Demos move into battle mode

[Rose Siding]

Demos move into battle mode
NATIONAL IMPACT: Presidential politics now coming into play

The political tremors of the California recall threaten to extend nationwide -- all the way to the 2004 presidential race -- as Democratic leaders begin amassing forces to beat back what they're portraying as another Republican Florida-style coup at the ballot box.

"They did it to us in Florida, they're attempting to fool around in Texas. California is just another example," Democratic Party Chairman Terry McAuliffe said in a telephone interview this week. "Here we just had an election, and now a partisan right-wing Republican puts up several million -- and they're trying to undo it."

McAuliffe vowed that all nine Democratic presidential candidates, as well as "President Clinton, Vice President Gore . . . anyone who is needed will be willing to assist" embattled Gov. Gray Davis in his attempt to retain his seat.

"This is a very dangerous game for the Republicans, no matter how this comes out," McAuliffe said. "People don't like the idea of this anti- democratic activity. They'll be very angry . . . and you will see a massive mobilization either way in 2004."

more........

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/07/27/MN267345.DTL

[bandy]

1. for once

he may be right. sure hope so.

[lastliberalintexas]

2. Yes

We need to repeat this phrase EVERY chance we get- the repubs are against democracy. There are plenty of examples of them staging a coup if they can't win at the ballot box- the 2000 selection, the Texas and Colorado re-re-districting, and the Gray Davis recall.

Remember, the repubs don't believe in democracy and don't care about the will of the voters. Repeat early and often.

[kainah]

27. And don't forget the IMPEACHMENT

I wish I knew how to find the old articles from mid-1998 that talked about Gingrich's plan to get Clinton impeached and Gore pushed aside so that Newt would be president. That was definitely part of the reason why they impeached Clinton.

Their anti-democratic inclinations most definitely have to be exposed.

[hang a left]

35. Let's not forget the latest

debacle in the House.

[loudsue]

3. If we could teach Terry McAuliffe to read, Black Box Voting would

be a good place to start. And if someone could convince him to quit sucking up to the DLC, and start mobilizing the base, MAYBE we could get somewhere!

Without an honest vote at the ballot box, and without a free press, THERE IS NO DEMOCRACY, no matter what OTHER tricks/recalls the repugs try. I promise you this....if California could be guaranteed of a legitimate vote, these repugs (Issa&Co) would be toast. They wouldn't be recalling Davis if they didn't know they were in control of the ballot box in Calif.

You notice they're not even concerned about how many repugs are running to split the (Calif. Dem majority!?) vote. They know they already have this thing sewn up, or they wouldn't be going for it.

Hide and watch.

:kick:

[2fatt]

4. Davis should resign...

... and hand over the state to the lieutenant governor. If the Republicans launch a recall against the new governor, just repeat the same manoeuver. Wouldn't this work?

[Rose Siding]

6. It would work...

to allow the repubs to determine who runs the govt! I don't see that as an acceptable outcome, seeing as it flys in the face of democracy and all.

[Tempest]

9. It's too late for Davis to resign

By law, once the signatures have been certified and the election date is set, the recall goes forward regardless of what Davis does.

[Jack Rabbit]

14. Could you please link to something supporting that?

You are the second person in recent weeks to make that claim, but I have been unable to find anything to support it. It would really seem that if Davis refigns, the recall becomes moot.

[Democat]

21. Here are some answers

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/07/27/MN55660.DTL

14. What happens if Gray Davis resigns?

A. Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante would take over as governor and serve until the recall election. If voters ousted Davis, the replacement governor would take over. It's still under review at the secretary of state's office what would happen if voters decided not to oust Davis and he had already resigned.

[Jack Rabbit]

38. Thank you.

[tlb]

33. Davis wouldn't resign to the Lt Gov in any event.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/07/27/BA260353.DTL

ET TU CRUZ?: Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante has a new name among Gov. Gray Davis' backers -- "Coup Bustamante."

"He really screwed Gray by setting the recall on Oct. 7," said one Davis supporter.

Bustamante -- who has suffered a number of slights under Davis -- had the option of calling the election as early as Sept. 23. Because of filing deadlines, that would have given high-powered Republicans like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Richard Riordan just one day to decide whether to jump -- "and greatly reduced the chance of them coming in," the Davis backer said. The lieutenant governor said counties needed the extra time to get their ballots together. But Davis' folks see it differently, saying that not only did Bustamante stall the election -- he also failed to push whatever legal constitutional challenges the Demos had that might have tied up the recall in court.

(Even though both the attorney general and the secretary of state's lawyers backed Cruz on this.)

"It's payback for every insult this guy has suffered," says our Davis insider -- "from taking away his parking spots to giving him a lousy office."



------

Davis is a real piece of work.

[Nottingham]

5. I hope the Democrats & People of California come out in droves

We need them because if Republicans get California it means another 4 years of Bush .....Poor America!

:bounce:

[IndianaGreen]

7. "another Republican Florida-style coup at the ballot box"

Well, duh? It's just dawning on them that the GOP will use every trickery to win, where have they been all this time? I know, too busy worrying about Dean, Dennis, Greens, etc.

It would not surprise me at all if the Bush regime were to stage an incident next year that would justify declaring a national emergency.

These people are not going to give up power peacefully!

Terry McAuliffe is just a fund raiser. What the Democrats need as head of the DNC is a wartime consiglieri to go to the mattresses.

[rook1]

8. Let them have it

Let the repugs have California...they would be inheriting a 38 billion dollar budget shortfall.....they won't be able to fix it and will wind up being blamed for the entire thing.

[Democat]

22. Let the Republicans take over California?

I bet you'd like that, but it's not going to happen.

[RapidCreek]

10. Yea...

Gee wiz, you mean our intellectually superior, Democratic shadow party, DLC boys ain't opting for the "High Road". I thought we were supposed to "get over it". Golly you guys, don't forget now, the Republicans might call ya'll partison nay sayers or elitist liberals or something...better be careful...can't have that! I mean, ya know putting a tutu wearin,limp wrist into the ring with a tag team of mouth breathing, knuckle dragging, meat puppets has been working so well thus far, why stop now?

RC

[ThorsteinVeblen]

16. wartime consiglieri

No shit.

Fire McAuliffe. Put in a Dean-ite, James Carville or a Democratic G. Gordon Liddy.

Republicans are playing for keeps, the Democratic Party cannot afford to screw around anymore.

McAuliffe is a disgrace.

[Eloriel]

11. Gee, Terry, ya think you coulda said something WEEKS ago?

Might have helped.

Eloriel

[lumpy]

12. It's all about timing.

The Repubs have exhibited poor political timing. Dems don't want to make the same mistake. Now is the time to embrace all Dems even the ones lacking moxy.

[Rose Siding]

18. He had a press conf on the 17th

and it sounds like he was involved before that as he mentions they've begun a campaign-

http://www.democrats.org/news/200307180001.html

How could he have helped to stop it or fight it earlier? I don't see what part he would have played.

It was asked upthread if Davis can resign. I don't see why it would have mattered or been considered as a strategy for Davis to resign. Davis was the Democrat elected to be Gov of CA. If he leaves office voluntarily over a recall, the repubs have WON.

[jpak]

13. The GOP has perverted our entire system of government

impeachment is now a tool to overturn legal presidential elections

the supreme court is now a tool to usurp elections

they view the Capitol Police as their own little gestapo

redistrciting is sword used to divide minority districts into political oblivion

the CA recall vote are just the latest abuse

[IndianaGreen]

20. Did you know that the Nazis followed the law in Germany?

Every wicked thing they did had the trappings of legality. They either had the law, or courts, or the police behind every crime they committed. Even when the Nazis stripped the Jews of German citizenship, it was done in accordance with laws the Reichstag had passed.

The actual mass exterminations of the Holocaust were Top Secret, known only to some of the highest officials in the Nazi hierarchy.

Just as the Nazis, the Bush criminal gang has perverted our system of government and has undermined institutions that were setup by the Constitution to safeguard our freedoms: the courts, the Congress.

We are in a world of hurt, and the worst has yet to come!

[ThorsteinVeblen]

15. McAuliffe should resign.

x

[Mechatanketra]

17. Problem in a nutshell

McAuliffe is mistakenly assuming that people being ticked off at the Republicans automatically results in more votes for the Democrats.

But it's not gonna happen unless and until the Democrats, consistently and continuously, start looking like they're actually a solution to the Republican problem, instead of just a stopgap measure. In other words, the people aren't going to motivate themselves to vote for ½(GOP) when what they want is -(GOP).

[RapidCreek]

19. McAuliffe reminds me of

a fire chief who shows up a day after your house burns down and says "wow man, I'm just as pissed off about about that dirty rotten, goddamn fire as you, but we were busy collecting money for the firemans ball at the time....hey, would you like to buy a ticket and show us your support?

Sorry Terry...your preachin' is little late...the choir's left the building.

RC

[Democat]

23. A little late? The election is in the future!

Some of you people bashing McAuliffe are acting as bad as you say he is.

We have a huge battle to fight and instead of attacking Republicans right now, you're going after the Democrats.

McAuliffe says we are going to fight, so let's fight!

[Rex]

25. I believe they are just frustrated by the fact that McAuliffe is saying

what should have been said YEARS AGO. These people are right, the 2004 elections are for keeps - either we have a Democracy or we don't, lets not let the GOPers make the choice for us!

[RapidCreek]

26. Sorry chief

He ain't a Democrat....He's a Republican in Democrats clothing. I am fighting and have been fighting, in spite of McAuliffes protestations, since Bush was appointed....I didn't then and don't now require the endorsement of a heretofore obstructionist ass, unlike many here, it would seem. McAuliffe is supposed to work for us...not the other way around. He and his sycophant, chikenshit buddies dropped the ball and ran away three years ago and people like Bev Harris, Bill Moyers, Senator Durban, Senator Byrd, Senator Kucinich and the rest of us with a set of balls have been doing his job for him, ever since. At the time he and his ilk called us elitist liberals and tin foil hat wearing reactionaries. Now that we have blazed the path he should have blazed himself, we are supposed to respect and rally behind him? My ass. Fire the dickhead. He is an irrelevant parasite.

The fucker reminds me of an MBA division VP who impedes or terminates his most able, imaginative and industrious employees because he feels threatened and stupid....then once the value of those employees work appears valid, he steals their ideas and calls them his own.

RC

[Democat]

34. I'm no fan of McAuliffe, but we don't have any time to waste

The California election is coming up fast. The filing deadline is coming up in a matter of few weeks.

We don't have time to get rid of Terry right now and have a long discussion about the past and future and philosophy of the Democratic Party.

There is a war going on in California. It's not a war where people are dying, but it's a war still. We need to fight and win the war now, we can argue about how much McAuliffe sucks later.

Right now we just need to win in California. If we lose, you can probably kiss the 2004 election good bye. How much harder do you think it will be to beat Bush if he controls California?

[RapidCreek]

37. Really?

If you were driving from New York to California, you got a flat tire, stopped and put on the spare...would you drive the rest of the way with the flat in your trunk? Would it be a waste of time to repair it, at the first opportunity, before you continued? I guess so, eh? Then again....what happens when you get another flat?

Yep we gotta win California.....frankly I don't think McAuliffe is a necessity in that regard. He is however, as it relates to that flat that's comming up in about a year.

RC

[Jack Rabbit]

40. Exactly

Let's wait until the day after the election, when Darrell Issa or Bill Simon is sitting in the governor's office.

Then we'll call for McAuliffe's head. And we should.

[robbedvoter]

28. Any time any dem says/does the right thing - he'll pay for it here

The impossible standards of those for whom no democrat is good enough...True McAuliffe. any Democrat is not a saint from heavens who came to live amongst us...As for little imperfect me, I shall cheer any time someone does the right thing - if they come on the war path, they'll find me here walking alongside. The ones not joining are those not wanting to get anywhere.

[juajen]

29. Amen to that, RD

Okay already, he said it late. But, he did say it. It's time for this damned party to stick together and get moving. I say the train is rolling....GET ON BOARD!!!!!!

:crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

[RapidCreek]

30. It was time for the party to stick together three years ago

Funny how your buddy McAullife didn't see it that way then, ain't it? This guy isn't a leader, he's a milk with toast follower. Gotta see which way the wind is blowing before he makes a stand. Ole Terry's been having tea and crumpets with the enemy, while true Democrats have been and are fighting a war. Now he wants to switch sides? You can have him....I don't need any traitors on my team.


RC

[RapidCreek]

32. "The ones not joining are those not wanting to get anywhere"

How come you weren't saying this 3 years ago? I would say the ones allying themselves with the opposition bear a bit more scrutiny than you advocate. This DLC lacky has been throwing the fighters under the bus for 3 years and I should allow him to walk next to me? He and his sort are the very reason we are living in a fascist regime. Fool me once, shame on you...and I ain't gonna bring any shame on myself by being fooled again.

RC

[RapidCreek]

39. All this tells us is that

The DLC has decided it's in their best interest to deep six Holy Joe. They see the writing on the wall and are going to back Dean now or Kerry....mark my words. They remind me of a snotty bitch trolling for dates to the prom. They'll go with the captain of the football team until the coach puts him on second string....Then it's off to bigger and better opportunities....like the new captain of the football team.

RC

[Ardee]

24. McAuliffe you are a freakin riot

Where the hell have you been, boy? Now he claims to be leading the fight, hell he is one of those chiefly responsible for the deafening silence from the democratic leadership all this time!

There is only one person who can defeat Bush in '04 and that is Bush himself.

[dArKeR]

31. Dems. should remove 'battle, fight, war' words from their vocabulary

What type of educated civilization uses these words to speak to the people they represent?

The GOP kind.

[RapidCreek]

36. Is that right?

Hmm interesting point. Were those who used the terms battle, war and fight to describe the mission to unseat Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin culturally depraved? What would you call the inevitable confrontation to save our country and world from the latest megalomaniac dictator? A friendly disagreement? Sorry but the intellectual approach doesn't work when your dealing with hungry sharks who have already taken a big chunk out of your ass.
The time for intellectualizing is over.....we have the likes of McAuliffe to thank for that. You know, the folks who allowed the sanctity of the electoral process to be breached by thugs, thugs who now run every branch of the government. Thugs who eat defensive, pimpy, mamby pamby mealy mouths for breakfast and shit 'em out before lunch. If you don't care to fight, battle or war against those who have stolen our country, then be prepared to enjoy life as a slave with a politically correct vocabulary. You can discuss rhetorical didactics and wring your hands with the other slaves....while us great unwashed do the dirty work....diry work we wouldn't have to do if McAuliffe and his buddies hadn't pimped the Democratic party out to the highest bidder.

Your words remind me of the anti-union, Jesus freak, scab who lived next door. He was "loyal to the company" who was paying him peanuts, working him like a slave and supplied his family no benefits. When his fellow employees got tired of being shit on, unionized and went on strike...Ole Larry broke the line and went to work for the man. He and guys like him, made it hard on those fighting, battling and warring with the management. He made it hard on their families as well, as he enabled the company to play around longer than they could have, otherwise. When the company settled three months later and agreed to pay living wages, benefits and a employ a family friendly work week, did Larry decline to accept the fruits of the strikers who battled warred and fought to acquire them? Did Larry express his company loyalty by insisting on his old wage and work week? Did Larry decline to accept a benefits package for his family? Hell no he didn't. Larry was smart like that. He's also a Republican.

RC

[The White Rose]

41. Excellent rant!

If there had been more of that attitude in December 2000 we might not be in this mess in the first place. Grover Norquist once said, with didain, that bipartisanship was like date rape. What these neocon usurpers want is full on rape with violence! How can you be civil with that?