will only have begun.
Getting Kerry/Edwards into the White House is only PART of it. Hopefully they'll bring more than a few new Dems in with them.
We have to seriously, and damn near ruthlessly assess the size of the victory to see how loudly we can shout MANDATE!!! And maybe even LANDSLIDE!!! At EVERY - repeat - EVERY opportunity.
Not only do we have to win, we have to make sure the enemy is knocked on its butts. They have to lose resoundingly enough to be shamed - to be put abruptly in their places. Only then might we capitalize on the momentum to start undoing all the crap they've pulled and snuck around behind people's backs.
This is a three-pronged strategy:
ONE: Make SURE every Congressperson's office, and Senator's office gets a call (or five or six!) from constituents and loyal, patriotic Americans who want to make absolutely SURE that they understand what the vote has declared. To UNDERSCORE that THE DEMOCRATS WON. THIS CANNOT BE SPUN, CANNOT BE IGNORED, CANNOT BE DENOUNCED, CANNOT BE AVOIDED. And even if they try to do those things (talking about the republi-CONS and "zell miller" Democrats) they cannot change what will have happened. And they need to be MADE AWARE that the people are FULLY AWARE of this. This holds their feet to the fire. This puts them on notice that WE have spoken, WE carried the day (AND THEY DID NOT - that will need to be stressed), and WE expect change.
This applies to offices where the elected official may OR MAY NOT be an incumbent. If it's an incumbent Democrat who won reelection (or in the Senate, wasn't up for reelection this time), you congratulate, and encourage, and impress upon him/her that WE THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN, you are FULLY AWARE of this and what it means, and you will be offering solidarity as they SUPPORT PRESIDENT KERRY, and then draw attention to one or two matters you insist they get to work on - now that they have the power. You further impress upon him or her that you EXPECT RESULTS, and this victory means they have no excuses for caving into the republi-CONS anymore. You need to remind them that it's time for the REAL adults to show what being back in charge is all about.
If it's an incumbent republi-CON who survived, or wasn't up for reelection, the republi-CON REALLY needs a call. He or she will be licking his/her wounds and feeling lost, angry, betrayed, shocked, and indignant - as in "how DARE they?? Don't they realize WHO WE ARE???" This type of person needs to be gently BUT FIRMLY reminded that THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN, CLEARLY, YOU WERE ONE OF THEM, AND YOU UNDERSTAND FULL WELL WHAT IT MEANS. It must then be added that you not only expect, you DEMAND that they put their partisan shit aside for a change and start making nice if they want any smooth sailing with YOU.
TWO: Kerry will be OURS. And because we all helped and may indeed have worked harder, longer, and more doggedly, to get him elected than you ever have on any campaign (and this may, in fact, be your first such involvement). Kerry will now be our beautiful new ship that will need to be well-steered. He will need to know that we have priorities as Democrats, liberals, progressives, and moderates, too, that we want to see restored to the front burner. There are numerous initiatives and executive orders he MUST BE URGED TO SIGN OR IMPLEMENT, either immediately, or during his honeymoon period while the Bad Guys are still busy licking their wounds and wondering what the hell happened. Things like how to restore the Fairness Doctrine and how to SERIOUSLY pursue the truth about what's happened in this country during, and in the wake of, 9/11, and the MANY, MANY cases of justice that MUST BE SERVED. ACCOUNTABILITY is PRIORITY ONE in this. The back-door behind-everybody's-back, thief-in-the-night recess-appointments MUST be terminated as soon as possible. He must be URGED to begin IMMEDIATELY to mend fences with our allies to EXPEDITE the end of our involvement in Iraq (most, if not all, of whom will probably be delirious with joy that they get to do business with a Good Guy for a change, and eager to restore friendship). He should be encouraged to open up the spider holes where bush/cheney have hidden those energy task force papers (are they not the US government's property, not cheney's personal property?) and various presidential papers and such that bush has ordered buried, and throw light and fresh air on as much of the last regime's sneaky shit as possible. And there's so much more. We have to be Kerry's conscience.
THREE: THE MEDIA!!! The same kind of energy and effort spent hounding any and all republi-CONS MUST - repeat - MUST be matched or complemented with corresponding hounding of THE MEDIA. Two reasons why:
a) They MUST be put on notice that we are WELL AWARE of how they coddled the conservatives and republi-CONS, persecuted Bill Clinton, and slept through the bush years. They must be informed that THIS FAVORITISM WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. They must quit hiding the truth about what the OUSTED regime has perpetrated on this country.
b) They MUST be put on EQUAL notice that it will be UNACCEPTABLE for them to decide that only NOW they're finally gonna wake up and muck-rake and get the proctoscope out, since there's a "dreaded Democrat" back in the White House. THEY WILL BE EXPECTED TO GIVE KERRY THE SAME FAIR SHAKE THEY HANDED TO bUSH ON A DIAMOND-STUDDED SILVER PLATTER. In fact, we MUST INSIST on it.
If anything, we probably have to be MOST aggressive in this third arena. If indeed we DO get something we can reasonably trumpet as a MANDATE, and a LANDSLIDE, we basically need to rub their noses in it, and force their attention to the realities – that it’s the DEMOCRATS back in power, and we’re not pushovers anymore, nor are we their scratching posts, because we’ve got the numbers and the momentum and the power on OUR side, for a change. And if indeed that's the case, we are IDIOTS not to take full advantage of it. They will URGENTLY NEED TO BE REMINDED OF THIS. REPEATEDLY. AND UNRELENTINGLY. WITHOUT MERCY.
So, long story longer, it's not over AFTER the fat lady sings. The fight is just beginning, and DU can be a powerful and focused force for good. Remember who the REAL "sore losermans" are, here.
Another thread building similar resolve (I'm so encouraged to see so many of us thinking strategically this way! DU Rocks!):
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2151224
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