This has been brewing inside me now for the last 8 months or so. . .I've chewed on my thoughts and ideas and then subjected them to anybody willing (and several who were NOT willing) to hear them. I've had all I can take and I'm just gonna' throw this out. . .progressives WILL lose this midterm election if we don't learn from history. . .(more down South. . .)
I have spent the last few years frustrated by the disconnect between what the polls show and what ends up happening during elections. To be fair, there was a lot of Republican shenanigans that led to a large part of this. . .voter roll purging, illicit and immoral phone bank calls, cronyism in allegedly non-partisan offices, etc. . .sadly, this stuff is likely to continue until laws are passed and enforced that prohibit this kind of nonsense. The fact remains, however, that we should have never found ourselves in a position to have that kind of crap matter.
The folks who frequent DailyKos are people who care. . .period. . .even those who do not think the way that we do, are passionate enough about the issues that they'll show up, just to see what "the other side" thinks. The most glaring difference that I see between the left and the right is that, as a rule, the left think for themselves and the right rely on others to think for them. That's not to say that they have no opinion of their own, but that they are content to allow someone else to articulate it for them.
What happens as a result (and Karl Rove figured this out a long time ago), is that once the RNC has articulated it for them, they then hone in on one or two "flash" issues and then scare the hell out of people in order to get them to the polls. Examples?
Homosexuals. "If you let the liberals win, then the whole nation will be overrun with gays".
Abortion. "If you let the liberals win, then women will go have lots of sex and then go kill the innocent unborn".
Terrorism. "If you let the liberals win, then the terrorists will take over the country. Nobody will be safe".
You think I'm kidding? Go read the posts over at some of the conservative websites. . .try and stomach even a 30 minute segment of Rush Limbaugh. . .heck. . .listen to what is being preached from behind the pulpit of your average evangelical church. . .
My point is this: Knowing the issues forwards and backwards, knowing what a slime the Republican War Machine is, knowing that the lemmings on the right don't have an agenda other than to stay in power IS NOT ENOUGH!
This election will ONLY hinge on the issues for the Republicans. . .why? Because they will get out and vote. Those who are going to vote anyway, have the luxury of picking and choosing the issues that matter to them.
Drill down through the THOUSANDS of posts on this site that talk about getting out and voting. . .how it's not enough just to express disdain while posting on DailyKos. . .how it's not enough that you are educated on ALL facets of an issue. . .Markos has been saying it forever. . .it's the pull of the lever that makes the difference. . .NOTHING ELSE.
Let me take it a step further. . .it's not enough for you to go vote. You MUST take someone (or several someones) with you. The Far Right has learned this. THAT is why they can influence elections with dirty tricks and smear campaigns. . .they know how to get folks to the polls. Complacency is NOT an option. . .we can't just sit back and wait for the GOP to implode on itself. . .it will do that without our help. . .but implode or otherwise, if we do not get out and vote, it doesn't matter what THEY do. There is NO reason that GWB should still be in office. . .NONE. . .all polling data and news suggested that the White House was MORE than ripe for the picking. . .what happened? They voted. We didn't. It's that simple.
I'm serious now, folks. Go to the rallies, wear the buttons, post on the internet boards, fire off emails to your heart's content. . .but if you do NOT get to the polls and if you do NOT take someone with you this November, you have wasted your time, given your approval to the current regime with your inaction, and worse, done your country a grave disservice.