Remember when everyone said that the Stupak compromise didn't change anything?

[Nikki Stone1]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/10/AR2010051003417.html

Read it and weep. The Democrats got rid of a real women's rights candidate and picked a white, anti-choice male.

"Democrat Connie Saltonstall, the abortion-rights advocate who challenged retiring Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) after he resisted a health-care overhaul because of his antiabortion stance, ended her campaign Monday after the party establishment closed ranks around another candidate.

Several national women's rights and abortion-rights advocacy groups rallied around Saltonstall's primary challenge against Stupak. But after the longtime congressman announced last month he would retire, others jumped into the race to succeed him in Michigan's mostly rural 1st Congressional District, which spans the state's vast Upper Peninsula....

...Saltonstall, a former teacher and Charlevoix County commissioner, said in a statement that she would have difficulty raising enough money to compete against McDowell.

"I am forced to do this because it has become apparent to my campaign that the leadership of the Michigan Democratic Party has preemptively anointed Gary McDowell as their Democratic candidate," Saltonstall said. "They are replacing Bart Stupak with another Upper Peninsula, anti-choice, anti-women's health-care rights candidate.".....




___________________________________________________________________________________
So we're second class citizens again. The Democrats have jumped the shark.

[Nite Owl]

1. Damn

things just keep getting worse.

[laughingliberal]

2. Rec nt

[tmyers09]

3. I'm just waiting for the apologists...

The ones who say we have to pick repugnant candidates because "they're the only ones who can win in certain districts".

Besides that, the party leadership picking the candidates instead of having a fair and equal primary election is especially bad.

[Luminous Animal]

6. We are a big tent party!! If coat hanger abortions is the price we pay to win!

Then yay!

[saracat]

14. You nailed it.Winning is everything to them. And women are among the most expendable.

All one has to do is read a lot of the sexism and misogyny right on this board to see that.Women are openly mocked.Rape has even been defended. Things are getting really bad.I wish they weren't but they are.

[Nikki Stone1]

16. +10,000

Remember, it's only oppression if it happens to males. If it happens to women, it's just normal.

[amborin]

31. a "Win," no matter how hollow the victory, or at what cost

[ProSense]

36. Maybe we should bring back

Howard Dean

[saracat]

43. Actually that sort of proves the point.But then choice isn't important to some.

They are always pointing out how nearly everything else takes precedence.

[ProSense]

63. Yeah, choice isn't important to Howard Dean. It's his comment. n/t

[bobbolink]

51. We poor folk will fight you for that "most expendable" category.

:(

[saracat]

52. Many of the poor are also women Bobbolink. And it is the poor woman

who is most effected by all this.

[bobbolink]

57. Of course, and you are right that poor women suffer the most.

BUT, on DU, and with "progressives" in general, it is NOT poor women that are the ones that are thought of when "women's issues" are discussed.

It is middleclass women.

We poor folk are invisible.

[Odin2005]

71. And the disabled!

Who are stuck surviving off of the pittance that is SSDI and Medicaid. :grr:

[bobbolink]

73. Over 50% of people on disability receive SSI. It amounts to $4.21 an hour.

NOBODY CAN LIVE ON $4.21 AN HOUR!

Yet, do you hear "progressives" making a big issue of it?

Do you hear "progressives" making ANY issue of it?

[Odin2005]

75. Nope! It's sickening!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

53. yep...the hierarchy of importance. When men here make talking point lists,

women are not even in their field of vision, 99% of the time.

Very interesting what that says about male consciousness, and how we had better improve our advocacy and organizing skills for our own sake.

[bobbolink]

58. Neither are we poor folk on the lists of priorities.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

59. true.....I'm sorry that it IS true

AS you said, when we discuss women's issues, we tend to picture white middle=class women.

Older women are the majority of the poor, and are doubly invisible. I don't know about the racial demographics within that group, but regardless .... it is unfair it is a tragedy :(

[bobbolink]

64. Thank you, Blanche. I very much appreciate what you have written.

It really does hurt to be ignored.

You know, I was involved with the women's movement in Berkeley in the 60s. I can vouch for the fact that it really was a middleclass white women's movement. Oh, we were very aware of racism, and we supported various actions concerning race. We were aware that women of color were not involved with our movement, and we reached out and wanted to have them join us.

I can tell you that after experiencing devastating poverty, I understand much more clearly where they were coming from. They saw the prime issue they were dealing with in their lives as race, and I now can see the primary issue in my life is poverty. Unless and until white middleclass women FULLY embrace their poor and homeless sisters, and LISTEN to us, we will not feel a connection with them. Our issues are, for the most part, quite different, and misunderstood, and quite invisible. I think Barbara Ehrenreich did a pretty good job of describing what a lot of poor women deal with, but as you point out, that was working women, and didn't include women too old, too sick or too injured to work.

I can (sadly) tell you that the feminists I know haven't a clue at all what we really deal with. I have come to see that class divide... and one of the things it has most to deal with is HOPE and JUSTICE. Middleclass women take both hope and justice for granted. Poor women have given up on those impossible things.

And just telling us to "keep hope alive" is ridiculous. It is really too bad that middleclass women want to "teach" us and "fix" us rather than to listen to us. And I really wish that women on DU were open to what I have seen of this class divide rather than vilifying me. That is what I have to offer.. what I see, and what I know of the experience so many of our sisters live with.

thank you again for your words... this is the first time in quite a while that I feel like a DUer has been willing to actually hear, rather than dismiss or criticise me. :yourock:

"Older women are the majority of the poor, and are doubly invisible."

[BlancheSplanchnik]

81. I so wish I could change institutions and human dynamics and the whole culture

I hate the status quo. And I know, it DOES hurt to be ignored.

And I hate that you are suffering, and that there is a very big social edifice that perpetuates it.

All I can do, personally, is try my best to act as the kind of person I respect -- there are people out there who do try to follow "Right Action"

“A great revolution in just one single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a society and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of humankind.” -- Daisaku Ikeda, Buddhist Teacher

“Buddhism holds that everything is in constant flux. Thus the question is whether we are to accept change passively and be swept away by it or whether we are to take the lead and create positive changes on our own initiative. While conservatism and self-protection might be likened to winter, night, and death, the spirit of pioneering and attempting to realize ideals evokes images of spring, morning, and birth.” -- Ikeda



that pic is so so heartbreaking. We must demonstrate the change that begins to value that woman, because there are others like her. When WE change, we influence others. All I can do is try my best as consistently as I can, in my little corner of the world, and hope to influence even just one other.....(and, I am also influenced by others on the same wavelength. So necessary when you don't want to keep on fighting to move forwards)

An inner change for the better in a single person is the essential first turn of the wheel in the process of making the human race stronger and wiser. This "human revolution" is, I believe, the most fundamental and most vital of all revolutions. This revolution--an inner process of self-reformation--is completely bloodless and peaceful. In it everyone wins and there are no victims.

Life is a struggle with ourselves; it is a tug-of-war between moving forward and slipping backward, between happiness and misery. We are changing constantly, but the real issue is whether we change for the better or the worse, whether or not we succeed in enlarging our narrow, self-centered focus to take a broader view.

Every day we are faced with countless choices and decisions. We have to decide which path to take in order to feel good about ourselves and become better, more generous-spirited individuals? If we just allow ourselves to be ruled by force of habit, the way we've always reacted to a given situation, we will be drawn down the path of least resistance and stop growing as a person.

But if we succeed in challenging ourselves on a fundamental level, we can change from someone who is buffeted about by the environment or the people around us, to someone who can positively influence our situation and surroundings. We actually create the unique shape of our lives by the infinite choices we make each day. http://www.daisakuikeda.org/main/philos/essays-on-buddhism/buddh-humanrev.html

[Odin2005]

70. Yep, many posters have stated that they are just fine with date rape.

That BS showed me that many so called "progressives" aren't.

[readmoreoften]

38. All we have to do to win is abandon women, gays, the working class, and the environment...

well, except for "green capitalist" nonsense that doesn't make up for the F-13s which burn the fuel at the rate of a 2 years worth of family car consumption PER HOUR.

So, yeah. Not only do you have to abandon women, gays, and the working class as a whole; you have to abandon soldiers, in particular and the peoples of Afghanistan and Iraq (Allawi and Maliki excepted).

That leaves rich straight people, and rich women and gays able to buy their way out of their oppression (though not all are...)

HECKUVA JOB DEMS!

[Egnever]

41. She quit

The party leadership always gets behind a candidate, thats why its called leadership. I swear for a political board this place is full of ignorance of how politics is played.

No one forced her out she threw up her hands.

[Raineyb]

48. Your argument is disingenuous and you know it.

If party leadership gets behind a candidate who do you think is going to be backed financially? Starving a rival for funds may not be forcing them out but it's close enough for government work.

This is exactly the same type of shit the DCCC pulled before. And what usually happens when the party big wigs decide to intervene for their chosen candidate and don't give the electorate an actual choice? Their hand picked candidate loses.

And what exactly does this have to do with the specious argument that those who always consider the party first make that the party has to cater to right wingers in order to win a district. They didn't even bother to give the party members a choice. Why leave it up to the voters anyway? They might actually chose someone who will stand up for them. Can't have that.

[olegramps]

83. You don't actually believe what your are saying do you?

A win at any cost? This is what is wrong with the present Democratic Party. Obama's naive attempts at bipartisanship has had it shoved up his ass by the Republicans. They told him exactly what he could do with it. Hopefully, he is finally coming to his senses that these bastards are evil obstructionists who don't give a rat's ass about working people. There will always be ignoramuses that can be bilked, but it is totally unfruitful to support someone who is just as opposed to women's rights as was the last jerk-off who wanted to impose his Church's beliefs on the entirety of society.

[dflprincess]

4. That happened in Minnesota when both the national & state party leadership

annointed Amy Klobuchar as the Senata candidate shutting out the progressive.

It's why I never donate to any party organization, only candidates.

[Hamlette]

5. its a democracy

if she has the votes she should be able to raise the money

I live in a very red state the the bluest of blue dog congressmen.

I vote for him every time, and even give him money, because he is the only democrat who can win in this state.

And even if I only get one vote from him, it is worth it.

and I do get that vote. Leadership. It's worth it.

Maybe Stupak's old district is like that too.

We are all loving how the tea partiers are putting up people who can't win (NY 23) lets not fall into the same trap.

[rpannier]

23. You should know that's not true

If you don't you should pay better attention

The Party is shutting her off from the big money donors.
By doing that, she has to work much harder than her opponent to raise money and compete
This takes valuable time away from her campaigning in order to raise that cash
This behavior by the Party has resulted in several candidates pulling out because they can't get money
Then we get stuck with some republican wanna-be

To compare this to the tea partiers is idiotic
The Tea Baggers supported someone from another party -- not a Republican
We are asking the Party to stay neutral in the primaries

The Party needs to stay out of primaries and let the chips fall where they may

[Nikki Stone1]

34. +10,000

.

[hfojvt]

42. perhaps she should raise money from the grass roots instead

Not that that is working for me (so far) but I don't even see an act blue page for her. It's kinda sad if the big donors decide who gets elected in either party.

[rpannier]

46. You're running for office???

If you are, please tell me which one and how to donate

I'd gladly donate to a fellow DUer

[BrklynLiberal]

7. To say I am appalled is just not even coming close to what I feel right now!!!

:mad: :puke: :nuke: :cry: :banghead:

Is there any chance of a grassroots campaign to get her enough money to run???????

[amborin]

8. +1

[babylonsister]

9. Wrong. Not as bad as you want to characterize it.

Who passed health-care reform?




In particular, the individual legislators tend to get left out of this story. But what was remarkable about health-care reform was how many Democrats wanted to vote for it. That basic desire to see the bill passed persisted through conservative pressure, grim polls, Scott Brown's election, painful compromises, and much more. And at the end of the day, even the holdouts seemed to want the bill passed: Conservatives like Ben Nelson and Bart Stupak and Mary Landrieu and many others were willing to cut the deal so they could vote for the bill. The bill wasn't exactly a political winner for any of them, but when it came down to it, they said "aye."

more...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/05/who_passed_health-care_reform.html

[BrklynLiberal]

10. How does this make Saltonstall's being abandoned by the state party any more palatable?

What ever happened to the Democratic being the party of women's rights???

[Egnever]

40. All politics are local

this district is socially conservative according to the article. How do you suppose stupak got elected in the first place?

[Kaleva]

89. How can one be abandoned by those who never supported her in the first place?

She was, by all accounts, a long shot from the very beginning. Connie failed to build a grass roots organization here in the district when it was just her facing Stupak and she was getting considerable donations via ActBlue. After Stupak announced his intention not to run for re-election, interest in Saltonstall plummeted and the river of money dried up putting her in the predicament of trying to make her case to the rank and file of the 2nd largest district in area east of the Mississippi on a shoe string budget.

[saracat]

12. And I suppose that "justifies " all this? Not to me it doesn't and the HCR

is an insult to women everywhere.

[amborin]

15. not "how many Democrats wanted to vote for" HCR, but how many were pressured by DLC strong-arming

[Nikki Stone1]

19. Babylonsister, your argument makes no sense. Not "as bad" because of a health insurance mandate?

What?

It's so illogical, I can't even think of what to say. Y'all are grasping at straws.

[Autumn]

84. That's all they have, nothing but

straws. Don't you dare say everything isn't all sun shine and flowers.

[sabrina 1]

26. We didn't GET Health Care Reform. We got

a Health Insurance bail-out. I wish you hadn't brought that up again. This was the single most disappointing sell-out by this party so far.

Those who caved in the end did so under great pressure from the party. And others did so because they could not allow their team to lose. And the supporters on this board were willing to accept anything just for a 'win'. But we did not get healthcare reform. Our team won, that's about the best that can be said about it. And the fact that they had enough votes to win, they owe to the people they refused to listen to. And many of those people are rethinking the work and the money they put in to giving them the ability to win, only to see it used against them.

And they are not alone. The little people probably don't matter much to them. But now it looks like many of their millionaire progressive donors have had it also http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8338603. Who knows, maybe those millionaires can get behind some real progressive candidates and we can start getting to work to remove the sell-outs from this party and get some real health care reform some time in the not-too-distant future.

We're waiting for the 'fixes' but not with a lot of hope this time.

[Nikki Stone1]

30. +10,000

We got a mandate to support an industry at the expense of our own health.

[sabrina 1]

37. Yes that's true and I wish people would at least respect

our intelligence enough not to think that just because they 'won' we will forget that betrayal.

On the positive side, having given up hope that the leadership of this party will ever do anything remotely resembling democratic principles, I was happy to learn today that we 'little people' are not alone in our disgust with the party. I posted a link above to an OP I posted about Millionaire Donors to the Dem Party who feel the same way. I am hoping that they will now use that money, which is in the millions, and hopefully more, as they no longer donating to the party, behind some real progressive candidates. You can read the article here if you are interested http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8338603

I wish I knew how to get in touch with them. There are several real progressive candidates like Marcy Winograd eg, who is running against DLCer/Rino Jane Harman who could use some money. Harman of course has the party machine behind her. This could be promising if they were willing to back individual candidates now imo.

[Nikki Stone1]

47. Interesting link.

Thank you.

[saracat]

11. Yeah in Arizona we have an openly Pro-Life female candidate

for the State legislature that the Democratic party tells me we have to accept because she is in a Hispanic district. And she is an incumbant that has already voted to support some of the most egrigous anti-choice legislation in the nation. But heck, they inform me the "win" is worth it. it is very bad out there and no msatter what they tell us, it is getting worse. OK, Utah, Az and I think Kansas are just warning shots. ut they do not care as long as they are part of a winning team. . I also will no longer give except to individual candidates.

[ProSense]

13. "after the party establishment closed ranks around another candidate." Same thing happened to Sestak

and he hasn't quit.

[Nikki Stone1]

17. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:rofl:

[ProSense]

18. Did Sestak quit? n/t

[Nikki Stone1]

20. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:rofl:

[ProSense]

21. ?

:rofl:

[tmyers09]

24. I think it's because the Specter/Sestak situation is different.

Sestak is the primary challenger to the incumbent Specter. This was a case of the party hand-picking the candidate for an open seat.

[Nikki Stone1]

28. The perception is that Specter was given a freebie to switch parties

Sestak is getting a lot of support, but there is no guarantee that he will get anywhere. He is also fairly conservative, being opposed to gay marriage. However, so is Specter. My guess is that the party doesn't really care about Specter.

[Nikki Stone1]

29. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:rofl:

[RainDog]

61. [phone]

zen-like. :)

[tmyers09]

22. Pretty sure it was the same thing in Ohio with Jennifer Brunner and Lee Fisher.

With the party establishment picking the milquetoast Fisher. Unfortunately, Brunner couldn't overcome it.

Hopefully, Sestak can pull it out.

[rpannier]

25. He's a sitting Congressman

with name recognition and cash on hand

[ProSense]

27. Well, Bennett wasn't a Democrat, but he was a sitting Senator.

Politics requires fortitude and the ability to sway voters. It's tough, but parties are always going to chose candidates and stand behind them. I brought up Sestak becuase his opponent is also a sitting member of Congress.

[Nikki Stone1]

32. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:rofl:

[rpannier]

35. But she's not a sitting member of Congress

So her ability to raise money is made that much more difficult because she doesn't have a group in place to raise funds and cash on hand to keep her afloat in the early part of the campaign

So the situation is not analogous

on edit:

As to Bennett, he had money his opponents also both had access to money
The Party had not cut off access to his opponents money, nor did they try and cut off his access.
Prbably because it would have failed.

[Nikki Stone1]

33. Yes he is. And that's a huge difference.

Specter is also not considered a real Democrat since he changed parties so recently. (He used to be a Dem way way back, but he's been a Republican a long time).

[Egnever]

39. WTF does the stupak deal have to do with this?

[NuttyFluffers]

44. please Democrats, my RNC party already does "coronations" and it totally sucks. don't follow suit!

i tried "change within" and that Republican coronation thingie totally sucks. it probably doesn't help that most of the other people in my party are hateful, mindless jackbooted thugs marching in lockstep. but at least i'll have some cover to sneak my family out in case things get real ugly.

but don't follow in familiar footsteps. it's really a dark and horrible road. no, it really is. the best we can get for change within in the RNC is absolute lunatics on a crusade -- and as we have currently seen with tea baggers and Palin, that's just worse. when party machineries do not give the people a feeling that they have real choices, then people get really upset and start swinging into the extremes to break out of the control. an extreme example of this is Iran's Islamic Revolution. this closing off of the safety pressure valves at both ends is not a good direction... let's hope your party's leaders get the message that this is unhealthy.

[Bonobo]

45. I screamed bloody murder about it. nt

[bvar22]

49. The "Centrist" Democatic Party Leadership....

Working HARD to make the Democratic Party even MORE Conservative and "Business Friendly"! (wink..wink)

"We're very proud that the Democratic Party is now somewhere to the Right of Nixon's Republicans...AND we're not stopping there!"



What are the "Liberals" going to do?
Vote for a Republican?
Hahahahahahahahahaha!

[glitch]

55. God Blesses Ronald Reagan for Showing Us the Light! nt

[Iggo]

50. Yep. It's all over. Vote republican.

:eyes:

[sabrina 1]

56. That's your only solution to ridding the Democratic Party

of its right wing? You're not very imaginative, are you?

[Iggo]

67. I know you're not that dumb. But just in case, let's review...

The last line of the OP was: "So we're second class citizens again. The Democrats have jumped the shark."

And my reply was to reply in kind with a 'woe is me' post of my own: "Yep. It's all over. Vote republican" followed by a rolleyes face to signify "as if", which was obvious to seemingly everyone but you.

But I think you're cleverer than that.

Now, come on, you and I both know that you don't really think I want people to vote republican.

[sabrina 1]

68. Okay, sorry if I misinterpreted your post.

Having seen that 'line' aimed at anyone who is trying to drag this party back to at least the center, used many times, I guess I had one of those knee-jerk reactions myself! It's catching! :-)

[glitch]

54. Worse than jumped the shark.

Far too benign a term for what is happening to our party.

[Nikki Stone1]

65. Maybe so.

:(

[RainDog]

60. Democrats HAVE jumped the shark

their insistence on fucking over their mothers, daughters, sisters and aunts to ingratiate themselves with the pedophile-excusing and closeted self-hating homosexual vote is a wonder to see.

sexist assholes.

[Bluebear]

62. 'after the party establishment closed ranks around another candidate'

Lovely.

[Karmadillo]

66. Who could have seen that coming?

nt

[Nikki Stone1]

77. Uh... yeah

What a fucking world, eh?

[Karmadillo]

78. Yes, but we sure go out of our way to make it worse than it needs to be.

nt

[Nikki Stone1]

79. ?

?

[Karmadillo]

80. ?

?

[Nikki Stone1]

85. ??

??

[Karmadillo]

86. +1

nt

[Nikki Stone1]

87. + :)

:)

[Odin2005]

69. tell me DLC apologists, what is the difference between you idiots and the Pukes?

You both hate women.

You both hate gay people.

You both support DRILL BABY DRILL.

You both hate the poor and disabled.

You both are wholly owned by the Multinational Corporate Elites.

You both oppose the legalization of marijuana.

You both support war profiteering.

You both support the Police State.



A choice between Fascism and Fascism-lite is NOT a choice.

[McCamy Taylor]

72. How is this democracy when party establisment tells us whom we can vote for?

Dems should consider whether aping GOP in this practice is good for their long term future.

[Nikki Stone1]

74. Exactly.

.

[Echo In Light]

82. Which is why I say FUCK "party establisment."

[inna]

76. K&R

[Kaleva]

88. Stupak's retirement sealed Connie's fate

Without Stupak to act as a lightning rod, interest in Connie and her campaign faded considerably. One can do a google search and find numerous blogs, articles and posts made about Connie back in March but they are few and far between in April and early May. Mz. Saltonstall raised a large amount of money early on via ActBlue. However, the donations plummeted after Stupak announced his retirement. With that source of funds drying up, she really did need to get financial support from the state party to keep her campaign viable.

I read a post made at FireDoglake where the comment was made that on reason Connie got beat so badly in her 2008 bid for a state house seat was that she didn't do the door to door stuff. As far as I can tell by following what ever news I could find about her, it appears she wasn't making much of an effort to meet and greet supporters and more importantly, potential supporters in this election either.

Connie makes a swipe at the Upper Peninsula in her comments but she fails to understand it's also the more liberal part of the district. Gore, Kerry, and Obama did far better in the Upper Peninsula then they did in the counties of the district that are in Lower Michigan. I could be wrong but I don't think Connie made a trip to the Upper Peninsula in an effort to make her case to the voters here.

[dbmk]

91. You just say that because she is a woman

She can impossibly be a bad candidate.

[Kaleva]

90. Connie entered the race knowing the MDP didn't support her.

"He "made it clear I wouldn't have the support of the party. I wouldn't be able to raise the kind of money I would need. He's subverting the primary process. Voters should choose their candidate, not Mark Brewer," Saltonstall told the Detroit News."

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2010/05/candidate-with-early-edge-drop.html

Saltonstall knew that she wouldn't have the support of the party in early March when she first declared her candidacy and that what money she needed would have to come from grass roots efforts and possibly from organizations like NOW and Planned Parenthood. But that didn't matter to her then as she wanted to give voters in the district a choice. Dropping out now for reasons that were irrelevant in March deprives voters a choice.