The show must go on: 2008-2012

Hey look over there, it's 2012!

Happy Labor Day everyone!   For all of those Conflucians in coastal Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, we hope you are well & please report how things are in your little corner of the South.  Keep safe & hope you and your loved ones are well!

In the meantime, the show must go on.  The great Heidi Li Feldman wrote something that perked my inner mountain lion to new heights:  Why Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton must be the next Senate Majority Leader  – but before some of you say “WTF??”  – please read her article at the link above. 

Senator Clinton is eminently qualified for this role. (Indeed her experience in the Senate and the respect in which she is held there were among the reasons she would have been such an excellent Democratic President this year, since working effectively with the legislative branch, especially the Senate, is a large part of what makes a President successful.) She has the policy ideas and the political savvy that can make the Senate an extremely powerful force for progressive change. Senator Clinton has the respect of foreign leaders the world over.

Furthermore, Senator Clinton now enjoys a popular mandate for her views and policies: she won more votes than any other presidential contender in a primary season ever has; polls show that were she running against John McCain she would be beating him handily; and she is a politician of national prominence who has support from rank and file voters of all affiliations.

Thus, the importance of making sure that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is elected by her Democratic peers to lead them in the Senate. Information on how rank and file Democrats can work toward this objective to follow. Stay tuned.

Now, this does not mean that Hillary will weaken her presidential chances for 2012, in fact, it strengthens it.  After the Pelosi-Dean-Brazile-ocrats get the McCain/Palin SuperDuper Spanking this November, our goal is to bring Democracy back to the Democratic Party.  Well, here’s our chance to get rid of the most incompetent and corrupt Democratic leadership since, uhh, since …. well hell, there’s never been a more corrupt DNC leadership ever! 

If Cindy Sheehan beats Nancy Pelosi, a big part of the problem is solved.  Pelosi loses her House seat and she goes back to San Francisco.  But if Nancy Pelosi wins her 2008 election against Cindy Sheehan, Hillary Clinton as Senate Majority leader makes Hillary the most powerful and influential Democrat in the nation, regardless of who’s the Speaker of the House.   Nancy will carry the large and looming Obama/Biden defeat on her shoulders and there’s nothing that’ll give more cooties than an election loss, whether it’s a general, state or local election.   

Just by Hillary obtaining Harry Reid’s position, Hillary becomes the de-facto Democratic Party Leader due to her strength and record for fighting Republicans head-on, and her emergence as a true populist leader during the primaries, and with that 18 Million “I told you so’s” elephant in the room strengthening her 2012 run.  Hillary has something that nobody in the DNC has.  Leverage.  Hillary came out smelling like ROSE from the DNC convention.  She gave above and beyond the call of duty.  Not to mention the voters who were shafted in the interest of “party unity.”  

My point is: Hillary has YOU AND ME and 18 million others who believe she is the best leader for our country.  She already has re-energized the Democratic voter base and as Senate Majority Leader, she’ll bring a much needed backbone to Democrats should McCain win (and he will).  She’s the only Democrat, other than President Bill Clinton, that Republicans retreat, stand down and run scurrying to their bunkers.   Why do you think Dick Cheney has a permanent scowl on his face?  (Michelle Obama, look out, your face will freeze if you keep making that “scoop mouth!” –  h/t Sugar @ Sugar n Spice Blog.)

We all know that Obama/Biden is going to get the SuperSmackDown of SmackDowns this November 4th – and I can’t wait!  We are only 3 days in the general election and the Obamaphiles are verklempt and going into hyper High School Gossip mode over Sarah Palin as VP.   We need to distance ourselves from the High School Gossip Kool Kidz Krew.   We need to start thinking beyond the election and start regrouping to put Democracy back into the Democratic Party.  We need to support Down Ticket Democrats (but Nothing on Top of the Ticket – N.O.T.) for that impending McCain/Palin win in November, to ensure than they enforce the “checks and balances” to the Executive and Judicial branches as it was intended by our country’s founders.  Primary Election reform is another goal we must make sure is addressed to the post-electables.  

Personally, I have no dog in this election fight anymore and I’m quite ok with that.  Neither McCain nor Obama speak to my needs as a voter.  But the show must go on!  What do you think of Hillary Clinton as Senate Majority Leader?

Rebuilding years

N.O.T for Democrats 2008

Three nights ago, Hillary Clinton told us to “keep going” no matter what.  The ‘what’ came today in the form of Sarah Palin for Vice President, running with John McCain.  It was a masterstroke of genius from John McCain and a checkmate to Barack Obama and the DNC.  Many of our coalition members have already written emails saying they are now supporting John McCain out of protest at the way the primaries and convention were run by the DNC.  Some were planning to do so before Palin’s announcement.  Many more Democrats are planning to defect since this morning.

That’s fine.  We won’t tell you how to vote.  Just remember that as attractive as the McCain/Palin ticket is, Republicans have a fundamentally different philosophy about government than Democrats.  Although McCain and Palin may be considered reformers of the Republican party, they are wrong about many issues that Democrats find important.  For example, both McCain and Palin are adamantly anti-choice.  They also have different attitudes towards distribution of risk in areas like health care.  We must not gloss over this.

That is why it is so important to make sure that Congress remains in the hands of Democrats.  This year, we have the opportunity to increase our numbers in both the House and Senate.  A number of these downticket Dems are true Democrats in the liberal and FDR style.  For example, Linda Stender in NJ-07 is very much a progressive like Hillary Clinton: pro-choice, against the war, for rescinding the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.  Now is the time to work for these downticket Dems to guarantee that we have divided government in the wake of what will be almost certain defeat for Barack Obama.

To that end, there are some new efforts that I would like to call your attention to:

• PUMAPac is about to launch The New Democratic Party.  This party is in the model of Alice Paul’s National Women’s Party.  The party will have a platform and goals and will endorse candidates that meet our criteria.  We are still working on the website but we welcome your input on platform and goals tonight on a Lion’s Share edition of NO WE WON’T at 9:00PM EST tonight.
• The Denver Group, co-founded by Heidi Li Feldman and Marc Rubin, is going to be starting an ad initiative to inform voters about how they were betrayed by the DNC.  The intent is to make the powers that be, the powers that were.  The DNC can not be rewarded for their behavior.  Now is the time to purge the party of the authorirarian elements that shut Hillary Clinton and faithful Democrats like ourselves out of the party.  Please see their page describing their initiative.

Remember, we are strong and powerful because we represent millions of votes that *both* parties want to get their sweaty little hands on.  Now is the time that we call the tunes and make them dance.  But we can only do it if we’re all using the same music.  Find your buddies, stick together, hold hands, watch out for one another and we *will* “keep going” and fighting back.

Here’s an ad for Linda Stender to remind you of the kind of Democrat we need in Congress: