This post made me feel sad

[politicasista]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1496945#1497099

[JI7]

1. it's the record that matters

if a person has a very good lifetime record on the issues that matter to the people then it's not taking them for granted. in fact i think it's worse to reach out to people only in ways to get out the vote but not do anything when it comes to policies that help the people.

yeah, republicans give money to the black churches because many african americans are conservative on social issues.

[Pirate Smile]

2. Yeah, that makes me feel sad too.

:(

Hopefully, Dean's acknowledgment of the problem will be a good beginning. I hope it gets a lot of play on the radio, etc.

At least now, hopefully, people will know that they have been heard and progress can begin. You can't start the healing until the feelings and problems are acknowledged.

I hope people focus their anger on the party that has intentionally, maliciously and cruelly tried to disenfranchise them in a huge variety of ways.

The Democrats should have fought back better but I still think, even in 2004, they were unprepared for the extent to which the Republicans will go.

[politicasista]

3. It's unfortunate cause everyone is jumping on the "Blame Kerry" bandwagon.

for "breaking his promise to count every vote." I do wonder if he was threatened or something cause I know Edwards tried to stop him from conceding.

I agree it's good that Dean is tackling this.

[blm]

4. Kerry had no evidence and no chance to get it. He had to concede.

I don't like it, and I don't think he did, either. BushInc really covered their bases by padding their popular vote total nationwide. No way did Bush add 13 million people to his constituency that also seemed to not suffer any deaths over the last 4 years.

I highly doubt that Edwards disagreed about the concession the next morning. He knew what the numbers were showing and he knows the law. I just think people in his camp have promoted a tougherstancestoryline to gain support for future endeavors.

Besides, Kerry can gather more evidence quietly than he can with the media shouting at him to "give it up, sore loser" as per their Karl Rove talking points.

[politicasista]

5. I don't think he did either

I don't like it at all either. I just think he may need to explain himself to the NAACP or other black organziations what really happened and why he conceded for them to trust and respect him again.

I guess I am just feel everything is so screwed up right now that I get mad a some people at times.

[JI7]

6. Kerry can handle it

he understands what goes into all this. remember, he personally had many more experiences than we even know about such as when that woman got angry at him for comparing gay rights to civil rights.

i think he has learned a lot from this and he is going around the country right now also.

and he is trying to get some real change such as legislation in congress to improve the election system. he actually did this right after the 2000 elections but i didn't read about it until this year.

[politicasista]

9. Yes, Kerry can handle it.

I didn't know he had been trying to do the election reform thing since 2000.

[blm]

7. The NAACP doesn't need any special explanation apart from any other.

I see quite clearly that some black leaders who direct all their blame to Kerry are only concerned with what SELLS in the mainstream media. Some of them are quite likely prepared to get some of that everflowing green the GOP uses to lure black defectors.

Many older leaders and those who have done their homework know it is never the fault of just one person, but, generally the conspiracy of those powerful elite who are willing to do anything for power.

[politicasista]

8. Like Carol Moseley Braun

She blamed the Rovian smear machine (i.e. media, voter suppression, dirty tactics) for the loss, not Kerry.

[blm]

10. Exactly. I doubt Braun trusts the corporate media machine much.

.

[TayTay]

11. It makes me sad too!

But the Democrats have very powerful enemies. They control the media and they control the message. The things that Democrats have done for the poor go unnoticed. It is easier to spin, 'Guns, Gays & God.' And a lot of AA's are socially conservative and place a great deal of value on the social issues. The Rethug message that they have a way to rebuild shattered neighborhoods and families and that it starts with the Churches and personal responsibility is very powerful. (As it is for all groups. If you can't admit that what you are fighting is powerful, then just give up. It simply is.)

The stuff that Kerry fought for all his political life has resonance in AA communities (and in poor communities. After all 70% of poor people in America, if not more, are white. That's a fact, jack.) He has fought to end horrible lending practices that allow banks and lending institutions to come into a neighborhood and offer people loans that sounds so good and have such bad interest and payback schemes that the houses wind up in foreclosure. (Excellent thing to do if the neighborhood is gentrifying and you want the property for the proverbial song.)

The Rethugs have successfully driven a wedge between common interest groups, poor whites and poor blacks. Middle-class blacks and middle-class whites. Poor and middle-class whites thing that AA's are getting something that they can't. The Rethugs use innuendo to reinforce this and prevent groups with common economic interests from coming together to fight for programs that help them all. The task of the Dems to to put the groups back together into an alliance. It ain't gonna be easy. But it is the only way. We have to run 50 state races. We have to stop neglecting our base because we are trying to shore up support somewhere else. And we have to start to recognize that all people, regardless of human differences, want pretty much the same things. AA's want a good education for their kids, a safe place to live, decent jobs at decent wages, health care and a secure retirement. That is a color-blind agenda, but it needs to be spoken of everywhere. (I guess my point is, I don't want the Dems to pander, I want them to say what they mean to all people. IT's a good agenda, regardless of who is doing the listening.)