THIS JUST IN!!! THE PRIMARIES ARE OVER!!!

[LSK]

The choice is a Democrat or a Republican.

If you dont like your dem candidate you should have fought that fight in the PRIMARIES.

NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR PICKING ON YOUR DEM CANDIDATES.

BECAUSE THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE IS MORE OF A GOP CONGRESS.

Do you really think Hastert or Boner or Frist or any Republican leader cares about your cause???

Is that what you want???

[Beelzebud]

1. Couldn't have said it better myself.

[acmavm]

2. No shit.

[saltpoint]

3. And Mike Gravel is the winner!?!

Boy. That really took me by surprise.

________________

Gravel or no Gravel, we gotta stick with our people versus their people.

More Democrats is better than fewer.

No matter what.

[AndyA]

4. Totally agree - you are 100% right!

You have to vote DEM now. THERE IS NO OTHER CHOICE.

That is the one and only option.

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. If they don't have a D next to their name

they're not getting my vote.

[William769]

6. Sometimes the simplest message is the best.

Thank you.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

7. I love you, man! K&R

[ourbluenation]

11. Me too. Thank you, thank you, thank you....I've never seen more

circle jerking in this place before - how nice that's it's happening right before the midterms. Jesus H Christ - focus people, focus.

[greeneyedboy]

8. K&R and applause. save the rivalries and backstabbing for early 2008! :-)

[LA lady]

9. Not in Louisiana!

We have our primaries in Nov and runoffs later!;-)

[LSK]

10. how can you have a primary after the general election?

:shrug:

[LA lady]

22. We are just DIFFERENT!!

Every state, local, and congressional election in Louisiana is decided by what's called an open primary. The rules are that all candidates for a single office, regardless of party, appear on the same ballot on Election Day, and all voters (again regardless of party) can vote for any one of them. If no candidate wins 50 percent of the vote, a runoff between the top two vote-getters takes place a month later. It's completely possible for the open primary to produce a runoff between two Democrats or between two Republicans.

[JRob]

12. Divide & Conquer is one of the oldest strategies... don't fall for it ! ! !

At this point if it isn't GOP it's good enough for me.

[TriMetFan]

13. Well said!

It is time to stand together and fight for the better good. Just remember what is at stake now......
Everything

[JRob]

17. Agreed. We can sort out the "new growth" in prep for '08, after 11/7/2006.

[TriMetFan]

32. Well said.

[DURHAM D]

14. I agree and would add - the primaries for 2008 have not

started. Please hold back on your love of Clark, Gore, Kerry, Clinton, Biden, Obama, etc. for three more weeks.

However, go ahead and rant about McCain, Hagel, Guiliano, Frist, Allen, etc. if it makes you feel better.

[pwb]

15. nothing local about this election

thats what the neocons are selling, this election is local bullshit..
your right it is about just the D

[LeftCoast]

16. K & R

And a 'hallelujah' and an 'amen!' :)

[mmonk]

18. Is this a shut up and sing thread?

We're going to vote for the democratic party candidates and suggest to others to do the same.

[ourbluenation]

20. r u advocating voting for non dems? n/t

[mmonk]

23. How in the world do you get that?

Just curious on what precipitates these threads.

[LSK]

24. this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2482221&mesg_id=2482221

[mmonk]

34. Oh

The thread from GovCorpActivist. I haven't gone through that one yet but you might want to know people's background and where they are coming from. Also, qualify your threads in the opening post with a link (just a suggestion). This is the second similar thread I've been pulled into (curiosity killed the cat I guess) and my motives questioned. Anyway, we'll all pull through and together.

[LSK]

21. lalalalalalalala

:hi:

[madinmaryland]

19. Except in Connecticut, where they are still fighting the same battle

as in the primary, except the have added a "registered" republic to the list.

[LSK]

28. yes, looserman is destroying the whole system

But Lamont also proves that you can win in the primaries for your type of democrat.

[gully]

25. Isn't it ironic that we have to remind people HERE?!

LOL

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. No it is not

that said I still need to do quite a bit of soul searching... becuause quite frankly my US Senator stinks... she is in a very safe seat though...

So safe that yes her oponents in the primaries didn't even get the time of day.

[Selatius]

27. LSK is right, but God damn I hate the two-party system.

One day, it's going to be uprooted.

Saying the two-party system is adequate to represent the multi-faceted views of a population of 300,000,000 is like saying the Titanic was a success because there were lifeboats for half the passengers.

[ourbluenation]

29. agreed but now is not the time...we MUST have an opposition party

NOW!

[Zodiak]

30. And the left is, as always, locked in steerage

Of course we must vote for D's. That is not only a no-brainer, but it is understood by all (well, almost all) here.

However, I believe that every DUer has a right to say whatever they want about their own representation. If that means that my favorite Dem gets criticized, then so be it, as long as it is done in good faith and the criticism is factual.

There is no calandar for speaking one's mind, and there is no limitation that should be set on the truth. Even for the right cause.

ON EDIT: only the opening line is in response to this post; the rest is a generalized reaction to the OP

[LSK]

31. there is no calendar on free speech, HOWEVER

there is a thing about being SMART and knowing when to fight battles.

How is bitching about a Dem less than 2 weeks from the biggest election in recent history smart??? What purpose does it accomplish?

[Zodiak]

33. "smart" means something to those

that emphasize strategy over principles. That is fine, especially these days when the stakes are so high.

Those that espouse the opposite are equally entitled to their methodologies and ideals, as well. The chronological juxtaposition of an election changes nothing to these people. I am one of those people, for the most part.

As far as accomplishments are concerned, one can emphasize the accomplishment of gaining seats as a worthy goal, and another can emphasize a well-informed electorate as another worthy accomplishment. Informing the activists here is even more important because this is where a tremendous amount of "thrust" within the party gets generated.

The first emphasis is good for Democrats; the second is good for democracy. Neither are wrong, and neither have the right to try to stifle the other.

If you do not like Ford (as a recent example) and have a problem with his policies, sound off. If you love Ford for his policies, sound off. It all comes out in the wash, but the wash must occur unabated for it to be effective and for people to be well-informed.

We are all nervous about this election (it can be argued that the last election was more important, btw), but it is not the discussion of issues on DU that wins or loses votes in general elections, so I see not need to impose restrictions on the discourse here.

My opinion, of course.

[LSK]

35. kick

[tinfoilinfor2005]

36. Yes, this time around it might be a matter of Hold Your Nose

and Vote For The Dem.

Do it anyway and come back to DU and bitch about why you hate the guy. We will help you to commiserate, but at the same time remind you of why this time around it is more important to be united.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

37. At This Time In The Game, Anyone Not Whole Heartedly Supporting Any

Dem candidate is either not really a Dem to begin with or dumber than a rock. I mean that with the utmost sincerity.

[low_phreaq]

39. I imagine there are plenty of us here who are "not really a Dem to begin with"

After all, the DU rules state that "Democratic Underground is an online community for Democrats and other progressives."

In an ideal world, that sentence would parse OK for me. But reality reminds me that there are some Democratic Party incumbents and candidates I would not view as progressives. I would, however, like to think that members of this community who consider themselves Democrats are also progressives.

In Reply #33, Zodiak Ironfist very eloquently described two goals we have here at DU: Supporting Democrats, and Supporting Democracy. In an ideal world, these might go hand in hand. In reality, these goals sometimes require people to choose different paths. The DU rules state that "Members are expected to be generally supportive of progressive ideals, and to support Democratic candidates for political office."

Having grown up in a state where party affiliation is not required with voter registration, I have never developed a firm party identity. I guess I'm "not really a Dem to begin with." I'm not really sure what I am, other than a progressive, but if I moved to a state that required it, there's a good chance I'd register as a Democrat. Most of the time I feel welcome here, but sometimes I find it challenging to support a Democratic candidate if they do not embody progressive ideals. DU is still the best online community I have found so far, so I try to follow the rules. In my opinion, some of the DU rules somewhat favor the goal of supporting Democrats over the goal of supporting Democracy, so this unfortunately involves occasionally biting my tongue (or fingers, I guess to be accurate :P )

I just want to let some folks on DU know where I and perhaps some other folks on here are coming from.

[LSK]

40. I vote in a state that does not require party affiliation too

You are not voting for one candidate, you are voting for a party to control Congress. Which party has more progressives??? Voting for an iffy progressive candidate gives power to TRUE PROGRESSIVES IN CONGRESS. Its that simple. You do not have to hold your nose. A vote for a DINO gives JOHN CONYERS chairmanship. It is that simple.

I dont see how you are sacrificing your ideals. Step outside the box. Look at the big picture. LEARN HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS.

[low_phreaq]

43. Yeah, I'm still learning how the system works.

I guess I have to try to be optimistic and hope that when the Dems get the majority, the iffy ones will come around and support the more progressive ones.

[Temporary1]

38. You do know that Dems can still win without everyone's votes

Some races the Dem is so far away ahead of the GOP you can safely vote for anything.

[readmoreoften]

41. Yeah, and the same people who say "shut up and vote"

were also saying "shut up and support the incumbent you commies" about 3 months ago. So cry me a river. Yeah, we'll pull the lever for our wimpy DINOs and DLC sell outs (of course, the lucky folks that like their dem candidates don't have that dilemma) A vote for Anti-Choice-Gay-Bash-Fundie-Hitler Dem is a vote for John Conyers! We all got the memo.

But even if the dems win, I'm only breathing HALF a sigh of relief. If the dems roll over and beg so that the pubs might rub their bellies in 2008, I doubt that this fight will be over. I'll breathe a full sigh of relief when I see Dems investigate these criminals and expose them. Unfortunately, we'd need to skewer Rupert Murdoch and the entire corrupt system for that to happen.

Last I checked, this country is still WAY over to the right side of the spectrum. They don't like Bush, but what about the next idiot the PNAC groom for the position.

Lord knows I want us to win. I just want it to be a real win and not a "WIN-IN-NAME-ONLY" to match some of the DINOs we're pulling the handles for. More importantly, I want us AS A PARTY to stop this digusting slide to the right and make a change. I'm not convinced that will happen.

I will vote straight ticket Dem in 2006. But stop telling me to shut up about my concerns.

[LSK]

42. "shut up and support the incumbent you commies"

I must have missed that one.

:shrug: