California environmental voters are increasingly disgusted with the failures of leadership in our broken, bipartisan system. I have spoken with many who are literally sick over what this Republican administration has done, and continues to do, to our country with the active collaboration of the minority Democrats in Congress.
They can't fathom why this President, at the helm of the single most corrupt administration they've seen in their entire lifetimes, can continue to roll back our federal environmental laws, and appoint one radical, right-wing conservative judge after another, packing our federal courts with the assistance of Senators Spectre, et al...
And they're madder than hell at the Democratic Party leadership for not fighting back. Many are ready to walk away from the Party. Many already have.
R. J. Eskow commented on Huffingtonpost.com last March on "Game Theory, Democrats and the Failure of Leadership."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
I fully agree with Eskow's assessment that bipartisanship has completely failed and that the sooner the Party leadership realizes this, the better. As it stands, this Wall Street/corporate-funded, bipartisan fraud is repeated on a daily basis in Washington, D. C.
Rather than pander to the dream of restoring some "balance" in a corrupted and rotten two-party system, real party reformers will take a look around, and see people like Francine Busby and what she is doing.
You will also see a lot of independent voters looking for a place to hang their hats, and candidates with the guts to stand up against the corporate racketeers who sold us the Iraq War.
As an independent, or "Decline-To-State" voter, I would be looking to empower progressive environmentalists and ANTI-WAR Democrats, Greens and Independents, in that order.
For my vote, I might want a "contract" that I can enforce. I also might want Instant Runoff, or "Ranked Choice" Voting, support for Proportional Representation, and public financing for independent political campaigns.
Unless I can find progressive Democrats, Greens, or Independent political candidates who will bargain with me over these things, I might stay at home next November.
Pulling the Plug on the DLC,
DTS Voter Education Project
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
http://www.thenation.com/...
Hawks For Withdrawal by Tom Hayden May 17, 2006
This Democratic approach worked brilliantly on Social Security, where Bush could find no Democratic divisions to exploit. John Kerry's presidential campaign tried the same approach on Iraq but discovered that Kerry was losing both centrist and progressive voters. Today, the most common concern voters have about the Democratic Party is whether it stands for anything.
http://www.latimes.com/...
Democrats Battle Over Safe Seat in Congress By John Balzar, Times Staff Writer May 24, 2006
Jane Harman and her primary challenger, Marcy Winograd, go head to head over war, peace and the direction the party should take.
Could this be hang on an election fight for the soul of the Democratic Party, a spirited thrust by the antiwar movement into the backyard of Southern California's defense industry to define just what shade of blue is blue enough these days in confronting the prolonged conflict of Iraq?
http://saynotopombo.blogspot.com/...
Let me repeat this just for effect: "[Cheney's] lengthy defense of the war in Iraq, his insistence `we are on the offense' and `have a clear plan for victory,' was met with nearly complete silence." Silence from Republican supporters who had just paid $500 to be in the room with Cheney and Pombo. Now, if the Republican fat-cats are unhappy with the status quo in Iraq, where do you suppose the regular Republicans and the 15% Decline to States stand? Folks, it could be a whole new world out there, especially if Democrats find the courage to stand strong for their core beliefs and ideas instead of watering them down in the vague hope of broadening their appeal.
http://www.pollingreport.com/... 71% say the country is on the "wrong track."
http://www.ppic.org/... California Voter and Party Profiles, August 2005: Voters are increasingly registering "Decline To State"
http://busbyforcongress.com/... Francine Busby - A REAL Democratic reformer appeals to ALL
"to protect the environment, we need to limit the influence of powerful lobbyists and special interests on government decision making. That's why I have proposed the toughest ethics reform package in Congress and it's simple: no secret meetings, no gifts, no trips, no secret pork barrel spending and no exceptions. -- Francine Busby, Democrat for Congress.
http://www.kqed.org/...
Everyone wants to lump decline-to-state voters into a single category... but pollsters will tell you that's exactly the point: they don't identify with any one label.
The PPIC's analysis this past summer found while more DTS voters lean Democrat (45%) than Republican (31%), the rest say they do not lean either way. That, plus their growing numbers, might be able to tip an election.
By the way, the county with the highest percentage of decline-to-state voters in California? Drumroll... San Francisco... where 28.27% are registered as DTS.