Black Voters Arent Turning Out For The Post-Obama Democratic Party

[IronLionZion]

Last edited Wed May 31, 2017, 12:24 PM - Edit history (1)

The special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District is the first major test of the Democratic resistance to President Trump. In one sense, the results of the first round in April were promising for the party. Thanks to an impressive Democratic turnout, Jon Ossoff, the Democrat who advanced to this month’s runoff, almost cracked 50 percent of the vote in a district that’s nearly 10 percentage points more Republican than the nation as a whole.1

The result, moreover, was a reversal of some turnout trends we saw in 2016, when President Trump outperformed the polls on the back of higher turnout in Republican-leaning areas. And if the runoff election on June 20 features a similar electorate, the race will be too close to call.

But the Georgia 6 April primary was a continuation of some 2016 turnout trends too — trends that should worry Democrats. In 2016, turnout among whites was up across the country, and in highly educated areas like the 6th District in the suburbs of Atlanta. This redounded to Democrats’ advantage. At the same time, black turnout was down precipitously, from 66 percent in 2012 to 59 percent in 2016. This black-white turnout gap continued in the first round of Georgia’s special election, where the Democrats got impressive turnout levels from all races and ethnicities — except African-Americans.

Lower black turnout in 2016 might be explained as a reversion to the mean after that group’s historic turnout for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. It’s possible that Clinton could never inspire black turnout the way the first African-American president could. But even if this shift is more of a return to the old status quo, Democrats will still have to grapple with these turnout levels going forward, and there are powerful lessons we can learn from the party’s failure to raise or maintain previous black turnout levels in 2016. Painting Trump as a bigot did not motivate more African-Americans to vote, in 2016 or in the Georgia 6th. Hope and shared identity seem to be much more effective turnout motivators than fear.

Elections are decided by two chief factors: Who turns out and which candidate they vote for. It’s been pointed out that turnout alone did not decide the 2016 election — and that the key factor in Trump’s success with groups like the white working class was not that he got way more of them to the polls than Mitt Romney did, but simply that he won a much higher share of their votes.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/black-voters-arent-turning-out-for-the-post-obama-democratic-party/

Latinos are not as Dem-leaning as African-Americans. We have our work cut out for us on inspiring turnout. It's not just the voter suppression. It's not just the threat of Trump destroying our country. It's the challenge of inspiring people to take the time and effort to vote for our candidates.

EDIT: It has been brought to my attention that the opinion piece was written by a GOP operative with a very different agenda. Take what you want with a grain of salt, but we still need to make sure that our people want to vote, and are not denied the right to vote. Our party has work to do to fight voter suppression tactics and to inspire our people to vote for our candidates.

[liberal N proud]

1. They along with the rest will suffer for that choice.

[WellDarn]

3. Thanks for explaining that,

as opposed to, say, coming up with suggestions on how to improve our message.

[Ohioblue22]

8. We did try , we tried to tell people to ignore the email stories , that though flawed

She was still the best candidate , no they are not the same ,,, people have asked that supporters of Bernie to get behind the party nom , quit posting right-wing slam Hillary posts , don't sit it out don't vote for Stein or harambe , don't write in bernie .... etc . But people said screw you and put trump in charge .

[WellDarn]

10. Okay, we're talking about black folks

Your "Blame Bernie" post needs some tweaking.

[Ohioblue22]

17. I'm not "blaming Bernie" Bernie didn't do the voting for the dems

James Knowles III, mayor of Ferguson, Missouri, won re-election handily Tuesday in the first mayoral election since the 2014 shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Voters backed Knowles’ bid for a third term over his opponent, Ella Jones, who has served on the Ferguson City Council since 2015...... 30% turn-out and that's double the norm .

[MiddleClass]

19. Don't blame Bernie

Blame the never Hillary + Bernie + Jill Stein supporters,

when you make the perfect the enemy of the good, you will always lose elections.

Work on all Democrats, stop alienating the biggest group by catering to groups that disappoint, election after election.

Reach out to everybody don't alienate, just think what happened in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, all should be solid Democrat states. Why not?

[ehrnst]

38. +1000

All of the sudden, white straight men feel "left behind economically and that SUCKS and is UNACCEPTABLE"and the rest of us are saying, "Tell us about it..." and then white straight old men who claim to speak for Democrats say, "the Democratic party has failed to make white straight men feel like they are the most important members of the party, so the party has LOST IT'S WAY!!!" and the rest of us are saying "WTF???"

[Adrahil]

44. I hate the term 'message' in this context.

It implies a sales a job... sound bites and slogans.

What we need is for people to understand what's at stake here. That's MUCH more than simply a 'message.'

[WinkyDink]

51. "Improve our message" is EXACTLY what Republicans have said is what they need, when they lose. If

ANY former Democratic voters STILL, in the face of current events, need an education on Democratic principles, policies, and past, then it's all hopeless.

[IronLionZion]

4. Hasn't there been enough suffering?

The threat of Trump's goons cutting social programs can feel less horrifying to people who have always had someone's goons trying to screw them, imprison them, or execute them on the street.

I want to hear someone who is inspiring people to vote for our party by speaking to their issues.

[brush]

32. Guess it's time to blame the black guy again. Ever heard of Interstate Crosscheck and...

the numerous other vote suppression tactics of the repugs that target POC voters, especially AA voters?

It's sickening to me how these memes get started and perpetuated on DU by alleged progressives who should know better.

Perez and the DNC and the Democratic Party should have immediately set up a standing, permanent, well-funded committee to combat repug cheating — staffed with the best legal, investigative, media liaisons and volunteer help possible to stop the cheating.

It should be as robust as our GOTV effort because getting out the vote can easily become a wash by the determined repug effort to stop us from voting.

It's not rocket science. We've known of this repug cheating since Gore at least but still no official recognition or effort to combat it, but like clockwork we still get these dumb threads trying to blame black people for us losing elections. We're also to blame, according to these underminers, for Hillary having lost even though 90 some percent of black voters voted Democratic. No other ethnic group even got close to that percentage.

[ehrnst]

39. And all those women who want "reproductive rights" and those LGBTQs wanting to "Pee"

distracting from all the much more important economic decline of the Working Class White male voter...

[brush]

40. YES! YES! YES!

[IronLionZion]

58. The point of my OP was we need to earn their votes

and inspire/energize people to vote by speaking to their issues, showing up to listen, and so on.

[brush]

62. It comes off as looking to place blame on AAs while ignoring the reality of...

vote suppression tactics.

It also comes off as being out of the repug playbook.

[Demsrule86]

63. Right...Hillary did speak to the issues and it didn't help...

We need a 50 state strategy as Dean envisioned it (this means running moderate candidates in red areas), stop primarying sitting Dems (are you listening so called progressive splinter groups?),we need to vote for whoever has a "D" next to his/her name in all elections, stop attacking the Democratic party for everything while ignoring the literal elephant in the room...evil Republicans. Also, we we need to vote in every election...presidential, mid-terms, State House, Governors, mayors, School boards and even dog catchers. Until we do that it won't matter what message we have. Also, stop beating up on POC and expecting them to save our bacon in elections and blaming them for our electoral losses.

[IronLionZion]

65. I'm a POC. Am I beating myself up too?

I actually agree on the 50 state strategy and vote in every little election. We need to win from the local and state level up.

What is your plan to get our people to vote?

Our party wins when our people are energized to turn out.

[Demsrule86]

100. work on voter suppression...as for turning people out... vote Democratic.

That is it. The idea that we have to woo our base is wrong...our base should support us and if they don't they have no reason to complain. We have great ideas in the Democratic Party ...now we need support. And saying POC cost Hillary the election is wrong...not true.

[ehrnst]

95. THANK YOU! (nt)

[RhodeIslandOne]

33. ALL ages, races, genders, etc are going to have to learn

Vote in EVERY election. Not just every 4 years.

[liberal N proud]

112. Yep!

[GoCubsGo]

2. Well, a bunch of them were purged from the voter rolls.

Ossoff's republican opponent was a big part of that, especially in the district where they are running:

https://thinkprogress.org/the-gop-candidate-in-that-georgia-special-election-is-a-pioneering-vote-suppressor-34de8e90d2f4

It also went on in Michigan, Wisconsin, and likely a number of other states that went for Obama in 2008 and 2012, but flipped to Don the Con in 2016.

[a kennedy]

11. I think the Supreme Court is going to preside over the Ohio voter purge.......

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/30/politics/ohio-supreme-court/is should help is ruled such a purge is wrong......

[WellDarn]

12. Yep

And the USSC is about to make it worse. They took cert. in Husted out of Obio today.

[Cha]

23. THIS!!! Oh how that is Conveniently Forgotten.

There was a report awhile ago that said more were purged from Wisconsin than trump won by.

"Wisconsin’s Voter-ID Law Suppressed 200,000 Votes in 2016"

https://www.thenation.com/article/wisconsins-voter-id-law-suppressed-200000-votes-trump-won-by-23000/

[guillaumeb]

27. Amen to that.

Blame Kobach and his program of suppression.

[catbyte]

79. In Michigan, 45* "won" by 13K votes; 188K were purged, mainly from Detroit & other urban areas

It reeks.

[Dustlawyer]

52. +1!!! THIS

I thought I would see this post higher up, but many are not getting it.

Trump has Kris Kobach in charge of voter fraud now. The same Cross Check voter suppression POS who has eliminate millions of minority voters in the last election. Also, Georgia disenfranchised over a million black voters on their own. This more than makes up the difference in black voter turnout.

Why this isn't a bigger story when they are already working on how to cheat us out of the next two elections I don't know, but I know we better be talking and doing something about it!

[Auntie Bush]

5. I just love that picture of both of them.

[Demsrule86]

6. With voter suppression and the attack on POC by law enforcement...not sure that it

is about turnout...but if you don't vote than the GOP keeps riding high.

[justiceischeap]

7. IMO, women of color should be someone we look toward

they had the biggest turnout per voting bloc for Clinton.

[Squinch]

9. Good catch. And good idea for reaching out specifically to them.

[justiceischeap]

18. Not just reaching out but getting them involved at DNC level

The Dem party has a color problem and they need to acknowledge then do something about it.

[Squinch]

20. Yes. And recruiting candidates from among them.

[MiddleClass]

21. Remember, the largest Democratic or independent group

is women of non-color, stop alienating people, remember, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio

[justiceischeap]

31. The point isn't about alienating white women

It's about being inclusive to WOC. They are out there and participating but not getting much leverage or positions of power.

[JustAnotherGen]

54. They didn't show up

And they weren't purged.

Oh - and they are the default setting for 'womanhood' in the USA.

At the end of the day - they fell for the con man's snow job.

[Motownman78]

111. From what I understand

is that they fell for the Con-man because their whiny husbands and boyfriends have been "emasculated by the lefts agenda".

[Docreed2003]

41. Excellent point and it bears repeating...

The DNC would do well to foster the energy of women of color and groom them for office and positions of leadership. Their voices are unique and powerful and they deserve to be fostered and highlighted.

[Fluke a Snooker]

13. DNC needs to contact EVERY registered Democrat

Ideally, we should not only contact them, but we should send over a representative with an early voting ballot. If we can dispatch about a thousand volunteers, we can do this and win the district handily! Then rinse and repeat for EVERY race in the future.

[Demsrule86]

64. First of all we don't have the money to do that...secondly we did contact every Democrat

in my area Cortland Ohio...multiple times...local folks need to do that. It is much more effective. You develop a relationship with the voters. Stop expecting the party to carry people who are too busy (lazy) to even show up at midterms and don't volunteer during election years...all elections. Be the change you want.

[Fluke a Snooker]

113. There are other ways. Bring them mail-in ballots, for instance.

We can bring them mail-in ballots and they can take 10 minutes to fill it out. My point is we get thousands of OUR guys out in the field and do this. If every one of us would go out and get at least 5 people to fill out a mail-in ballot, we can win at least 20% more elections, which would make a difference. Let's do it!

[Demsrule86]

114. You can't do that in Ohio...you have to request a ballot.

Different states have different rules.

[JI7]

14. it's still higher than anyone else for democrats.

More is expected from black voters than others who should be called out.

[brush]

34. Yeah, these "blame the black guy" threads always say AA voting is down without saying...

that other Dem voting block participation is also down.

[JustAnotherGen]

55. +10000 n/t

[Hoyt]

15. I don't think we'll be able to use the excuse "purged voters" if Ossoff loses (let's hope not).

In the 6th District runoff election on June 20, 2017, a federal judge's order allowed several additional weeks for potential voters to register after the April 18th election in which no candidate received 50% of vote (Ossoff was close, though). I'm hoping we took advantage of that.

[tenderfoot]

16. About the author of the article Patrick Ruffini...

Patrick Ruffini worked as a digital strategist for George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign, and the Republican National Committee in 2006. He co-founded Echelon Insights and founded Engage.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/contributors/patrick-ruffini/

[Cha]

24. Hmmmmm?

Mahalo, tenderfoot

[FreeStateDemocrat]

25. Good pick-up:Echelon Insights, launched in summer of 2014 by top Republican digital strategist...

Echelon Insights, launched in summer of 2014 by top Republican digital strategist Patrick Ruffini and...

[sheshe2]

42. Good catch...

Explains a lot.

[kcr]

96. Good catch n/t

[uponit7771]

22. Or our votes are being suppressed? These articles hate to SHOW the effects of voter suppression on..

... the votes votes of PoC

[guillaumeb]

26. A positive message inspires turnout.

And the GOP is dedicated to suppressing the non-white vote.

Perhaps both factors played a part?

[Demsrule86]

73. If that is the case about a positive message than how did the GOP win?

Certainly, they did not have a positive message...perhaps we should merely vote for the candidate with the "D" next to his name.

[guillaumeb]

105. The GOP did have a positive message.

It was simplistic, like Reagan's messages, but simple sells. And the GOP sold a message of a great America. The details are of no consequence.

[Demsrule86]

108. No it was Hillary is bad bad and more bad.

[pnwmom]

28. What about voter suppression? And what about Russian propaganda

micro- targeted to black voters and aimed at keeping them from voting?

What about gerrymandering?

The other side is doing everything they can to reduce the votes of Democrats, and that includes the African American and other minority voters who are the backbone of the party.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

29. Any analysis of POC turnout that doesn't look at voter suppression is incomplete.

[still_one]

37. This is an article from a republican stratigist, whose job it is to spew republican talking

points

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Ruffini

Take it for what it is worth

[Quayblue]

43. +1000

[Mister Ed]

30. I wanna see the Post-Obama Democratic Party turning out for black voters. n/t

[lunamagica]

35. 94% of Black women voted for Hillary. 94%. That's just amazing!

So, the lower turnout was from men? Did misogyny play a part in this?

[dsc]

47. It isn't that she got a way lower percentage

though she did a bit lower, it is that fewer of them voted (though not as many fewer as being portrayed).

[still_one]

36. This is from Patrick Ruffini, a republican strategist, whose job is to push republican talking

points:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Ruffini

Thanks, but no thanks for the republican propaganda

I can tell you one thing though, that can be said is that reports are that early voting is soaring in the 6th district.

http://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/6th-district-early-voting-soars/ZAYBYIWF5WX1wSOIkDLDPN/

[shenmue]

45. Yep

[IronLionZion]

46. The point was for the party to speak to their issues and earn votes

to inspire voters to vote. It's not to blame anyone for anything.

[Demsrule86]

66. That never happens.

There are certain issues that need to be addressed such as the crappy jobs available...and with retail folding, we may not even have those. Trump won on bad trade deals and had help from the Russians,Kremlin Jill Stein and Comey. Progressives got played as well with the fake Russian troll posts...He still barely won ...less than $100,000 votes in a few states...and he lost the popular vote...I really doubt all those things will happen again...a perfect storm.

[bigtree]

48. voter suppression targeted at black communities

...period.

Even at that, black women are the most dependable Democratic voters.

[NCTraveler]

49. Follow Clintons lead and platform moving forward.

They are the base and future of our party.

They will recognize it if we pander to Trump voters and leave us in droves for the slight.

[Demsrule86]

68. I am a liberal period end of story...but we will not win with the current platform.

The country is center left at best...and that is just a fact. We are going to have to run moderates in red area. If we are to assume the majority...we will need a big tent. It breaks my heart to say this. because if Hillary had been elected. We might have changed minds and hearts with some of her policy goals particularly in the area of jobs and we would have the courts as well...but she wasn't elected and now we took a giant step backwards.

[NCTraveler]

75. "We are going to have to run moderates in red area."

Never said we shouldn't.

I also find that to be insignificant to the point. Our platform needs to stay in it's current and progressive state.

[Demsrule86]

80. I want a progressive platform too...but the reality is very different...lofty goals.

We won't get single payer or a $15.00 minimum until we take back the government...we had 60 votes early in Pres. Obama's administration but Stupak and the guy running in Virginia (perriello) along with other pro-life Democrats ruined our chances for single payer. And ended up weakening abortion rights in the ACA with the Stupak amendment as well. Next, Lieberman wrecked our chances for Medicare for 55 and over. It is going to be a shit show to get anything done especially since we lost the courts as well. How many times have we held all three branches of government with a 60 vote majority in the senate? We won't even get judges approved without a senate majority now. Democrats face an uphill battle. And we should be considering effective strategy that will help us win elections.

[NCTraveler]

88. I don't find your goals to get to power to be realistic.

I want to keep beating the drum of the platform that polls unbelievably high from issue to issue. In red states and blue states. Backing down nationally is a losing strategy.

[Demsrule86]

92. I don't think we should back down...

However, many seem to think we need to run candidates who reflect the platform in red states. Quist is a good example of a bad candidate...there were several other experienced candidates who could have run...but the state party chose him. We need a Howard Dean strategy. If we look at the 16 electoral map...there are over 20 seats up for grabs...we need to make the most of it.

[BumRushDaShow]

50. Blacks make up only 13% of GA-6

https://ballotpedia.org/Georgia%27s_6th_Congressional_District

Take half of that to ballpark potential voters within that group and we are talking about a small % of the total voters for the district.

There seems to be a narrative that blacks have a higher population that they really do in this country.

[IronLionZion]

53. Every vote is important

The importance of their votes to our party in many swing states and districts is the issue. There's a reason why the GOP in the South is bringing back voter restrictions and trying to desperately gerrymander as many of them into a few black districts as possible.

People move. Demographics change faster than they can draw the district lines. We need those votes.

[BumRushDaShow]

56. But we also need other groups to step up to the plate

The most gerrymandered and suppressed group is being told - "Get up n****r and run the gauntlet to vote so we can sit on our asses and maybe think about voting ourselves".

I expect there are plenty of progressives/liberals in these types of districts who are sitting home vs blacks who tend to vote 90% of the time, because WE have more to lose than them, and the fire hasn't been lit under them enough yet...

Hopefully with this last election, some fire got accelerated under those non-POC voters (the appearances at Town Halls is a possible sign).

[IronLionZion]

57. Yes you're correct

Our side definitely needs to inspire and energize our voters more. There's plenty of room for improvement.

[BumRushDaShow]

59. The 2006 might be a guide

as there was a rumble of discontent that lead to the House flip after 12 years. Only downside is that since that time, with the 2010 census and redistricting, it's harder to do... although a number of those re-drawn districts were "close" in terms of party registration (the "swing" districts) but had just enough to flip them to R.

The focus needs to be STATE races and getting control of legislatures/governorships in time for the 2020 census (and next round of redistricting).

[IronLionZion]

60. Our party definitely needs to show more attention to state races everywhere

since they control redistricting and a lots of good laws are passed at the state level.

Also a state senator made it to the White House in 4 years very recently. If Obama can do it, so can some other fresh face from our party with very little baggage.

[BumRushDaShow]

67. One of the things that killed us at the state level

was ALEC. We were finally able to get many of the major corporate sponsors to pull out of that group but there are still a handful of draconian "legislative drafts" still in play and being enacted in red states. IMHO, we need some more think tanks to develop our own state legislation drafts that would be ready to go when the time comes.

[IronLionZion]

70. 13th is a good documentary on Netflix

that explores many of these issues and how legislators blatantly copy/paste ALEC laws in various states deliberately to stop people from voting. ALEC's leaders have been on record boasting about how voter suppression helps conservatives win.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_(film)

[BumRushDaShow]

90. Thanks for the heads-up on that film

I don't have Netflix but a sister does. Will have to add to my "must watch" list.

[Demsrule86]

69. You do know after big Dem donations were banned, there was no

money for state elections or midterms. Thankfully that has been reversed.

[IronLionZion]

72. Small Dem donations can still happen

the national party can work with state and local parties to coordinate better on supporting candidates and raising funding and other stuff. The GOP always appears more organized than our side.

[Demsrule86]

74. It is not enough money which is why we lost. We should have more money going forward.

As a person who works in every election...I can tell you mid-terms do not get many personal donations...not do state races. That is how it works.. Without properly funding the DNC, we won't win. The GOP has dark money...millions...there is 100 million coming against Sherrod Brown in Ohio.

[BumRushDaShow]

76. One of the problems is that

there are still established or remnant "political machines" in many states and trying to navigate and/or unwind those is probably difficult.

[Demsrule86]

82. What political machines?

[BumRushDaShow]

89. For example here in Philly

Bob Brady is head of the local Democratic Party and is also a Congressman. Not that he doesn't "rally the troops" but IMHO, the "head" should be someone who is more grass roots and not trying to split jobs. The city turnout in off-year elections (like this year, where judges and the city D.A. was up) is abysmal. That is when "the machine" disappears.

We also have a very strong and often cliquish group of Ward Leaders here. If you have watched Tweety in the past, he has talked about this (since he was at one time a local).

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/politics/93629-why-philly-ward-leaders-matter

This often leads to in-fighting and battles for who "the party" supports in an election. It is something that is historic among political parties and as I noted, probably difficult to circumvent.

Interestingly enough, we just had a candidate for District Attorney win the primary who was not really endorsed "by the machine". Since the city is 80+% Democrat, he will get in and will represent a seismic shift in how the D.A.'s office runs, but this is an example of what we are talking about with grassroots organizers vs "the machine".

[Demsrule86]

91. Interesting...but now is not the time for big Democratic shakeups...we really do need to use what

is available and craft a strategy to win...we are in a desperate situation.

[BumRushDaShow]

94. True but in order to deal with the "desperate situation"

you still have to navigate around "the machine" because they can become a savior or our own worst enemy.

Thing is - those who lean towards the right and GOP tend to embrace "individualism" and as much as they appear to vote "en masse" like a "group", they are essentially nothing more than a group of "individuals" who are either directed to or are scared into voting the party line. Period. End of story. However on the left, there is a tendency for "the collective", which often magnifies some of the differences between the individuals more than the similarities. And "the machine" acts as a means to herd everyone towards the same goal, but in doing so, can sometimes piss off enough people to the point where they won't bother to vote at all.

So it is something (obviously long term) that needs to be dealt with - i.e., how to maximize the efficiency of "the machine" and minimize the voter rejection or apathy that often results from "machine politics".

[Demsrule86]

110. Unless the area is GOP, I say leave it alone until we get some power back.

[mrsv]

61. I don't know...

About that! I'm Black and I know there's alot of voter suppression going on!!! I was almost a victim here in Ohio. Tried to tell me and my husband would have to vote provisional after 20 yrs living and voting in same precinct and house. Had our address as an P.O. Box whichwe had 25 years prior when living in an apartment. Told them nevermind we'd go to Board of Elections to straighten out. Provisional ballots don't count. A dem poll worker called Board and we got to vote. Voter suppression is real against people of color. If people aren't inspired enough to vote with these assholes in office...seeing the damage they are doing every damn day...nothing is going to inspire them. That goes for minority as well as white working class voters who overwhelmingly elected trump. They need the inspiration.

[Demsrule86]

71. I am a registered Democrat and work to get out the vote every election.

There is a GOP type at my polling place that has tried to force me to vote provisional more than once. I am White too...but he knows I am a Democrat...I can only imagine what you go through. I threatened to call the police last time, and he backed down...they closed most of our polling places as we went for Obama twice...and Cortland went for Hillary too last year...long lines but we still got out the vote.

[Cary]

77. There is one and only one solution

Last edited Wed May 31, 2017, 02:52 PM - Edit history (1)

Vote.Democratic.

[IronLionZion]

78. I'd vote for a yellow dog before I would vote for any other party

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_dog_Democrat

[Demsrule86]

87. In Georgia where Dems don't even run in some areas, I wrote in 'yellow dog' sometimes

when I lived there.

[Demsrule86]

83. Amen Cary!!!

You speak truth. Until we stop eating our own, we will continue to lose...no one gets everything you want.

[Cary]

104. Covfefe, Demsrule86. Covfefe.

[Demsrule86]

109. Covfefe Back at you...hehe

[DinahMoeHum]

81. Trashed. This shit was written by a GOP strategist.

Next time, please consider the source, folks. Just sayin'

[Demsrule86]

85. Thanks I saw 538...but it is a GOP with an ax to grind.

[Cary]

106. Which is exactly why I advocate Vote Democratic

If we stay simple and focused then we are immune to their fake.news and bullshit

[Demsrule86]

84. A poster noted this is written by a Republican with an agenda...why did you post this?

You should delete this as it is a right wing source.


"Patrick Ruffini [3] is a Republican Party political strategist[2] and blogger in the United States. He is a founding partner and Chairman of Engage, LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based political media firm, and now runs the political research and intelligence firm, Echelon Insights[1]"

[IronLionZion]

86. I want people to vote for Dems, and for Dems to earn the votes

regardless of source

[Demsrule86]

93. You used a right wing source, and that fact is disguised...you need at the very least to amend

this post explaining that the article was written by a GOP operative with an ax to grind and why you thought it was proper to use a right wing source in this instance... to say this post is misleading is an understatement... as for 'earning' votes...I vote for Democrats. Like Cary, I say 'vote Democratic' period.

[kentuck]

98. Black voters need to understand...

...that the Democratic Party is not a "white man's Party". It is the Party of African-Americans and other minorities, as well as liberal white voters. The Democratic Party is their Party. There is not another option, at this time.

Just my opinion.

[Blue_true]

107. Black voters have carried water for the Democratic Party since the Civil Rights Act.

While the alt-left have blown up two important elections with attacks on the democratic candidate. Often Blacks vote for Democrats even when doing so does not align with their overall interests, the alt-left uses any hot button to bash and encourage abandonment of the Democrat.

It is time for Susan Serandon and other knuckleheads on the alt-left to realize that sometimes we can't insist on getting everything that we want when we face a horrid alternative (the republican and republican policies).

[ecstatic]

99. Fake news to provide cover for the massive suppression

that will take place in yet another election. The time to address GOP cheating, race based voter suppression & gerrymandering is NOW, NOT 2018.

[IronLionZion]

101. What is your plan to get our people to vote?

Our party wins when our people are energized to turn out.

[tenderfoot]

102. Quit posting right wing propaganda

[IronLionZion]

103. Point taken, I put a note in there

at this point I don't want to delete the OP because there is good discussion happening in this thread about important voter suppression issues.

[mfcorey1]

115. "Sez" who?

[IronLionZion]

116. Sez thanks for the kick!

[jalan48]

117. Identity Politics?

[IronLionZion]

118. Thread kicking?