The Party's Over...

[whatchamacallit]

... for me anyway. Next time I vote it will be as an independent. Blind partisan loyalists, who prize fealty and political expedience over principle, have convinced me the Democratic Party's soul is lost. Now deposit your empty snark below, and continue to bicker mindlessly while the watchers watch.

[Cleita]

1. No snark. I'm thinking the same. Sure I will always vote for the most progressive

candidate and democratic issues, but I don't want to be registered as a Democrat anymore. I don't want their mail and their begging me for money. Since we now have open primaries in California, there is no need to belong to a party anymore to participate in the primaries. Until the Democratic Party returns to being the party of the working class, unions and minorities, I won't be a part of it .

[whatchamacallit]

3. :)

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Word to the wise

You will keep getting the crap...trust me. (Been registered independent since 2009 or so)

[leeroysphitz]

6. I feel the same and besides I never was that much of a "joiner". n/t

[Cleita]

7. The only reason I did was so I could vote in the primaries, but now

we can vote for anyone on the ticket from any party in the primaries, so there is no reason to join anymore.

[whatchamacallit]

8. You know what really blows?

I've spent my life being a good democrat, working and voting for democrats and democratic values, and now under a democratic administration I'd hoped would be the best, I can't even recognize this country any longer. Wth happened?

[leeroysphitz]

10. All I know is if people are telling you that you are throwing your vote away...

You're bound to be voting for the right person.

[Cleita]

11. The DLC. I think when the Republicans started going to wacky ideological nonsense starting with

Reagan, many of the Republicans starting becoming Democrats and pulling the party to the right, a business friendly model. They weren't interested in the working class, or minorities or unions. Since they have the money backing them to run, we no longer have progressive candidates like Roosevelt or LBJ or Jimmy Carter. Clinton made many business friendly deals that we are suffering from today. This is why I don't favor Hillary. I like her, but her politics are even more to the right than those of Bill Clinton's.

[whatchamacallit]

12. I'm with you

[truebluegreen]

17. Yup.

All those "moderate Republicans" had to go somewhere.

What I'm wondering is, where did the Democrats go? How did we still end up with a mostly-even split?

[Cleita]

19. We got hung out to dry. We have been told we are looney, leftist extremists.

No one in power is representing us anymore because they are pushed aside somehow, like Dennis Kucinich, with dirty political tricks and character assassination.

[truebluegreen]

21. Agree.

Marginalized, trivialized, killed (our leaders)...whatever it took.

[Egalitarian Thug]

22. Most of the people I know that I would classify as old school liberals just went back to

ignoring politics. As I approach geezerdom, I've come to know a lot of older liberals and since 2009ish they are moving on. Retiring or getting ready to retire, setting up their residence in other countries, just generally not interested in it anymore.

[truebluegreen]

23. Yes, I can imagine that fatigue has a lot to do with it.

If someone has been swimming upstream for most of his/her life (since '68, or '72 or particularly '80) with very little if anything to show for it...and then to have your own so-called party abandon its principles in favor of Third Way crap...it is exhausting, and mind-breaking and, it seems, pointless.

I don't have a solution. Maybe everything needs to get really bad, but I thought it did that already. Maybe it needs to get really bad all around the world. Or maybe we will all keep staggering down this road until climate change causes a complete economic collapse.

I'm pretty tired myself. Sorry for whining.

[dixiegrrrrl]

50. You are not alone..........

The very fact we had been swimming upstream since the 60's and have damn little to show for it in the current dismantling of all gains...that is very discouraging, very tiring, and the truth is, I am not sure I will live long enough to see any real change.
Worse yet, those born after 1980 don't seem to have the regard for history or the passion to swim upstream.
Someone did a brief post about Joan Baez here, last month, and there were quite a few negative comments about her, including some smart ass who asked if she was even relevent anymore.
I just want to say to the newer generations:
It's your world now, change it or deal with it, it doesn't matter either way, the tipping point has been reached,
the financial robbery continues, the consequences are coming pretty fast.

DU still serves as the best home page for me, tho I wander in and out of it much more these past few years.

[Egalitarian Thug]

70. No need for any apologies, we're all in the same leaky boat. headed for the big iceberg.

We get to choose between a captain that wants flank speed to ram it fast, or a captain that wants to hit it more slowly. But those of us saying that we need to change course are just ignored, so I and those mentioned in the earlier reply are just quietly heading for the life boats.

What's coming is going to be terrible for so many of them, but they don't seem interested in helping to change course, so...

[truebluegreen]

75. The big iceberg is exactly right.

I'm of that age (60ish) myself, and forcibly retired by the crash...we headed for a lifeboat then, thinking it would be temporary. Now I don't think we will be back.

[Egalitarian Thug]

79. We're still in the decision process. So we take the foreign lifeboat, or build our own?

I have an eerie feeling that we're rapidly running out of time, though.

[lumpy]

16. Good times and hard time will always be around. Our world will never be ideal.

Especially since so many people don't know what they are voting for.
Just keep on voting !

[lumpy]

14. Keep voting for the progressive candidate and everything will get better.

So go Independent like I did. No one gives a hoot what party you claim to belong to anyway. So far I have always voted for the Democrat candidate with very little exception.

[Cleita]

15. I do too, even though I may like the ideals of the Green Party candidate,

I don't really vote for them unless I see they have a chance of winning like in some of our local elections. We have had some Greenies win office.

[lumpy]

18. That is a problem, which party has the best chance of winning.

Money is such a factor in party politics these days. I try to have faith that this country will continue to do the right thing in the end.

[Th1onein]

2. i will vote for the Independent if they lean left, but otherwise for Democrats.

I never thought I'd say it, but we need more Independent candidates.

One thing that we MUST do is stop listening to MSM about who the main candidates are. I think that the internet can have a role in this, and we have just begun to flex our muscles.

[whatchamacallit]

4. Yep.

[winter is coming]

9. I think I'll always be a small "d" democrat.

Dog knows what the Democratic Party will be.

[lumpy]

13. I have been registered an Independent voter for many years now.

I will always vote for political progression as well as vote my conscience. The thing is I have usually voted for the Democratic Party candidate, perhaps with only 1or2 exceptions. Until a worthier candidate comes along, thats the way it will be.
The Democratics soul will never be lost as long as there are people like me.
Nothing wrong with being an Independent thinker. Go for it.

[ucrdem]

20. No! Really? You?

[MNBrewer]

65. Funny how you chose a representation of a Vichy French official to present your response.

[okaawhatever]

24. I didn't realize you were ever a Democrat. Based on your comments here, it seems

you don't hold the positions of Democrats in general. I wonder if you're not one of the folks just here to rabble rouse.

[Blanks]

25. Or encourage other people to follow suit.

It seems kind of inappropriate to me, but I'm new here.

[okaawhatever]

46. He's aleady had many posts hidden by jury decision and is blocked by many members. Alot

of Rand and Ron Paul supporters have infested the site lately. Some come around election time and just come back when something is important in the news. A few DUers have copied them posting on the Paul site and talking about coming over here and causing trouble. Hopefully it will end soon.

[giftedgirl77]

54. I'm encouraged by your post

I know it's late in the game on this thread & I'm very new to the site (joined before the NSA stuff came down) but a bunch of the ppl that have been around for a while told me it usually gets a bit crazy at certain times but that it will pass over & calm back down.

I

[whatchamacallit]

62. Please refrain from claiming or insinuating I support Ron/Rand Paul

unless you have evidence. Which of course you don't.

[Blanks]

66. I saw that. This kind of attitude seems pretty widespread lately. eom

[whatchamacallit]

35. Enjoy your charade.

[southernyankeebelle]

26. Hey it's your vote and if you want to throw it away go ahead.

[sadbear]

29. Every time someone could vote for a Democrat, but doesn't...

it's essentially a half vote for the republican. Republicans lose when teabaggers split the vote. The same thing will happen to Democrats.

[southernyankeebelle]

31. I know you are exactly right. You know that you are right. I was hoping the poster

comes to their sense and realize how they come off. Maybe the poster will have a change of mind.

[zappaman]

32. "I was hoping the poster comes to their sense"

Not gonna happen.

[southernyankeebelle]

38. We can hope

[sadbear]

34. Some people will accept things getting worse if they think things will get better after that.

In my opinion, the key isn't voting Independent. The key is getting MORE PEOPLE to vote. We can elect populists if the entire population votes.

[southernyankeebelle]

43. Not a bad idea. Your right.

[99Forever]

39. Perhaps "the poster"...

... has already "come to their senses" and has figured out that voting for the less crappy candidate, just because they claim to play for the Blue Team, has gotten us completely and totally screwed.

It's called having principles. You should try it some time.

[1StrongBlackMan]

45. Completely screwed? ...

I can think a one or two things that voting for the "less crappy candidate ... that plays for the Blue team" has gotten us that I'm pretty confident wouldn't have occurred had a majority of us not voted for the "less crappy candidate ... that plays for the Blue teamnd I'm pretty sure, if you thought really, really hard, you might be able to, as well."

[leeroysphitz]

56. Yep. It gets old having to vote for the less evil mediocre candidate. n/t

[sibelian]

52. You could try changing it...

[nessa]

74. Maybe both parties need to lose. If people stop voting for the lesser of two evils, ...

maybe we could get rid of both these parties and the entire two party system.

[sadbear]

84. Republicans don't think that way.

They're the party of "Christianity", remember? They don't consider themselves the lesser of two evils.

[nessa]

85. I think the Republicans are easily as divided as the Democrats..

maybe more. I know many conservative repubs who thought that Romney was too moderate. It was even more true of McCain. I think most who voted for McCain did it with a held nose.

[BenzoDia]

27. Good bye! I'll cover your share for you.

[treestar]

28. Ok

Also check d u TOS. You no longer belong here either.

[whatchamacallit]

33. Why don't you hip me to the part of TOS to which you're referring.

[treestar]

58. for a start

Everyone here on DU needs to work together to elect more Democrats and fewer Republicans to all levels of American government. If you are bashing, trashing, undermining, or depressing turnout for our candidates during election season, we'll assume you are rooting for the other side.

[get the red out]

30. Politics has no soul

I have no illusions. I remain a Democrat because I will vote for the best we can hope for in a country ruled by money and big corporations. We will never get all we want but my hopes for our future is to not live in a theocracy, equality for all, and for people in need to get at least some help. They might still let us vote on some of that, Democrats support that.

I have no illusion we will ever have much of a democracy when money is speech.

[hobbit709]

36. "When the music is over, turn out the lights"

[cali]

37. I understand your sentiments, but I'll still vote for a Democrat for President

If only for the federal bench and the Supreme Court.

[1StrongBlackMan]

40. So you come to a site named "DEMOCRATICUNDERGROUND" ...

to announce that. Guess what ... no Democrat here is gonna follow you into the pool!

[Bobbie Jo]

63. lol

Now that this pool has been sufficiently pissed in....

[School Teacher]

42. It is So Over for Me!

Yes, friends, I am done being a democrat. I am registering as an Independent. I am voting Independent in the next presidential election.
For Senators I am good with Oregon democrats but our new Rep. Bonamici is in Israel's back pocket. She likes sanctions and threats to tip things towards war.

I would be living in Spain except that my husband refuses to leave the US like some of our friends did. The US is where young people's and old people's dreams come to die. I feel for our youth who will never have the chances and life and education that I had as a working class girl in the 50s and 60s. The American Dream is Over for the 99%. People have been soooo dumbed down. Ignorance and popular low life culture is taking over our young. So sad.

[ProSense]

44. Like 2010,

"The Party's Over..."

...here we go again.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9079934

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1898138

Some people make me more determined to support the Democratic Party.

[sadbear]

47. Yep...

We have seen how this played out before. Some of us actually remember what happened last time, too.

[whatchamacallit]

49. What happened?

[sadbear]

51. Your mama got elected.

Snark for snark, huh?

(To the jury that probably winds up seeing this, consider that the poster asked what happened in 2010. Thanks! )

[whatchamacallit]

48. Haha nice shoveling, Pro

[1StrongBlackMan]

64. Said the guy/girl ...

that came to a site called DemocraticUnderground to announce that he/she will no longer vote democratic.

[1StrongBlackMan]

68. I don't know ...

look out your window.

[tridim]

76. Worry not, he'll be back in `14, and `16 with the same post.

One thing about trolls, they usually suck at it.

[Agnosticsherbet]

53. Willie sang it best - Turn out the lights.

Turn out the lights
The party's over
They say that
All good things must end
Call it tonight
The party's over
And tomorrow starts
The same old thing again

[Rex]

55. I cannot vote any way but Dem.

I want Texas to be blue again!

[zappaman]

57. I hope it does turn blue!

And I think it may someday!
Voting independent won't help though, that's fer sure.

[Rex]

59. Yes that is a wasted vote.

Kinky Friedman has no chance here as an independent, no matter what anyone says. We are hoping Wendy Davis might give it a go!

She already has my vote!

[SQUEE]

61. I feel the same way here in Tennessee.

Maybe if I lived somewhere where a Bernie Sanders was running but here I have to vote Democratic candidate just to get a moderate.

[Zorra]

69. I urge you to rethink this. Democrats are at least always much better than republicans on social

policy.

While I feel much the same as you, I believe that some gain under Democrats is better than total loss under republicans.

[duffyduff]

73. What do you mean by "social policy"?

Are you talking about abortion and same-sex marriage, issues that are relatively minor, but are great distractions from what is really going on?

I can tell you a "Democrat" is destroying public education, which is bedrock for our democracy, has done virtually nothing on the economy, has offered the Great Society and the New Deal up for abolition. You call that "progress"?

More and more "Democrats" are indistinguishable from Republicans because both parties are infected with a cancer called "neoliberalism," which will be the destruction of the United States.

I seriously doubt Republicans would be worse than fake Democrats because at least Democrats in Congress would put up a fight.

They aren't now with a "Democrat" in charge.

The "D" or the "R" after a politician's name doesn't mean ANYTHING anymore. ACTIONS are far more important.

[Just Saying]

78. You must be straight and male if you think that

Issues of person freedom and health are "relatively minor." Are immigration, guns, healthcare and separation of church and state also minor?

I don't like that President Obama put up SS and Medicare but I think that may have been a game of chicken to prove The GOP won't work at all. I disagree that he's done nothing for the economy. He's not God and has to work with a hostile, frankly crazy Republican Congress who have don't nothing but obstruct.

How is the President destroying Public education?

Democrats may not be everything I wish they were but Republicans are FAR worse.

[NaturalHigh]

81. A game of chicken?

Is that anything like nine-dimensional chess? Yeah, that has worked out so well for everybody.

[Autumn]

71. No snark here. But consider this.

If you don't like what's going on now, with republicans in charge you will really dislike what will go on then. If it makes you feel better, go change your voter registration from Democrat to Independent and tell the Democratic Party why. But vote for Democrats, unless you really can't bring yourself to vote for a certain one.

[davidpdx]

72. The party isn't over

It's just beginning. Let's bring DU back together again

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023190789

If you agree, please bump and record

[Eddie Haskell]

77. It's a matter of conscience.

Congress has a 10% approval rate, but a 90% re-election rate. For me, that formula defines two party politics. We can't vote for whom we want so we vote for the lesser of two evils and complain about their performance. If our reps make 9 of 10 people unhappy and still get re-elected, how can they lose? And how can we win?

At some point we must ignore our fear of losing and vote for real change.

[NaturalHigh]

80. Even though I've been a registered dem since I was 18...

I've always voted for candidate based on their merits, not party affiliation.

[brooklynite]

82. Thabk you...

...it means I get more of a say in what the Party does than you do.

[Bobbie Jo]

83. door, ass, etc....