Gephardt expresses Nov. doubt (Democrats winning control of House)

[Placebo]

During a private meeting in San Francisco last week, former Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) expressed doubt that Democrats will win control of the House this fall, according to knowledgeable sources.

Gephardt’s remarks about the upcoming election, delivered to a group of investment analysts last Tuesday in the district of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), run counter to the predictions of some of his former colleagues who now occupy powerful positions in the Democratic leadership.

During a lunch sponsored by the Gerson Lehrman investment-consulting firm at the Omni Hotel, the 2004 presidential candidate and House minority leader from 1995 to 2003 said the lack of competitive races and gerrymandered districts could help House Republicans retain a narrower majority in the next Congress, the sources said.

But when asked about his comments, Gephardt suggested that people might have misconstrued what he said because they had expected him to predict a resounding victory this fall.

More...

[Master Mahon]

1. If they keep up their present performance

He's absolutely correct, sad to say!

[neoblues]

7. Present lack of performance... ;-) Alas...

Not to mention the unfunny and nearly insurmountable Republican Electronic Voting Bonus System we face.

[saigon68]

39. HERE'S THE GEPHARDT CLOWN

[MSgt213]

8. The President's rating numbers are in the fucking toilet. And the dems,

without exception cannot stand united or any issue. They don't seem to understand that this go along to get along attitude is hurting them with voters. They fear getting kick out of office, but seem to do every thing in their power to prove they are no different then the republicans.

[neoblues]

12. Displaying Profound.... Lack of Leadership...

or even enfeebled passion for their office (who can blame them given what they've been through at the hands of this Republican majority, but if they want to win--they must act!).

[MSgt213]

14. I have seen so missed opportunities by this party its making me think

there is a complete consipiracy going on between both parties. Boxer speaks out no gets behind her, Conyers speaks out no gets behind her, Murtha speaks out no gets behind him and it goes on and on....

[neoblues]

18. And That's a Fact...

Your examples... Plus Feingold calls for censure and is all but ignored... There's no way around it--I have to agree with you. The behavior of the Democratic party--as defined by our elected Congress members is strangely passive and compliant. It's limited to a few complaints by a few members and... that's it. They should be as outraged as we are, at least! It's far too strange. Enough so that it does suggest some sort of secret agreement or other controlling motive of which we, the people, are entirely unaware.

They can't be ignorant or unaware of the harm being done by their declared opponents... What are they afraid of, what kind of manipulation are they under, what kind of reward are they receiving, what agreement have they made, what kind of submissiveness causing drug are they being given, or in other words--what is wrong with them?

Something is just not right--and I mean beyond the obvious.

[MSgt213]

20. Thank you. I don't get the demos in congress could be getting out of this

but on the other hand their behavior makes absolutely no sense. It's so fucking irrational. By the way, you are absolutely correct, I forgot to mention Feingold and Dean. And these are people who are so selfless that they would give all the others cover if they just stood behind them.

[AndyA]

15. I agree. Bush is already being pounded by the polls.

What are the Dems waiting for? This is when they need to come out united, and pound the hell out of the Republicans with facts that cannot be spun around to sound good.

The Republicans/Bush Administration have screwed up literally everything they've touched.

The dropped the ball on terrorism before 9/11/01. It was THEIR responsibility to protect America, and they FAILED.

They LIED about WMDs.

They outed a CIA agent for political purposes and gain.

Gas prices are soaring, after a closed door oil company CEO drafted Energy Policy.

DeLay.

Frist.

Cunningham.

Harris.

Santorum.

Libby.

The debt is skyrocketing.

The debt ceiling has been raised almost every year under this "leadership." :eyes:

Jobs are being outsourced by the millions.

New jobs being created are crap, dead end, no benefit, no future jobs.

Americans can no longer afford to put anything into savings.

Under No Child Left Behind, millions of children HAVE BEEN LEFT BEHIND!

What the hell do they have to do to receive some opposition?

DEMS: SHIT OR GET OFF THE POT, WE'LL GET SOME NEW DEMS WHO'LL DO WHAT WE WANT THEM TO DO!

[MSgt213]

16. It so nice to hear I'm not the only one so frustrated by these people.

If this situtation and moment in time were reversed and the republicans were on the defensive you would need a lot of mops and large buckets to clean up the blood left on Hardball and Fox news every single night. Those bastards know how to play dirty and they ain't afraid of rolling mud. They wouldn't even need a shred of truth to what they were saying to feast on demos.

[al bupp]

29. You are definitely not the only one frustrated...

w/ the predominately milquetoast Dem's in congress. If only we had a hundred like Wellstone (may he rest in peace) or Feingold.

[wakeme2008]

2. In some ways a smart move to play the underdog ..

:)

[displacedtexan]

13. Yes, it is. And...

If Dems could learn to speak in code the way Repukes do...
("No impeachment planned"
means "If we get subpoena power, watch out!"), we might
win some elections.

We just seem so scattered (as a national
party) lately. I worked on a Dem campaign, in which the
candidate was a reformed Repuke. He was amazed that we
didn't understand "the code."

[Selatius]

3. Gerrymandering has been a problem from the beginning.

One day, this system will be junked for a better one. It has disenfranchised minority voters of all stripes, and it has been used as an obstacle to needed, valid change, and it has served to restrict the voice of the people in such a way that only marginal changes come from within. Major changes, as a result, have always come from without the system. They came from the street, from the protesters, and the system has allowed those who benefit from such restrictive control to attack protesters as various sorts of garbage and anti-American fools unworthy of any protection and worthy of persecution.

[neoblues]

22. I Suspect...

that most typical Republicans actually don't even realize how their representatives have reworked the voting districts to ensure their non-competitive reelection (ie. they've cheated in the most despicable and un-American way--definitely no 'free market' in politics, much less a 'fair contest').

Indeed, I suspect that those 'typical Republicans' might even thing "Gerrymandering" is some sort of "liberal" "Homo-Sexual" act that they don't even want to know about! That dirty "Gerry" and his "Man-dering". "Geez... don't they know it's an abomination before the Lord God" (said in a thudering, threatening retributional voice)...
:sarcasm:

"A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste!" (therefore Republicans are wasteful!)
"A (Republican) Mind is a Terrible Waste!"
"A (Republican) Mind is Something Terrible!"

[Miss Chybil]

4. Who's Gephardt?

:evilgrin:

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

32. he was to be 'the next big thing' in democratic politics for years

then he stood with bush and holy joe lieberman in the rose garden in 'let's go to war' photo-op and quickly vanished into obscurity

[Pastiche423]

34. The Rose Garden photo op...

Butt buddies Holy Joe and Dick on the right.

[sutz12]

5. Expressing some doubt keeps the troops mobilized

Got to prove him wrong! :)

[saltpoint]

6. The rap on Gephardt is that he has always been a plodding sort

of workhorse. I think other Democrats would have handled that questioned with more flash and counterpoint.

Just my opinion.

I think Howard Dean or Barbara Boxer or Dale Bumpers might have turned the question around and responded, "Well, the real question facing us in November is whether the American people wish to continue to see assaults on their liberties. Those are hard-won liberties, involving dead soldiers on more than one continent. Should we allow the Republicans to squander them so carelessly, so thoughtlessly? The voters need to re-assert the urgency of respect in the democratic process in November, and hold Republicans accountable for their many transgressions."

Instead of, "O yeah, I doubt we'll capture the House."

[groovedaddy]

9. First, will the elections be fair? Second

even if the Repubs maintain control of of the House and/or Senate, will things get substantially better in the next 2.5 years? Will the U.S. be out of Iraq and will Iraq be "stabilized?"
The shit has to hit the fan sooner or later.

[rodeodance]

10. We have lots of work to do -that is for sure.

[stevedeshazer]

11. Gephardt is right, predictions of a Democratic sweep are premature.

We have to get boots on the ground in every congressional district. We have to EARN it.

Republicans have a huge built-in advantage.

[Malikshah]

17. Lower the expectations folks-- That whole counting chickens thing

Lord knows-- keep it down and then the potential changeover will be all the sweeter.

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

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

[goforit]

35. An arrogant failure to the max!!!....He knows it's all rigged anyhow.

[Dr Fate]

21. If they keep acting like cowardly collaborators, he will be right. n/t

n/t

[neuvocat]

23. Well there's a flaw with that logic.

He's not in charge anymore. I doubt the dems would continue to do so bad without him being there.

[AnOhioan]

24. As much as I dislike Gephardt, I must agree.....

Not because the RW has the ideas to win, but the RW has the MEANS to win....Diebold et al.

[VegasWolf]

25. I can't stand Gephart, but he is right, the current group of DINOs aren't

inspiring anybody. Nader was right, you can't stick a dime between the elitist corporate control over the two major parties.

[Dogmudgeon]

26. Nader said it was a nickel

Do you really think Al Gore would have damaged this country as badly as Bush has?

Nader, the Counterpunchers, etc., were wrong. There ARE some things worse than "the corporations" -- like corrupt Texas oilmen.

--p!

[agincourt]

27. If you cannot determine,

that a previous election was fraudulent, than that election probably was fraudulent. The main issue facing our country is how to make our elections legitimate. It's the only issue. The 500lb gorilla in the parlor that no one pays attention to.

[dkos refugee]

38. the media's complicity in such fraud...

is the 800lb gorilla

[leesa]

28. Of course, if they keep pretending they are Republicans it will never

happen. Gephardt is useless.

[corbett]

30. I Supported Gephardt In 2004 Primary (more)

and trust his judgment. I ALSO trust Governor Dean's judgment and will offer a simple response to the former Speaker of the House: we'll just have to work that much harder.

[rocktivity]

31. Come back, Dan Quayle--all is forgiven.

Unless, of course, Gephardt's sources already know what the vote counts are going to be.

:boring:
rocknation

[GoddessOfGuinness]

33. Expressing doubt is a smart move, in my opinion...

If people are sure that the thugs will be out, they won't bother to show up at the polls.

[Placebo]

36. Agreed.

[dkos refugee]

37. In addition to the horrible gerrymandering

3 more reasons why he's right:

1. Diebold
2. 9/11 conspiracies unaddressed
3. democrats & republicans = corporatocrats

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

40. Another DINO checking in...