Why do the Koch Brothers, Dick Armey, Grover Norquist, etc., etc., hate President Obama and Speaker Pelosi so much and are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to make sure that there will no longer be a Democratic Congress?
Do you think that it is because they are disappointed that President Obama has not yet fulfilled all of his campaign promises?
Do you think that it is because President Obama has disappointed the progressive base by failing to enact everything they want?
Do you think that it is because they are disappointed because we didn't get single payer healthcare or even a public option so they want healthcare reform to be killed?
Do you think that it is because they believe that financial reform legislation was too soft on Wall Street?
Do you think that it is because they think that there is no difference between a Bush Administration and an Obama Administration?
Do you think that it is because they think that President Obama is a "corporatist" hack whose administration is in the pocket of big business?
Or ...
Do you think that it is because they recognize that in a period of less than two years we have seen the enactment of sweeping progressive legislation that stacks up well in comparison to the accomplishments of progressive icons like FDR and LBJ?
Do you think that it is because they understand that if this progressive legislation is not stopped and repealed now, it will become a permanent part of the fabric of this country that can be built upon and expanded in the years ahead - the literal meaning of "progressivism"?
Do you think that it is because they understand that President Obama and a Democratic Congress will continue to appoint progressive judges who can undo nightmares like the horrific Citizens United decision?
Do you think that it is because they understand that a Republican Congress will guarantee that legislation putting restraints on the ability of corporations to influence the political process will never see the light of day?
Do you think that it is because they realize that President Obama and Speaker Pelosi passed (in the House) comprehensive climate and energy legislation and that the best way to ensure that such legislation never goes any further is to install a Republican Congress?
Do you think that it is because they understand that a Republican Congress will guarantee that the Bush tax cuts for the extremely rich never get repealed so that the inequality of wealth in America will only get worse and worse?
Do you think that it is because they understand how much having a Secretary of Labor like Hilda Solis means to the workers of America?
Do you think that it is because they understand how important it will be have Elizabeth Warren setting up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in making a bold start in putting an end to rampant abuses on Wall Street?
Do you think that it is because they want to kill - here now and forever - everything that progressive Americans have worked so hard to accomplish?
I think that if enough progressives ask themselves this simple question, it will answer itself and we will do very, very well on election day.
Raise money, knock on doors, give money if you can, get out the vote, vote.
PS - This diary http://www.dailykos.com/... gives a really good laundry list of the progressive legislative accomplishments since President Obama took office, so I won't repeat them here. It's just a nice refresher if anyone needs talking points. I'd also like to add one of my favorite pet points. The Defense Department has offered a budget that kills or makes significant cutbacks in over fifty major weapons systems. For what is essentially the first time ever, Congress put an end to spending on a major new weapons system, the F-22. We can actually see the beginnings of a new concept of national defense that puts the security of our soldiers and the health of our veterans ahead of the profits of defense contractors.
PPS - I am plugging every chance I get a book I am in the process of reading, The Woman Behind The New Deal by Kirsten Downey. It is a terrific biography of Frances Perkins, Labor Secretary during the FDR administration. It has a lot to say about the balance between pragmatism and principle, and it should remind everyone of the fact that New Deal legislation disappointed lots of people on the left and that it took plenty of compromises to get it enacted. But once it got enacted it could be built upon and improved. It reminds us of something that some progressives might have forgotten - progressive change is by its very nature, progressive.