Will the Democratic Party IMPLODE If John Kerry Loses?

[Placebo]

If for some unforseen reason John Kerry would lose the election in November, what would be the ramifications for the Democratic Party?

It's been discussed what would happen to the Republican Party if Bush/Cheney loses this time around, what about for us?

[Gore1FL]

1. I don't see an implosion

Right now the Democratic unity comes from an ABB mindset, moreso than anything else.

The gOP on the other hand has stolen an election to put Shrubbie in office. They went all in in 2000, and really can't afford to lose in 2004 -- even then it won;t be the end of the GOP, just the end of the extreme right driving the issues.

[bluestateguy]

2. No, but DU could

I won't want to be around for all the recriminations and "I told you so's" from people here who supported another candidate in the primaries.

[Placebo]

5. Good Point.

I'd avoid DU for a few weeks should a Kerry loss occur. :scared:

[Droopy]

3. Well I don't know

I think we'd probably keep on pluggin' like we have been the last few years. That said, I think this is one of the most important elections that we'll ever see. If Bush manages to regain the office things will just continue to get worse and worse. People will wise up sooner or later.

[sampsonblk]

18. Bush's Legitimacy Rests on This Election

That's yet another reason why this one is important to me. If he loses this time, he can go back to Crawford never having gotten the most votes in any nattional election.

If he wins actually wins this time, then that conversation is over. He has to go.

[sampsonblk]

4. Yes, I hope the Party Crumbles if Kerry Loses

If we lose this time around, despite all that's happened, then its definitely time to tear the whole thing down and rebuild it better, stronger and faster than before.

If Kerry loses, and we all hope not, then its time to abandon and abolish this DLC chess board strategy, and start hammering out a way to be strong about who we are, and still win elections.

Best case: Kerry wins and we still get a new start.

[newscaster]

8. Sampson, you are right.

If we dont win with this one, its time to sit down and seriously see why our message does not register with the voters. Is it because of past events, maybe we are doing something wrong now, maybe we have lost sight of who we are and who the rest of America is.

I dont think the party will implode, but maybe its time to gut the building and put together a new party with a message that America will accept. But for God's sake, in writing a new message, we must never abandon our traditional democratic values.

[blackcat77]

12. I have to agree

I we lose two elections in a row when there wasn't the slightest excuse to lose either of them, heads need to roll. I am not a fan of Terry McAuliffe by any means, and I'd like to see him first in line for the ass-kicking machine if worse comes to worse.

[Democat]

6. If Kerry loses or if he wins, the party needs to change for the future

We need to get tougher and smarter.

There are too many wimps in the party right now that won't stand up to Republicans, even when lives or rights are on the line.

Why can't we do what Newt did and take over the party with a bunch of tough new faces that are willing to fight as hard as is needed, with no fear, for what our side believes is important?

[xxqqqzme]

7. it won't implode so much

as die. It will B the end of the Democratic Party orchestrated by the DLC. We will then have the opportunity to shape a new, improved Progressive Party, addressing the dire straits this country will find itself facing.

[depakid]

9. At least McAuliffe would have to go

and, I image that there would be a lot of senior 'advisors' who would be discredited.

However, the party itself might even be strengthened. If we have to suffer 4 more years of Bush, my guess is that it will be such an unmitigated disaster that it would be the Republican party that crumbled- and that the progressive wing of the party would find A LOT more favor among the voters.

[Placebo]

21. I agree, McAuliffe would HAVE to go.

He hasn't been much of a success, aside from a fundraising standpoint, at winning elections for democrats, and even though is a good friend of Bill Clinton, it would be time for him to go! :nopity:

[benburch]

10. Not on its own.

It will implode because there will never ever be another Presidential election in the USA.

Bush will never again subject himself to the will of the people - he will be President For Life.

[noahmijo]

11. Look at what some of you are saying....

A party of non-quitters even in the event of losing.

Truly a bunch that never loses only vows to get stronger during temporary defeat.

[Andromeda]

13. This isn't going to happen.

Kerry won't lose!

[Placebo]

14. I HOPE he won't!

But we never can tell. I certainly hope he won't.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

15. If Kerry loses,

hopefully the dems will turn away from the DLC and turn toward more progressive politics. That said, I don't think there,s a chance in hell Bush will win unless he once again steals it.

[Piperay]

16. Yes, if Kerry loses I think that

there is going to be a huge battle within the Democratic Party as the different sides blame each other and decide which direction the party will take in future. I think the same thing will happen to the repukes if chimp loses. This is going to be a big turning point for whichever party is out.

[Festivito]

17. No. It would strengthen under ABB leaderlessly.

There ought be no shame for Democrats in losing seeing this country is so evenly and intransigently divided.

Should the name Democratic Party die, it will resurrect under a different name, and what's in a name. Would an ABB by any other name not work to a Bush defeat? (sorry)

The Democratic/ABB/whatever party will look for a prior winner to lead it. Hillary stands well poised as do many others.

[Voltaire99]

19. And if it does, so what?

Kerry losing just might force the party to start running non-corporate candidates, representing the anti-war views of the public, and avoiding Bush-lite as a marketing philosophy. Reform might actually be possible...

Then again, given the tentacles that money has wrapped around this party, I doubt it. The likelier scenario is a near-term future of Liebermanism: Joltin' Joe would have a field day explaining why his brand of reactionary politics must now be the model.

[union_maid]

20. i sure hope not

It seems to me that the nation might implode if Bush wins. In any case, a stronger and more cohesive opposition would be necessary if we were to have any vestige of this country left after another 4 years of the Bush regime. Grassroots opposition to some of their policies would need to be organized. I hope that people would not think that the presidency is the whole of the political sphere and just go home to infight and get ready for the next leap year.

[auburngrad82]

22. If you think a two party system is bad

wait until we have a one-party government.

[MoonRiver]

23. I will go down with the ship, that being the entire country.

Democratic institutions, including the Democratic Party, can't survive a finalized and complete fascist coup, which is what we're facing if * steals another one and the Congress stays Repuke.

[AmerDem]

24. You are getting things mixed up!

Democrats will never implode. Within the last few days it was Bob Novak who said the repukes will IMPLODE if they lose. Democrats are always with the average people of this country and we as a group aren't going to implode any time soon.

[gollygee]

25. If we didn't implode when the election was stolen from Gore, we won't

we won't implode over anything.

[Nimrod]

26. Worst-case scenario

If Kerry loses, I don't fear for the party. Rather I fear for the country.

::puts on tinfoil hat::

My FBI file is probably already a foot thick, so I'm not going to actually use either of the words I'm sure are flagged. They both begin with the letter "R" and were the subject of numerous sixties acid-rock ballads.

If * wins NOW after everything he's done to the country, that may be the final bit of proof that the common citizen needs that we are merely living in an illusion of democracy created for us by the ruling class. They say any society is three meals away from a r*****, right now I'd put the US at one and a quarter meals, tops.

[Wheelie_Alex]

27. Should Kerry lose, the wailing and cries of "Why! Why! Why!"...

Would echo through the party. Then it would get ugly. The people on the left side of the party would blame the more conservative side as being at fault. The ones on the right would would accuse the left of chasing voters away. Each side would find fault in the others. The Dean people would say, "I told you so!" The Nader people would say, "We had no where else to go!"

The scariest part for me is this, there will be no Bush to rally the party against next time. Look at the state of the party as it stands now. ABB is really the only thing holding the party together. Should Kerry lose and there is no Bush to vote against next time, we will be lacking in direction. The party can not move to the left without alienating people on the right. If it moves right, then a lot of the progressives bail to the Greens.

I hate to say this, but OUR VERY SURVIVAL as a party hinges on a Bush loss.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

28. The Republicans Were Out Of Power For Twenty Years And Didn't Disappear

nt

[Placebo]

29. I guess.

n/t

[Larkspur]

30. No implosion, but maybe an explosion...

as in fracturing the Party. Progressives will be blamed by the DLC and vice versa. Nader will be blamed. Everyone will blame each other, but those, like me who will vote for Kerry but don't bank my hope in Kerry, win or lose, will be ready to help a Dem leader with their head out of the clouds to rebuild the party from the grassroots up.

[sleipnir]

31. No, but the party will become marginalized for years and years. UNLESS

we win back the Senate.

IF, IF, a big IF Kerry doesn't win, I strongly believe that a good number of people are going to be so fed up with Bush and the Republicans they'll move to third party because obviously the Dems were unable to stop his re-selection. I could easily see the party losing 25% or more members permanently, thus it might spell the end of the two party system in America and the ushering in of a dictatorship. Sure, we'll have 3 or 4 smaller opposition parties, one of which would be the old Democrat party, but that doesn't work well under our set of rules.

However, if we at least get a tie or regain control of the Senate, the Dems are still a national, viable source of political opposition.

However, this is all hand wringing, I doubt that this shall occur.

[LuminousX]

32. I would have said so before the primaries

but the primaries showed me that we have an amazing group of people that will keep the party on the right track.