak campaign needed was a little help from the DNC in order to overcome an incumbent with a 65% approval rating.

If those stories you posted had any juice, Buono should have had no trouble using them against Christie and achieving results.

Sorry, you're in fantasy land on this one.

Sometimes the voters are just really wrong.

[sabrina 1]

33. When your own party is joining the opposition to derail your campaign, denying you the financial

support you need to launch a strong campaign, the fantasy is that YOU are responsible for handing an election over to the Opposition.

All the excuses in the world will not erase the memory of yet another campaign where the Dem was abandoned in favor of the opposition, by their own party. I'm thinking of a few others right now and wondering how many times Dems are going to put up with this.

Not to mention, they need new 'excuses'. This: 'we could not win' excuse got old several of these betrayals ago. I live in the real world where you fight to win IF you are for what you claim to be for.

And since we've seen the Dems fight when they want something, we know that IF they want to, they CAN fight with all the resources at their disposal AND win, if they want to. So when they don't, we know why.

[geek tragedy]

34. Math is math.

Democrats threw money at McAuliffe because he had a very good chance at winning, and he did win.

There is literally nothing the national party could have done to defeat Christie. Nothing. Elections are local matters. Out of state endorsements and money carry very little weight.

Fighting for the sake of having a fight isn't strategy.

[99Forever]

49. Pathetic.

Just plain pathetic AND despicable.

[geek tragedy]

50. Thank you for that rational, analytical, and evidence-based rebuttal.

You forgot to add that I was a "poopy head" though. A minor omission from an otherwise irrefutable argument.

[99Forever]

53. We both know exactly what you are.

I won't waste my energy or time of those such as you.

[geek tragedy]

55. yes, I'm evil for believing in math.

Now I'll go cry into my pillow because you hurt my feelings.

P.S. Do you understand that stating that someone will win/was inevitable is not the same as expressing a preference for that person to win?

[99Forever]

56. That would require principles and integrity.

Not your long suit.

[geek tragedy]

58. Yes, yes, math is only for liars and cheats.

Honest people have no use for things like logic and math and evidence.

[99Forever]

59. It isn't about math.

People with principles and integrity know that. But you didn't.

Color me surprised.

Not.

[geek tragedy]

60. You've offered no substance, just childish name calling, so it's very

hard to tell what your point is, other than that people who can count lack integrity.

[99Forever]

62. Plenty of room...

... on my Ignored List, you'll fit right in.

Bye bye.

[geek tragedy]

63. I'm likely joining good company nt

[Puzzledtraveller]

8. At that level their is no party.

The 1% decides.

[Nay]

68. This is the truest statement in this thread. nt

[leftstreet]

11. DURec

[Zorra]

12. Many centrists prefer republicans over progressive Democrats. It's the "Third Way" of thinking.

And that right there is a primary reason why the world is so totally fucked up right now.

Reagan Democrats.

[sabrina 1]

29. Yes, that is the truth. I think they would be happy if they could get rid of Progressives out of the

party altogether. See the defenses here to day of Dems voting for a Republican in NJ. I'm willing to be that those Dems were not Progressives. I don't know a progressive dem who would vote for a right winger like Christie, who is destroying the Public Schools in NJ, spent money on the wealthy after Sandy, and left the rest of the people to fend for themselves.

They could have USED Sandy to attack Christie with IF they had wanted to win, instead they are TRYING to use it to claim that his handling of Sandy won him the election, when nothing could be further from the truth. One year after Sandy there was rising anger at Christie over the lack of progress in helping the victims.

[librechik]

13. It's not WTF, it's the new (not so new) normal

democracy is too complex to grasp as a perspective to inform your entire world view and give you good judgement. Apparently. And the propaganda is very very powerful. And the electorate is basically cynical and hopeless. We need some really new thinking, if we have time for it.

[woo me with science]

14. K&R

[KG]

18. at least those NJ dems didn't vote for some dammned ol' liberatarian!

as usual the same tired justification come out for losing an election. it think the ones on this thread falls under the 'keeping your powder dry' meme

[polichick]

25. One corporate party - two faces.

[warrant46]

32. +1

[La Lioness Priyanka]

41. they didnt want to appear to lose to christie in a proxy war for 2016

thats the main reason no big names showed up for bueno

[Rex]

46. K&R for pissing off all the RIGHT people!

[99Forever]

51. Despicable.

This will be remembered next year.

[WillyT]

52. K & R !!!

[Marr]

57. Now wait a minute. I regularly see Obama supporters here insisting that liberals support

the party in every race, whether they're Blue Dogs or DLCers or whatever. You must, we are told, support the party-- and failing to do so makes you no better than a right-winger.

But their heroes can openly *endorse* right-wingers and that's just a-ok because... what? It costs so much money to endorse a candidate?

I think an agenda is showing.

[geek tragedy]

61. You're inventing facts to support your outrage.

How many Obama supporters have you seen defending people who endorsed Chris Christie?

Answer: virtually none.

This race was not winnable, and recognizing that only means a person can do math, not that they wanted Christie to win.

The people who endorsed Christie are turncoats. Phuckem.

[Marr]

66. And the people who failed to endorse his opponent?

What were they? Pragmatic?

By the way, Blanche Lincoln wasn't a case of simply staying out of the whole thing.

[geek tragedy]

71. Blanche Lincoln is distinguishable

in a number of ways, including her ability to ransom her vote on the ACA.

The only thing Obama could control was the spin on Christie's win.

[Bluenorthwest]

67. Many people are defending Chrisite and his endorsers AND in reaity if a contest is actually

unwinnable, you use it to do harm to your opponent for future contests, you do not telegraph weakness and capitulation and claim that's some smart long game math making. Unimaginative idiots addicted to instant return, if they donate money they want favors instantly. It's so utterly daft. Calling it smart is Orwellian. It's stunted thinking, limited and truncated and intentionally selective.

[geek tragedy]

69. So , which races would you have abandoned to fund

a DNC play in NJ?

[WillyT]

64. Most Excelent Point !!!

[Rex]

65. Bingo! Notice how the Usual Suspects are staying quiet?

"Moderates" my ass. Wouldn't trust a one of them. Stabbed their own candidate in the back!

[Skip Intro]

70. Dems laid down for NJ, Reps laid down for VA.

I don't get either one, but both together have me wondering if there aren't bigger cogs a turning just out of our view.

[bvar22]

72. "Bigger cogs turning" ?

Like Christie for President 2016 under the Power Sharing agreement?
Dems for 8 year, Repubs for the next 8?


Must keep up the Kabuki illusion of "a choice" while the 1% agenda (Corporatism + Security/Surveillance/PoliceState) rolls on without mercy for the Working Class
no matter WHO sits in the Oval Office or holds majorities in Congress?
Those kind of "cogs"?

Question: How do you get Democrats to CHEER Low Taxes on The RICH?
Answer: Frame 39.5% as a huge Tax Increase on the RICH, and declare "VICTORY".

Question: How can you get Democrats to cheer for BILLIONS in subsidies to the Health Insurance Industry?
Answer: (well, we all are watching that one now).

Things that make old Democrats go "WTF?"


[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center]