Elwyn Tinklenberg has now received over $75000.00 in donations tonight

[yellowdogintexas]

just on ActBlue..we have donated at a minimum $200 from DU via his campaign website as well.

I think I am going to sleep now...

[aquart]

1. $80,850 @1:12 am eastern.

[magellan]

2. I hope everyone who donated realizes he's anti-abortion & anti-gay marriage

I didn't.

[Cerridwen]

3. And bachmann is a fascist wanna be.

Some choice, huh?

[magellan]

9. I'm tired of lesser of two evils crap

The Dem Party is doing this on purpose, moving to the right to take votes from the Repubs. So what we end up with IS a choice between Fascists and Repubs.

I'm not prepared to go there.

At this point I'm just sorry I donated to the guy.

[Lex]

10. Being tired of it does not make it magically disappear as the situation in this race.

I wish it did, but it doesn't.

[magellan]

17. So we allow the Dem leadership to remake the party

...to even more closely mirror the Repubs than in '06? And what about '10? '12?

Obama is a centrist Dem, and laughably the right calls him the most liberal Dem in the Senate. How much further right will the next Dem presidential candidate be?

Maybe you can get on board with this game they're playing just for the satisfaction of winning. I can't and won't.

[Lex]

20. "This game" is not just played for the "satisfaction of winning."

Far, far from it.

This is an actual race, with 2 choices for voters. Pick one. That's where we are RIGHT NOW.

I wish it weren't the lesser of two evils, but at this point, it is. We can theorize about the party's drift right and work to get more progressive candidates in the primaries, but when the choices are before us because the primaries have produced 2 candidates, then make your choice.

Wishing will not change the circumstances at this point.

[magellan]

23. I'm not "wishing"

I'm waiting for more Dems to decide as I have that our principles matter, and to understand that allowing the leadership to take the easiest route to victory, by imitating the right, isn't a strategy we should support.

And that's all I have to say on the matter.

[DainBramaged]

28. "Principles" lost us 2000 and 2004, "Principles" keep us at the Mendoza Line forever

once you realize we are in a war with these Fascists, maybe you'll compromise, or just keep losing.

[KitSileya]

33. Sounds sensible.

Right now, the choice is between Bachmann and Tinklenberg. The best choice is obviously Tinklenberg. However, in 2010, if you're not satisfied with the Tinklenbergs of the Democratic party, perhaps it's time to become a candidate yourself? Or encourage someone close to you, family or friend, who'd be more suitable, to run for office? That's the only way things are going to change, I think. There's never going to be a radical shift that starts with congressional democrats. They're too pally with the repukes - this is going to have to start from the grassroots - a retaking of the party. And it will demand that people stop being mere supporters, and becoming the leaders, the candidates. From dogcathcer on up, that's the only way to change things.

But here and now, it's Tinklenberg or Bachmann, and all things considered, I'd go with the former rather than the latter.

[alarimer]

34. I am tired of it too.

I haven't donated to ANY Dem, not even Obama. I don't like him very much because he is too centrist. I am not a Democrat anymore for the reasons you have stated. The party left me long ago and until they get rid of ALL the Blue Dogs/DLC types I will not register as a Democrat, I won't vote in primaries, etc. Hell. I live in Texas, I might not even vote at all.

[Cerridwen]

21. I am, too.

It's been heading this way for a while. It will take a long time to get this country turned around.

If it helps, bachmann would be just fine with no legal abortions and no gays, married or otherwise. She's just another god-publican.

[DainBramaged]

27. Some here believe that unless thou art politically pure, all is lost

and we've been lost for a long, long time

[psomniferum]

4. Oh no.

No, I didn't. I didn't donate, either, so I'm glad I didn't go with my knee jerk reaction to that fascist on Hardball.

[Bluebear]

5. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[psomniferum]

12. Thanks!

This is a wonderful site. So happy to be here.

[magellan]

11. More and more we're seeing this

The Dem Party shifting to the right, leaving us with a bad choice and a worse one. Some here seem okay with that. As long as there's a 'D' after the elected person's name they think they've won some victory. I've been watching this for four years and see NO good coming from it.

Welcome to DU.

[psomniferum]

14. A compromise for progressives

Thanks for the welcome. Glad to be a part of DU.

It's of no small concern that some Dems adopt the positions of social conservatives, and while diversity within the party is a good thing, if that diversity means being counter-productive it obviously shows that staying in the same place isn't moving forward.

Hmmm...party diversity...

Today was an anomaly here in Florida: a good day, relatively speaking. Crist was quite dismissive of the ACORN ruse and he also moved forward with some mildly impressive environmental policy.

[magellan]

19. You mean another compromise

We've been compromised to the point that the Dem leadership labels anti-Iraq war, pro-choice and pro-gay marriage voters "fringe". Party diversity is a thing of the past.

Yes, I live in FL too. I think we know how far right the GOP has taken this country (with Dem help) when Crist seems downright reasonable. (And I do admire Crist for some of what he's done; he's a damn sight better than Jeb. But that's my point.)

Glad to see you here! :hi:

[psomniferum]

36. Hard to argue with that Magellan

Nice to see you too. I wonder what the method is for taking it back. Obviously it's going to be a series of small steps. But you're right...we've been slaughtered by the GOP's bully tactics. I nearly lost all faith at the beginning of the war. I'm not privy to any of the inside info and yet I, we, we all took a step back and shook our head. Our reps let us down. They owe their constituency. We have some momentum now, as well as defectors:

"Radical conservatives in this country have an interesting time of it, for when they are not being suppressed or mutilated by Liberals, they are being ignored or humiliated by a great many of those of the well-fed Right, whose ignorance and amorality have never been exaggerated for the same reason that one cannot exaggerate infinity." - Christopher Buckley
</GOP>

Let's crush them.

[Lex]

6. So you prefer the candidate who is WORSE?

I don't get that.

[magellan]

7. What I don't get is the desire to further destroy the Dem Party. n/t

[Lex]

8. So vote for the McCarthyite then? To prevent the Dem party from being

destroyed?

I don't get that logic.

[magellan]

13. Maybe

Maybe we let the fascist fester for a while longer until the Dems give us a REAL Dem candidate. Just by the incredible response in donations tonight it's obvious people despise Bachmann and want to replace her. Maybe we use our heads and use that to demand better than the first guy the Dems approve.

[fulllib]

32. All night

I've been moved by the community action that is finally taking place for this district near me, and then you come in with this.

You sound like Dem in2000 threatening to vote for Nader.

I don't know- I know the Dem party is walking a line between centrist and progressive, but we can't all elect progressives, and Ithink we should support districts that are comfortable nominating a centrist.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

15. In 2006, Tinklenberg came out in favor of impeaching George Bush

Quote: "I would support a resolution for impeachment if it was brought to me. I would not introduce one." (May 10, 2006)

He's not perfect but I'll take him over that Bachmann lunatic.

[fujiyama]

30. You want fascists in power or not?

If you don't support Tinklenberg, F*UCK OFF!

[alarimer]

35. Fuck that knee-jerk bullshit.

It's because of this (which is also fascist, by the way) party-line bullshit that I am no longer a Democrat. So all you party-line fanatics can go Cheney yourselves.

[ContinentalOp]

31. That sucks, but honestly...

how much power would one Congressman really have on those two issues?

[LiveLiberally]

16. So do I wish Tinklenberg was a socially progressive democrat?

Yes. Absolutely. But I don't regret donating to his campaign tonight. Given the choice, I would infinitely prefer a socially conservative Democrat to a neo-fascist Republican.

[psomniferum]

18. I can see it both ways

Everyone is right. The important thing is to keep out the fascist. So I'm not as familiar with her as some. Is her rhetoric usually so over the top?

[LiveLiberally]

24. I've seen her on numerous news outlets these past several months...

and had been frequently irritated by her smug and complacent recitation of Republican talking points. But I personally wasn't aware until today of her latent McCarthyism. Fortunately, I think she hung herself today. Her performance on Hardball was ugly and pathetic.

[fulllib]

29. Thank you.

This district in MN is where the best you can do is a socially conservative Dem. That and further north. I live smack dab in the 5th where we have Keith Ellison who is progressive and effectively unchallenged by Repubs. Every district is different, and if anything has taught us the last eight years, a small D next to a name is just as important as a big D.

We can't hold out for Big D's all across the board! You all saw Michelle on Hardball or youtube later- that isn't something we as protectors of our Democracy can stand, whatever our personal principals are.

Tinklenberg will at least fight for a Dem economic structure, environmental and health policy. He will sit on the side of Barack's ideas; and don't look now, but those same socially conservative views Tinklenberg is suddenly being slammed for are held by our Presidential ticket.

Yes, it's a compromise. Yes, I want progressive. Yes, all deserve marriage and abortion needs to be protected. But we can't all elect Dennis Kucinich. But he is for full Universal Healthcare, alternative energy, and a timetable for Iraq withdrawal.

We can count on his vote with Barack's when it counts, and that's good enough for me.

[4lbs]

22. Maybe people here should have supported and given to Bob Olson's campaign when they had the chance.

Bob Olson ran against Tinklenberg in the Democratic Primary in Minnesota and lost overwhelmingly with little monetary support.

Olson supported keeping abortion legal, allowing same-sex marriages, was against the Iraq war, wanted health care for everyone, etc.

[LiveLiberally]

25. You're right of course....

but the sad fact is that congressional candidates rarely attract a lot of monetary support in the primaries from individuals outside their districts (never mind outside their states) By the general election we are so often left -- at best -- with less than ideal choices. In this case, however, a Bachmann loss would be a tremendous victory. She is a demagogue of the worst kind.

[4lbs]

26. I agree. While Tinklenberg may not be as progressive left as some people would like,

he's more moderate Democrat, and a hundred times better than the fascist Bachmann.