Maybe getting rid off Bush isn't a top priority

[skjpm]

We could handle four more years of Bush if we were building a foundation of a more progressive government. Bush is awful, but he's only the President. We could work on Congress. We could work on governors. We could work on media. Bush is not all-powerful. I want to defeat Bush's agenda, and that can be done even if he's president. I'm going to be bullied into voting for Kerry out of fear of Bush. If we don't get rid of Bush, we can take away his power. That might be a better goal for progressives who don't like Kerry.

[rucky]

1. Supreme Court n/t

[Erika]

5. Huh? Bush is an idiot.

Enough said. The American people deserve more than an idiot as presidnt as does the world. Bush has already reduced our country's standard of living for the common people while elevating our richest to profits beyond their belief. How much more damage do you wish done?

[LDS Jock]

6. Supreme Court is HUGE

We definately need some friendly justices there. The damage an extremist SC could do is scary. :scared:

[coloradodem2005]

2. ABB!!!

I agree except it is Bush who is establishing this with me/against me attitude that has permeated the mainstream. The President is the most powerful figure. Yes he could be hamstrung by a democratic congress and/or senate but he could also declare war on Syria or Iran, or start a draft and we would still have to put up with those sniveling weasels in his adminstration for 4 more years. Do you really want that? I think not.

[Kool Kitty]

3. Sorry, they all must go.

If Bush got "elected" (ahem) this time, he would just pick up another bunch of the usual scumbags to replace this particular bunch of scumbags. He would still be able to put those "right-wing activist" judges in. The same old wags would probably still be in the Congress, the same old fundies would be there yammering for their agenda, and the media would really be unbearable. No, they all must go. And soon.

[Pale Blue Dot]

4. Four more years of Bush will be the end of America

Don't believe me? I hope we never have to find out if I'm right.

If America doesn't toss Bush out after what's gone on in these four years, then they sure as hell aren't going to change the makeup of congress.

[skjpm]

7. We have enough senators now to block the Supreme Court

With a majority, it would be no problem at all. If the Senate wises up and refuses to give away more of its power, it will be fine. I just think all this energy being put into electing someone as weak as Kerry could be put into creating a better government at all levels, not just the presidency.

[DieboldMustDie]

22. There are 19 Senate seats currently held by Democrats...

up for grabs this year; only 15 currently held by Republicans. That means that to control the Senate we need to win 21 out of 34 races. Also keep in mind that Bob Graham, Ernest Hollings, John Breaux, and John Edwards are all stepping down. The chances of taking the Senate this year are slim; they're pretty much non-existent unless Kerry wins and has some coattails.

[RoyGBiv]

26. It boils down to 8 particular races...

The other ones are either aren't competitive or only marginally so.

5 of those seats are currently held by Democrats, 3 by Republicans.

In order to take back the Senate, the Democrats need 7 of those seats, which would give them a 50 - 49 majority, VT's Independent being the other seat.

If Kerry doesn't have coattails, we could easily end up with more Repubs in the Senate than we have now.

[murielm99]

23. "As weak as Kerry?" What do you mean?

Back it up.

[Gore1FL]

28. evidently

being ahead months before either convention despite an incumbant sepnding approx $100,000,000 in ads maeks one weak... I guess.

[Erika]

9. Kerry Served In Vietnam. Bush was where?

I'm very pleased with Kerry. He served his country with 11 months served in Vietnam. He saw the injustice and stupidity of that war and fought against it. He then spent 30 years in the Senate.

Now, what did the Bush do? He was a cheerleader at Yale, hid out during the Vietnam war to the point no one even knows if he served in the Guard, had a failed business ooperation and let taxpayers pay for his baseball stadium.

I'm fully comfortable with Kerry.

[FDRrocks]

8. 4 more years of Bush might kill the corrupt political system

But at the same time, it might lead us into full blown fascism, giving the President dictatorial powers.

Given the state of the two party system, I do belive it needs to get worse before it gets better, but just vote for Kerry and get him in there.

[theoceansnerves]

10. NO

bush getting "elected" will give him the power to cite a mandate for pushing through a TON of garbage, weaking environmental regulations, cutting taxes again for the rich, stacking the courts and the surpreme court. BUSH HAS TO GO

[PfNJ]

11. If you think Bush is bad now.....

wait and see what happens if he gets four more years, and is no longer accountable to the voters.....

[Erika]

14. Kerry Is the right guy at the right time

Bush has pretty well ledthis country into the path of being a third world country. The jobs he lost paid an additional 17% in wages than the job he has recovered. Our health care is a mess with Bush buddies driving up health care costs to the point only the elite few can afford them. With his pay backs to his energy donors, our gas and energy costs are hurting our most vulnerable citizens.

[OneBlueSky]

12. bad idea for several reasons, not the least of which is . . .

the shrub's finger on the nuclear button . . . it's itchy, it's ready, and he's dying to use it . . . BushCo has already trashed the Geneva Conventions . . . think they'd hesitate to trash nuclear arms treaties, or the tacit agreement not to use them that has been in place for the better part of a half century? . . . hell, he's already trying to get funding for mini-nukes to use as "bunker busters" to get them terrists in their lairs . . . betcha he also uses a chainsaw to cut butter . . .

[Radical Activist]

13. There's plenty of work to do...

If you really dislike Kerry so much that you can't stomach volunteering for the campaign then by all means get involved in another local race. Whether or not Kerry is elected, we still need to get progressive Democrats elected to Congress. There is more than enough work to be done for races at the Congressional, state and local level.

I understand why everyone is writing how important it is to get rid of Bush, but there's nothing wrong with focusing your personal efforts on a different race in your area because those races will also be important no matter what happens to Bush this year. In truth, we really need a certain number of people who will spend more time volunteering in local or Congressional than the big Presidential election.

But as a progressive movement, we really do need to get rid of Bush. He's probably the greatest threat to freedom and democracy in the history of the nation. At leat in the last 50 years.

[Erika]

16. Bush and His Gung-hoism

I bet with his macho cowboyism he uses his chain saw to clear weeds on his Texas estate. Kind of like his reasoning for sending our kids to Iraq.

[Zorra]

15. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

when it comes to fascist totalitarianism.

If we don't vote him out the only way we will ever get our country back is through revolution. And I really don't want to go there.

I'm a flaming radical liberal, and I'm going to vote for Kerry with a great big smile on my face.

[Erika]

17. Go Kerry!

He fought for our country and he has served our country. By the way, did anyone hear whether Bush's priority of Tball for the kids at the WH ever came up to fruition? Bush felt that was a top priority. The idiot.

[Leilani]

18. I agree with all the above posts

There are so many seats in Congress that are safe because of redistricting, you cannot have that much change over night.

Get Kerry elected...we cannot do 4 more yrs of Bush.

Try to get control of the Senate.

And try to pick up a few seats in the House.

That would be a great start.

[Erika]

19. Total Disgust

Most Americans are now feeling total disgust with Bush. I think that will have negative coattails.

[lapfog_1]

20. I've heard this before...

"there isn't any real difference between the Republicans and Democrats,
voting for Gore is a waste of my vote, I want progressives to have a
real chance someday... so if I don't vote for Gore, and Bush is
elected, then the country will see what a crock of shit the
conservative movement is and we will finally get some true progressives
and liberals in office... blah blah blah.

I said it was stupid and shortsighted then, and I feel even more
strongly now. It's called cutting off your nose to spite your
face.

At this point, I don't care... vote for Nader. Hell, even vote for
Bush if you think (really believe) that there isn't any difference,
and you want to prove how horrible EIGHT years of this crap is...
JUST TO MAKE A POINT! And a stupid one at that.

No matter what, most of the country is not with you, and likely
will never be with you. There are 30 percent hardcore conservatives
in the country... there are 20 percent (or fewer) hard core
progressives another 20 percent liberal (that would be me, for
example) and 30 percent in the middle somewhere. I'm sure you hate
to hear that, but I suspect I'm pretty close to the truth. Insist
on ONLY pure leftist politicians and agendas and we will forever
be out of power and maginalized... and ranting on board like this,
instead of having any real power. Band the progressive, liberals,
and a little of the center together and we can get some things done
and make the world a better place. You WANT to see Kyoto treaty?
How about true research into alternative energy production? How about
a much less heavy handed foreign policy, how about "peace"? (there
will ALWAYS be some small regional firefights, and we will always
have some vested interests in stopping these... so we will NOT be
disbanding the military anytime soon) What about personal freedoms?

Four more years of Bush will completely screw us... and I don't think
that bad publicity or poll numbers matter, what they have is control
of the House, the Senate and the Presidency... and in another 4 years
for sure, control of the Supreme Court... not to mention the mass
media, plus control of most major corporations. Opposing this is
what? Trade unions? HAH! Leftist pamphlets? one measly half assed
radio network? a few internet sites? And this is going to keep
the neocons from implementing their grand strategy? BULLSH*T!
Their reasoning now is that the current failures are the result of
obstruction on the home front (incomplete control of media) AND that
the strategy of "Pax Americana" has yet to be fully implemented.

Oh hell. Go ahead and vote for Nader.

[Kinkistyle]

21. The rest of the world does not see Congress, they see the President.

The representation of America to the rest of the world is not Congress nor our collective governors. It is the President and his/her cabinet. Plus with one election, you take control of 1/3 of the government. With that 1/3 of the government, you start to work on the other 2/3rds.

[izzie]

24. I think you are wrong, Bush is powerful

He puts in all the people running all the things you need to live an every day life. From, if your beaches will be clean, or the woods will be cut down, to your water from the tap, to clean air, and now your local schools and your parents SS or your ill brother's kids who need food if he can not work. To the interest rates on your car loan, and house with the debt. He is one powerful man.To live your easy American life we have an inter structure than is often controlled by the party in power and Bush is the man. Think about it, with out this inter structure, no one is going to live this good life and other modern country have the same.Even the bed you sleep in is controlled by the govt so when you buy it you know it is safe and clean.

[fujiyama]

25. The House

not only does NOT have many competetive seats due to gerrymandering, but it also does NOT set foreign policy.

The executive branch does that. Right now, it is being set by the most insane group of freaks to run this country in decades. If we don't get rid of them now, the repercussions will echo for many more decades than they already will. Our moral authority is already viewed by other nations as dubious, and rightfully so. Our ability to accomplish any good in the world is slim to none in the near future. It is deteriorating day by day around the world. Who trusts us? Why should they? How many more hate us now than before 9/11? What are the risks for us? 9/11 may have been the "trifcta" for Bush, but what about the thousands whose families know that this administration may have looked the other way when they knew something would happen soon? What about the thousands of Iraqi and American families whose fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, daughters, and sons were killed by the current administration's policies?

We CANNOT afford to lose this election. It is that important. If you don't want to work for Kerry, fine. I see that you are voting for him, and that's good -- but that's the absolute minumum ALL progressives/liberals can do. If "progressives" really can't vote for Kerry, they may as well either sit at home, because they really aren't doing their part to get progressives and liberals into office.

[saracat]

27. Have you

forgotten the Supreme Court and two Justices ready to step down????Progressives who don't like Kerry would sure hate Bush's Supreme Court.And Scotus appointments have nothing to do with Congress, the Governors or Media!

[jmowreader]

29. No, getting rid of Bush is the top priority

Who ever heard of a "Congress Family Evil Empire"?

Skjpm, Bush is a dictator who does whatever the hell he wants. The entire executive branch is full of people who got rich off either war, oil or both and who want to be richer than they are. And he's aligned with the Reverend Moon and with the "we want the Rapture now, dammit!" ultrareligious wing.

He has to go. Okay, so you don't like Kerry. Fine. I'm not all that hot on him myself--I really liked Edwards, I liked Clark, I thought either of them would have been a better president than Kerry--but his supporters aren't actively trying to get Jesus to come back to earth like Bush's are.

[Disturbed]

30. GW Bush is a puppet.

The people behind him are the ones we must get rid of so, yeah he must be voted out to get rid of the NeoFascists. Then Dems must work hard to get rid of the scum in the Repub and Dem parties that feed at the trough of the Corps. McCain had one good idea: Election Reform. It just din't go far enough. We need a real multi-party system and actual reform in the election process and the money that feeds the candidates. Side note: the CIA msut be re-organized and the Director must be an appointee, not beholden to any Pres.

[MarkTwain]

31. A Top Priority?

.... Yes. It is.

Six little letters, and their being the absolute last line of defense in what's left of this democracy, make it so for the next forty to fifty years:

S C O T U S.

End of story. End of argument.

[skjpm]

32. Nope, I still don't think Bush is all that important

He's a piece of crap, but he doesn't have that much power, thank God and the Founding Fathers for the Constitution. A Senate with a backbone can block SCOTUS, and governors can handle the environment for four years. It isn't worth it to me to prostitute my vote to someone I disagree with as strongly as Kerry when my time could be better spent rebuilding the country with a progressive swell of candidates from the ground up.

[NashVegas]

33. I Waver on This One, All the Time

For Bush:

Thanks to the good son's horrendous mismanagement, the sheeple are waking up to the bullshit that's been going on for decades. Fear that a Democratic president right now would put the progressive elements of the population back to sleep. At least the slower ones who need to have stuff pointed out to them - who make up the bulk.

Art is once again becoming the domain of genuine human expression, depiction of events and ideas that threaten the status quo and not just fucking pastel lilypads and abstract shit that needs to have a placard explaining wtf it's supposed to symbolize.

Against Bush:

everything else.

[spanone]

34. BUSH MUST GO. DON'T DELUDE YOURSELF. HE MUST GO.