Here is what those numbers mean:
Right now we may be in a situation where winning is losing. Big time losing. During a disaster be it earthquake, hurricane or other, there is little or nothing you or anyone else can do except hang on, duck or hide. Economic disasters take years to develop and this one is just beginning.
The stock market crashed in 1929, but it was not until 1933 that the full extent of the economic and consequent social disaster became clear to everyone but the most dogmatic conservatives. Progressives swept the 1932 elections and FDR and the Progressives could do just about anything they wanted to change America from a "top down" system of wealth is power to a "bottom up" system of people power.
Democrats came to power at a time when proper government actions could actually make a difference, a big difference, for the future.
Not so much today. Both the 128/23 numbers and the timing are against us. Today the financial meltdown is just beginning. Realistically there is actually nothing we can do to even slow down the developing economic disaster, much less turn things around. Do we really want to be in charge as this country pays the price for 30+ years of Republican top down worship of wealth and power?
It seems pretty clear that we face at least two or three more years of increasing financial sector, economic and consequent social meltdown. And it does not matter who sits in the White House.
The best economic analysis about what is happening and its implications for the future seems to come from Bonddad and New Deal democrat here, as well as Chan Akya of Asia Times.
I would really like to hear their take on this thesis.
The reality I see is that this country will not begin to return to prosperity until the worst of the current storm has run its course and 2/3's of the people demand we throw Republican worship of power, money and corporations under the bus and create a people powered nation.
Right now some 40% or so of the voters still embrace Republican dogma or at least vote to keep them in power.
On our side there are currently 128 House Democrats and 23 Senate Democrats. All the rest are actually Corporate Congressional Representatives. The FISA vote forced all of them to show their allegiance. Those who voted for corporate immunity now carry a political Mark Of Cain and will carry it for the rest of their lives.
This is why corporate Pelosi does what she does. This is why Corporate Hoyer does what he does. It has nothing to do with Republican or Democrat. It has everything to do with the corporate control of Congress.
The reality is that Progressives have a long way to go to capture political power. Yet the corporate powers recognize and fear the astonishingly accelerating growth of the Progressive movement to empower people. They know that it will send them to the trashbin for generations if it is not stopped.
And they think they know how to stop it, even destroy it.
If the Democrats win the White House in November guess who gets the blame for the whole Corporate created financial and economic mess? Watch the corporate media frenzy and rabid madness blaming everything on Democrats year after year until the next election in 2012 when we get the glorious return of the saintly Republican cons. And the likely destruction of the Progressive movement.
Like I said some times winning is losing.
Obama is a good man potentially even a great man and I absolutely do not want to see him destroyed. But if he wins he may never see a second term because the Corporate Democrats and Republicans will make sure he is unable to really change this country from its top down worship of wealth and business to a bottom up progressive nation.
Even with a massive landslide we will not have enough progressives in Congress to do anything. Today it is 128 to 307 in the House and 23 to 77 in the Senate. If we work hard on the House and Senate races we stand a really good chance of building veto proof majorities by the next presidential election in 2012.
But there is no doubt in my mind that if Obama wins in 2008 both he and the progressive movement will be vulture food for a four year media feeding frenzy. Everything bad is our fault. The poor innocent banks - destroyed by Democrats. Housing crisis - lunatic demos can't fix anything. And on and on for four solid years of red-faced, spittle-spewing corporate media howling.
Talk about confused. I do not know if I am up or down. I will cheer an Obama victory, but will actually be relieved if he loses because it limits media disparagement of dems and progressives. In fact it sets us up to make America a bottom up, people powered democracy which is what won WWII and made us an envied nation, an envied people in the first place.
In fact we may be able to both save Obama and destroy the Republicans by focusing all our efforts on electing and re-electing real Progressives. All our volunteering, all our money, all our effort has to be channeled into House, Senate and state races. Forget the Presidential race - save Obama.
The single most important thing we can do is focus on the 128/307 and 23/77 numbers. They show clearly that Progressives have no real power which will help protect us from a media frenzy blaming Democrats for our financial, economic and subsequent social ills and they give us cheering rights as we steadily push back both Democrat and Republican corporate power.
To have real power in the House we need 70 more Progressives. In the Senate we need 17 more seats. These are the real Progressive headline goals.
There is hope. We may actually have more hope if McInsane wins.