We Aren't Thinking Big Enough!

[smirkymonkey]

I hear all this talking about how we can win over the right, evangelicals, conservative Christians, etc. and it disturbs me. Why do we need to change our democratic values to appease a group who not only despises us, but represents everything we despise?

ONLY 60% OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS VOTED ON NOVEMBER 2nd!! That means if we can gain any or most of that 40% who did not vote by standing for something, having clear convictions, differentiating ourselves from Republicans we might not need to worry about "courting" those who voted for Bush who DO NOT share our values!

Think about that. There is a HUGE block of potential voters who probably don't vote because they feel alienated from the system, feel that both parties are the same, feel that all candidates are alike, don't think either party represents their interests, etc. Chances are, even if we could get 1/4 of those votes it would put us over the top! Why not focus on them?

Bush has probably drawn all the fundies and right-wingers out of the woodwork that he's going to find. We may not get all those votes, but if we could eliminate apathy by standing up for DEMOCRATIC values instead of pandering to the right, we could have a powerful force behind us!

[Dissent Is Patriotic]

1. Voter Fraud!

Sadly we can quibble about voting percentages until the cows come home, but unless we know the truth about the voting results, all of our quibbling is for naught.

[trotsky]

5. So true.

We can bring all the voters to the polls that we want, but if the formula inside the machine says to convert enough Democratic votes to Republican ones to guarantee the Republican a 51% win, we're screwed.

[klook]

8. We have to work on both fronts simultaneously (n/t)

[smirkymonkey]

11. Correction: I did not mean for this to replace the voter fraud

issue, that should be the number one priority.

Mostly, I was responding to the call from some of our "leaders" to try to find common ground w/ right-wingers and fundies as a tactic to gain more votes next time around.

[DebJ]

2. gotta knock off 10-15% from registered voters because that many

are dead, have moved and re=registered elsewhere, etc.

[aden_nak]

3. I think that's why we have to run a REAL Democrat.

Not some Republican Lite candidate. One statistic I have never seen is a breakdown of non-voters by state and region. I would like to know, honestly, where these people are who aren't voting. Are they spread out relatively evenly, and that's why no one mentions it?

They obviously don't respond to the Reactionary Right. And our absurd need to churn out a string of Diet GOP candidates hasn't done much to woo them, either. I say we lob them a few Real Liberals and see if they bite.

[Southsideirish]

10. Yes, a "real" Democrat - Howard Dean! We must mobilize our

base - and that definitely means a Democratic southern strategy -get out the black vote!! Scare the beejazuz out of those Nascar mopes.

[smirkymonkey]

12. Has there been a study done on why eligible voters don't

vote? I would expect that much of it is apathy (and no wonder) but would like to see some kind of formal study.

Hey, maybe that's where we could direct all that money we sent to Kerry's legal fund?

[Hello_Kitty]

4. Everytime I hear talk about moving more to the right or appeasement

It sets my teeth on edge. We need to be true to our principles and people will respect that and vote for our candidates.

[klook]

6. Definitely

When voters see their choice as being between "conservative and extremely conservative" (to quote Jello Biafra), millions of them just say "To hell with it" and stay home.

[juliagoolia]

7. This means you need to talk about the Peoples Govt

EVERYWHERE... We need to start educating everyone NOW.. not in four years.

[0rganism]

9. Turnout will not solve our problems, sorry

My home state, Oregon, went to Vote-by-Mail in 1998. Since then our turnout in elections has risen from ~50% (like much of America) to 70%+, even in midterms and primaries. Since then, our winning candidates and passing ballot measures have not become significantly more liberal, nor have Democrats had any fantastic successes or victory margins that we didn't have before.

We had 82% turnout in the last presidential election, over 20% higher than the national average. John Kerry won by a slim 5 points and we banned gay marriage by 10 points.

[dot75]

13. I agree

We need to be more articulate though when we talk about what our party stands for, and why we fight for those things.

[newyawker99]

14. Hi dot75!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: