The people who DO deserve the blame for tonight

[DonCoquixote]

The people in 2000 who thought "Gore is as bad as Bush"
The people in 2004 that did not vote because Kerry was ugly
The people in 2010 who thought not voting was a sort of protest.

Your votes put Sam Alito on the Supreme Court
which made way for Citizens United.

Go ahead, blame Obama for not going into Wisconsin where the GOP had everything set up...
Go ahead, say Hillary would have done better (even though you know the GOP would have conspired as bad, and her husband might have helped!)

None of this changes the fact
Voting DOES matter,
not did, DOES.

If Voting did not matter, why did the GOP spend a Billion dollars to buy this election?

[Scootaloo]

1. Your last line is the crux of the matter

Read it people. Tattoo it into your retinas.

They spend money to get the votes. The votes have value. More value than the money, else - cheapskates that they are - the Fascists wouldn't spend it.

Fine. We don't have the money. The money is just the fast and easy way, however. Use your legs and your mouth and your pen and your bullhorns (fuck the noise ordinances) and whatever you can spare from between the cushions of your couch. for them, and for us, the votes are key.

And it seems we're the only ones who regularly think "not voting" is an option, even an admirable form of protest

[DonCoquixote]

3. Thank you

Come November, many GOP will be asked to vote for a so called liberal, Mormon, rich guy that beat their tea party favorites: you think any of THEM is going to not vote in protest?

[Scootaloo]

6. I was immersed in the right's sludge in 2004

They hated Bush. Hated him. They would have gouged out their own teeth with a paint-can opener rather than have him heading the party.

And on November 2nd, they went out and gave him all of their votes. By 9:00 PM Mountain time, they were back to hating him for being a liberal, big-spending RINO who wasn't halting abortion.

[freshwest]

8. No, they won't. They never do. It's the Democrats who are killing each other with not voting.

Good points... And the last sentence in the OP says it all.

Because voting does matter, and nothing proved it more than 2008 and 2010.

The GOP counts on Democrats eating their own and never forgiving each other for any fault, no matter how minor, so they infiltrate all our media and give us reasons that are minor when placed side by side to the havoc the GOP wants.

[Blue_Tires]

24. +1

[boxman15]

2. K&R

[flamingdem]

4. We need to unite

and furiously stay on message - a clean and clear message that any voter can understand!

We need to GOTV intensely

We need to stop attacking one another - at least until after the elections!

[ecstatic]

5. If they win again in Nov, it's a wrap

The Supreme Court will be lost. Women, gays, unions, and racial minorities will all be "put in their place."

[Burke36]

7. The people who DO deserve the blame for tonight

[IMG][/IMG]I very much agree with your point of view

[ananda]

9. Well..

.. there are a lot of dumb, extremely emotional people in this country.

And it wasn't difficult for them to develop a very strong hatred of Gore
and so-called "liberals." That hatred still breathes hard, is totally irrational,
and impossible to penetrate and break down.

And at least 90% of these people come from families who were saved by
the New Deal and the Great Society. Go figure.

[Egalitarian Thug]

10. You did notice that turnout exceeded 118%, right? So, just how does this jibe with your statement?

The people who DO deserve the blame for tonight are Wisconsinites.

[mikekohr]

11. Wisconsinites Returned The Senate To Democratic Control Tonite

Wisconsonites poked a sharp stick in Walker's eyeball tonite. He'll actually have to govern now instead of lording over Packer Land.

The radical right spent $31 million defending a political dead ender that will likely be facing indictment within the next few months.

Those same Wisconsinites also favor President Obama over Willard Romney by 7%.

[dinopipie]

13. OK so what will the new majority do

besides play the delay game?

They don't have a veto proof majority in both houses.

The people of Wisconsin are going to be fuc_ed.

The stupid and ignorant are winning and some here still honestly believe that it is great if stupid people are allowed to vote.

Clearly unlimited money buys elections now in America, the RW now has the Nov playbook. They will openly double down on their new mandate.

Unfortunately we are now going to see a slow steady decline in Obama's poll numbers as this play out this summer.

[leftynyc]

17. You don't need a veto proof majority

when you have the simple majority in the state senate which as of 3AM the Democrats have in WI. If the bill doesn't pass in the first place, there's nothing for Walker to sign.

[freshwest]

27. But doesn't this majority have to wait until 2013 to be heard?

And there is an election before that which may unseat them. At least that's what I've read here in two different places. Correct me if I got the facts wrong. TIA.

[joshcryer]

14. That actually depends on your metric. 450 THOUSAND less voters turned up...

...for Barrett than in 2008 for Obama. Fact. Moving the metric to an off season election (2010) is not useful, since Walker surpassed the votes for McCain by a large margin.

2008:
Obama: 1,677,211 56.22
McCain: 1,262,393 42.31

2012:
Walker: 1,331,076 53.2
Barrett: 1,158,337 46.52

Effectively 1) the Republicans showed up as if it was a Presidential Election and 2) the Democrats showed up as if it was an off season election. They got about 150k more votes out than 2010.

Even if you assume, which is a fair assumption, that a bunch of voters were just "anti-recall" because of all of the campaign propaganda, Walker "only" got 60k more votes than McCain did in 2008.

2,939,604 people voted in 2008. 2,489,413 voted in 2012. A difference of 450,191 voters. Likely Democrats or independents or moderates or whatever because Obama won them over.

[mikekohr]

22. Nice, factual, on target

In addition my daughter and her family live in West Allis, WI. They said in the debates, particularly the last debate Barrett came off poorly. They are both Democrats and hugely anti-Walker. They felt the last debate doomed Barrett. Polls showed those that decided late broke Walker's way.

That and mountains of out of state cash probably had a significant impact.

[Egalitarian Thug]

28. Thanks. I went with what they were saying on the radio.

In this case, I have to blame the party and/or the candidate. They failed to generate the enthusiasm required.

[joshcryer]

29. Nah, I think Walker suppressed the vote by making it about "unnecessary recalls."

The Dems, moderates, independents that sat home just didn't care enough. It's a failure of the party's messaging. And it's because the party was outspent 25-1, that didn't help, either. GOTV is very hard when you have someone suppressing the vote with that much propaganda.

[Egalitarian Thug]

30. That GOTV is very hard under any circumstances is an indictment of our citizenry.

1.) everywhere else that People have the opportunity to vote , vote in greater percentages than we do.

2.) If enough of the people of WI, seeing their state collapse around them and elect to watch Dancing With the Stars (whatever) rather than bothering to cast a ballot, they deserve what they are getting and will get more of in the next two years.

We, as nameless serfs, have very few options. We can fight for change or we can go to where the change is less necessary, that's it. If you live in a place like Floriduh or Texas, where the only change over the last forty years has been in the wrong direction, maybe it's time to vote with your feet, because sooner or later this is all going to come to a head and you probably don't want to be on the wrong side when it does.

[Dr Fate]

12. Yup. The best strategy is to blame voters, not the strategists & party leaders.

Worked after the midterms, works now, and it will work again.

[joshcryer]

16. They could've waited until Nov. to have the recall.

Strategists and party leaders decided to not meddle with the recall efforts and make them "wait" like the "pragmatic approach" would've been. Now they're just going to be bitter at the party at large for ... doing what they wanted and staying out of it.

Can't win for losing. We're a right wing country. Every vote matters.

[DonCoquixote]

19. Yup

Don't blame voters for voting
Don't blame voters for feeding the "It's Obama's fault" meme, helping the GOP make a state election a national one.

Granted, I remember being flamed here because I suggested Debbie Wasserman Schulz was incompotent, and with that, I agree, she needs the pink-slip.

[joshcryer]

15. Yep, I did the vote breakdown in post #14. Walker got more votes than McCain.

450,191 Wisconsinites didn't vote as compared to 2008.

[jp11]

18. A billion dollars, check your math.

[DonCoquixote]

20. hahahaha

You really think that the GOP does not alreayd have that amount read for the national election? Please. We will be lucky if the Chinese only send that much to superpacs.

[jp11]

26. You said they spent a billion to buy this election

they didn't spend anywhere near that much for this election. The one coming up yeah they got a billion at least probably 2+ billion.

[kentuck]

21. Propaganda works.

People are easily manipulated.l

[Vogon_Glory]

23. I Still Blame The Non-Voters

I still blame the non-voters--less for Wisconsin than elsewhere--for what happened in 2000, 2004, and 2010.

As an aside, I compliment and congradulate the thousands of Wisconsin labor and Democratic activists who DID turn out to mobilize the vote. I am in awe of your levels of participation; would that Democratic activists were proportionately active and equally energetic in this fortress red state.

I need a couple of weeks to simmer down. I don't think I'm fit to talk to non-voters right now.

[bvar22]

25. No. The "Centrist" Democrats ....

... and those who do NOT hold the Party accountable to traditional Democratic Party Values are responsible for Alito and Roberts.
Alito and Roberts could NOT have been seated without the active help of the "Centrist" Democrats.

Google: "Gang of 14"

[font size=4]
"I've seen it happen time after time. When the Democratic candidate allows himself to be put on the defensive and starts apologizing for the New Deal and the Fair Deal, and says he really doesn't believe in them, he is sure to lose. The people don't want a phony Democrat. If it's a choice between a genuine Republican, and a Republican in Democratic clothing, the people will choose the genuine article, every time; that is, they will take a Republican before they will a phony Democrat, and I don't want any phony Democratic candidates in this campaign."
---President Harry Truman

QED:2010[/font]


[font size=4]Leadership! "The Buck Stops HERE!" NO Excuses![/font]




You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
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[Zorra]

31. That quote by President Truman is so true. nt