I must post a positive sign. My husband just participated in his first

[saracat]

candidate forum/Debate in a vehemently Republican neighborhood, He is running for State Senator against(they have a primary, he is unopposed) two incumbent State Representatives who want to bump themselves up to the Senate. One is termed out as Rep. He was the only Democrat in a room full of Republicans. All the other candidates were Republican for all the other offices. This event usually attracts at least 800 people and only 150 showed up!
If I do say so myself , my husband did a terrific job, and garnered much applause. This was unusual as these are ultra right wing candidates and so are the majority of voters. Many people stopped us on the way out and said they were thankful he was running.They also said that they would support him though they were Republican because his philosophy was much closer to what they believe than the Repugs! And lots of women said they were going to support him as they were Pro-choice Republicans and felt they had no representation! In fact many people stopped to say the reason the reason the turnout was so low is they felt that they would only hear the Republican point of view, and they didn't want to bother because they were tired of not being given a "choice. They thanked us again for giving them one! They promised to email their friends about my husband! Another thing, their local paper put my husband on the front page and it was positive. I am stunned. Will wonders never cease?

[Syrinx]

1. Great News!

I'm so happy to hear your report. Good luck in the general! :hi:

[Selatius]

2. So it was you, your husband, and one other who was a Democrat?

Man, you must've been tense going into that room.

[saracat]

5. We had some , around 5 dem friends but my husband was the only Dem amongst

at least 10 candidates. No other Democratic candidates attended. I think they were impressed we ventured into their territory but it is also our district.I think they are amazed that he isn't just a name on the ballot. This isn't a targeted race, but I think more than ever that they (the party) are wrong. We can and will win this. Our national parrty is distancing itself from choice and it is too bad as that may be the issue that decides the race for Republican women. They are worried about birth control and stem cell. They say they are pro-choice not pro abortion.And more women vote than men. When they found out he had the planned Parenthood endorsement, they said. That settles it. We vote for you!

[Richard Steele]

3. "Positive sign" is an understatement!

Great post, saracat!

[Oversea Visitor]

4. You can fool some people sometimes

But you can not fool all of them all the time

If one take away the Democrats or Republicans label

You find you looking at a human being and an American

And you suddenly find that this people are the true DECIDER

Not some stupid chimp in the white house

I have posted many many months ago that bush will destroy the Republican party

Frankly how can he even think that he can create all this shit and just shove in down the Americans throats.

However it is clear that they have make their billions and destroy the future of USA

Maybe they just hunker down and enjoy their gains and wait for the next good opportunity to strike again.

Or maybe the punishments scare the shit out of them from doing it again in the future.

Who can say what will be WILL BE.

[EFerrari]

6. saracat! You guys are great!

:toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast:

[progdonkey]

7. Excellent to hear!

That's also a very good observation: that people stopped coming because they assumed it would just be more Republicans, since Dems never run a candidate, yet when given a candidate, they are very enthusiastic. That's true of so many districts in this country. A district might have gone Republican three times in a row fifteen years ago, so the district is written off as impossible for a Dem, but that just ends up being a self-fulfilling prophecy!

Of course Republicans are going to when when they're unopposed! Of course Dem voters are going to stay home if their only option is to vote for Republicans, and moderates will vote for the unopposed Republicans (thereby inflating the supposed "redness" of the district) simply because they have no other choice!

[saracat]

8. But it was the Republicans who stayed home! The Dems don't come anyway

as the Dems rarely show up thinking it isn't worth our time. This time it was Republican voters who didn't bother thinking it was all Repubs saying the same thing! You are correct.

[progdonkey]

11. which is how the extremists manage to get all the votes...

What you said is the second result of not fielding opposition candidates: not only do Dems stay home because they have no one to vote for, but Republicans do too, because why take a few hours out of your day to add your one vote to the certain 80% majority vote? The result is that only the Republicans who are on the extreme/"Movement" conservatives really make sure to vote, pulling the local GOP even further to the Right.

When you field opposition candidates, even if it's a likely suicide mission, brings back--by just the mere fact that there's a contest and debate--both the Dem voters who wrote off the election as a certain loss and the Rep voters who wrote it off as a certain win. It sounds like the Republicans in the audience were responding to just that: they're tired of the extremists running the Party, and even though they may be completely opposed to everything your husband stands for ideologically (just playing Devil's Advocate--I know you said they actually found they agreed with much of what he said), they understand that his presence requires the extremists at the very least to justify their positions. (It also allows moderate Republican candidates to step up and say, "Hey, these extremists in our party are sending voters disgusted with their insane policies to the Democrats--we need to bring the GOP closer to the center, or we'll lose everyone to the Dems!")

These Republican voters don't matter much to a GOP that believes it has total control over a district (eg. those pro-choice Republicans you mentioned), but when a Democrat actually challenges that control, those Rep voters and their opinions become valued again by the GOP, as it realizes it can no longer just assume they'll have no other choice but to vote for the current politico, chosen by the extreme, but very active fringes of the Party.

Your husband is not only providing a voice for the disaffected Dems but forcing the extremists who have taken over the GOP to justify themselves to their own Republican voters. :patriot:

[sandnsea]

9. Awesome!!

That's great news, I'm glad he's getting a good response. I think some areas are easy to run on choice than others, it's definitely true that there are a group of moderate women Republicans who put a high value on choice and women's rights. Sounds like you might have a district with a bundle of 'em, lucky you!

[aquart]

10. You've probably made my week.

[tiptoe]

12. RFK Jr: Well, my opinion hasn't changed, that the press has been negligent

and that the large amount of support for the President, and for the people that did vote for the President, that large numbers of them would not have done so, had they known the truth about his policies, and his record. You say my opinion changed, but it hasn't changed.

You know I've known this for many years, because of my anecdotal experience. I give about 40 speeches a year, in red states to Republican audiences, and I get the same enthusiastic responses from those audiences as I get from Liberal college audiences. The only difference is, is that the Republicans often say to me, "How come we've never heard this before?" I made the conclusion many years ago that there's not a huge values difference between Red State Republicans and Blue State Democrats. The distinction is really informational. 80% of Republicans are just Democrats who don't know what's going on. And my anecdotal conclusion was confirmed by a survey done immediately after the 2004 election called the PIPA report, which tested Bush supporters and Kerry supporters based upon their knowledge of current events. It found that among Bush supporters, they were widespread in its interpretations, or there were factual errors in the way that they viewed Bush's major public policy initiatives.

For example, 75% of the Republican respondents believed that Saddam Hussein bombed the World Trade Center, and 72% believed that WMD had been found in Iraq. And most of them believed that the war in Iraq had strong support among Iraq's Muslim neighbors and our traditional allies in Europe, which of course is wrong. The Democrats as a whole had a much more accurate view of those events. And then PIPA went back twice to these same people. The first time it went back to the people that had these misinterpretations, and asked them where they were getting their news, and invariably they said talk radio and FOX news. And PIPA went back a third time, and made inquiries about their fundamental values, and it did start with a string of hypotheticals:

"What if there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? What if Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with bombing the World Trade Center? What if the U.S. Invasion of Iraq had little support among Iraq's Muslim neighbors and was largely opposed by Iraq's Muslim neighbors, and by our troops and allies in Europe? Should we have still gone in?" And roughly 80% of Dem and 80% of Rep said the same thing, "We should not." And so the values were the same. It was the facts, the information, it was the access to information that was different.
...

( Source: Democracy in Crisis - An Exclusive BRAD BLOG Interview with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. )

[bvar22]

20. Shhhh! You are going to ruin the entire DLC campaign philosophy.

Liberal Democrats CAN get elected in Red States by running ON THE ISSUES!!!!!

THIS is the CENTER in America:

"In recent polls by the Pew Research Group, the Opinion Research Corporation, the Wall Street Journal, and CBS News, the American majority has made clear how it feels. Look at how the majority feels about some of the issues that you'd think would be gospel to a real Democratic party:

1. 65 percent (of ALL AMERICANS, Democrats AND Republicans) say the government should guarantee health insurance for everyone -- even if it means raising taxes.

2. 86 percent favor raising the minimum wage (including 79 percent of selfdescribed "social conservatives").

3. 60 percent favor repealing either all of Bush's tax cuts or at least those cuts that went to the rich.

4. 66 percent would reduce the deficit not by cutting domestic spending but by reducing Pentagon spending or raising taxes.

5. 77 percent believe the country should do "whatever it takes" to protect the environment.

6. 87 percent think big oil corporations are gouging consumers, and 80 percent (including 76 percent of Republicans) would support a windfall profits tax on the oil giants if the revenues went for more research on alternative fuels.

7. 69 percent agree that corporate offshoring of jobs is bad for the U.S. economy (78 percent of "disaffected" voters think this), and only 22% believe offshoring is good because "it keeps costs down."

http://alternet.org/wiretap/29788/

The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

[Tsiyu]

13. This is fantanstic, vital news

He was himself and he is assured of support. Word of mouth from those people will spread.

People want a difference this election season and other candidates need to take note.

But what the hell do I know?

Kudos to your husband and the best of campaigns to you both. Keep us posted on his progress :patriot:


:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

[Greyhound]

14. That's great! Good luck to both of you. n/t

:kick:

In fact, let get this on the front page. Here's #5.

[Pacifist Patriot]

15. That IS fantastic news. Thank you!

Best of luck to your husband in his campaign.

[deaniac21]

16. If what you say is true I would say that the word vehemently

was misused.

[saracat]

18. Actually, if you knew the neighborhood, vehemently was not misused.

Perhaps "formerly" vehement might apply? Let us hope. It appears things are changing.

[IndyOp]

17. Great Job Saracat & Hubby! Thank you! (n/t)

[saracat]

19. BTW, if anyone wants to donate, he is a Clean Elections Candidate

and can only take up to a max of $120 from anyone, anywhere as seed money and it most be in this month! His website is www.JimLarson2006.

[JanusAscending]

21. Great news Honey!!

I'm so proud for you both! Tell me something, I would love to contribute, however small, but I don't have a credit card. Will they accept Pay Pal? PM me with info. Much luck and good karma, and God Bless! (just to cover all my bases!):yourock: :applause:

[saracat]

24. WE don't accept pay pal but you can send a check

to the address on the seed money form that can be dowloaded at JimLarson2006.com. Any amount is appreciated.

[Vidar]

22. All the best to both of you.

[krkaufman]

23. Great info; thanks. Sad that your husband was the only Dem ...

... but it's a start. Sounds like Dr. Dean and Thom Hartmann have it right: we need to compete in every state, starting at the "bottom."

Best of luck.