Crossposted from The People's View
During the 2010 mid-term election, a lot of Democrats did not get out to vote and as a result our asses were handed to us on a silver platter.
However, a lot of critics on the Left were raising their hands claiming it was Obama's fault that people did not get out to vote. I always say, you keep repeating something and people will end up having difficulty distinguishing the truth from the misrepresentation as such during the mid-term many voters were confused and disengaged.
The Republican spin machine was quite effective demonizing the HCR bill even democrats had difficulty understanding the access it gives to 30 million Americans not to mention the 20 million American households that will qualify for subsidized insurance. Moreover, some Democrats "Kill The Bill" efforts wasn't helpful either in order to get the message out to most of these low information voters. .
Public Policy Polling article from yesterday had an interesting observation about the Governor's race in WI and OH and if you have not read it, it is worth a trip to get a glimpse of the stark consequence of those who have stayed home during the mid-term election. Its effect is currently at display in the three Republican controlled States where union-busting bills are on the agenda to suppress the voice of many working Americans from organizing, not to mention that it is also a strategy to beat Barack Obama in the 2012 Presidential election. WI, OH and MI are just the cream of the crop but most Republican Governed state without no doubt will be moving towards destroy Democratic policies that benefit working Americans.
The Public Policy Polling article sums it up pretty clearly the trickled down effect of those who stayed home and did not vote for Ted Strickland of OH and Tom Barrett of WI during the Governors 2010 election and how Democrats are currently being affected by those who stayed home:
Of course the reality is that Democratic leaning voters did this to themselves to some extent. It's a small sample but among those who admit they didn't vote last fall, Strickland has a 57-13 advantage over Kaisch. It was a similar story in Wisconsin the other week where Tom Barrett led Scott Walker 59-22 among those who had stayed at home in 2010. Democratic voters simply did not understand the consequences- or didn't care- of their not voting last fall and they're paying the price right now. But the winners of that realization in the long run may be Barack Obama, Sherrod Brown, and Herb Kohl- these states are already looking politically a whole lot more like 2008 than 2010.
When so many were screaming bloody hell attacking our President and his Administration while undermining the Administrations' achievements (here, here, here, here, and here), what Democratic critics were really doing was discouraging and confusing many low information Democratic voters to be disinterested in politics and/or voting.
While Republican's were good in demonizing the President as Hitler, a socialist, someone pushing for White Slavery, foreign, Muslim, et al; Democrat's non-stop criticism of all and any policies of this Administration was indeed confusing to voters that certainly killed voters enthusiasm and morale. As a result, the GOP was organizing in masses unseating Democrats during the mid-term elections so they can bust the unions and dismantling Democratic principles as is the case currently in WI and MI.
It is my hope that Democrats are not caught sleeping in the future because what is happening in WI, MI and OH is a reminder that staying home is as good as living in the stone ages.
GOTV starts today if we are to succeed in "electing more and better Democrats".
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