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MineralMan

(146,286 posts)
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 11:19 AM Mar 2018

Stuff's Not Going Well. Really, It's Not.

There will be no gun control bill. Trump will continue to do incredibly stupid things, and Congress will help him. We'll continue to rage about it. What else can we do?

Well, here's what we can do:

Focus on the elections coming up in November. We can regain control of at least the House. We can regain control of at least some state legislatures. We actually can do those things. We need only do one thing to succeed:

Get out the damned vote! Bring more voters to the polling place who will vote for Democrats. Which Democrats? Any Democrats, for pete's sake. We can do it. Will we? That up to each of us to answer.

I do not want to be on DU after the election, doing the same complaining about Republicans doing stupid, harmful things.

GOTV Everywhere! Just do it, damn it!

58 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Stuff's Not Going Well. Really, It's Not. (Original Post) MineralMan Mar 2018 OP
Right now, it's our only hope... Wounded Bear Mar 2018 #1
Yes. And then undo the nonsense Demovictory9 Mar 2018 #40
It's gotten to the point where any Democrat CanonRay Mar 2018 #2
Exactly. We definitely do not need anymore infighting in the Democratic Party. MineralMan Mar 2018 #3
Right, even Manchin. Ligyron Mar 2018 #6
Yup. I don't share Manchin's views on many things, MineralMan Mar 2018 #7
Amen MM. Ligyron Mar 2018 #17
I take it that also includes.. LiberalLovinLug Mar 2018 #32
Amen to that! nt. Akacia Mar 2018 #55
Blue Votefire DemocracyMouse Mar 2018 #47
EVERYONE can do something. If you can't afford to contribute $10, send $2. If you can't go door Atticus Mar 2018 #4
Yes. And EVERYONE absolutely should do anything they can. MineralMan Mar 2018 #5
YES, we can! Rings even more true. Fred Sanders Mar 2018 #12
Throw voting parties a week before election. DemocracyMouse Mar 2018 #48
Colorado Dems caucus on March 6th and I'll be there! Mountain Mule Mar 2018 #8
Couldn't agree more. thucythucy Mar 2018 #9
Thanks for being involved in this. MineralMan Mar 2018 #26
Donate to Dems and Volunteer PaulX2 Mar 2018 #10
Thank you for this! Pacifist Patriot Mar 2018 #58
Absolutely. dalton99a Mar 2018 #11
Right after Election 2016, as horrified as we were by the outcome, Grammy23 Mar 2018 #13
Yes. We need any voters we can find to vote in Democrats MineralMan Mar 2018 #27
Vote for the Democrat. Any Democrat louis c Mar 2018 #14
A straight Democratic ticket in November is our best hope, PatrickforO Mar 2018 #15
We can push other things, but solidarity at the polling place is crucial. MineralMan Mar 2018 #23
We must bust ours. . .TO KICK THEIRS. DinahMoeHum Mar 2018 #16
Absolutely. If you haven't been active in the past, MineralMan Mar 2018 #25
"I do not want to be on DU after the election ... complaining about Republicans doing stupid things" JustABozoOnThisBus Mar 2018 #18
Totally agree! redstatebluegirl Mar 2018 #19
Vote these Mother Fers to hell!! Pepsidog Mar 2018 #20
Futhermuckers....... lastlib Mar 2018 #31
Vote every one of those mthrfkrs out of office! VOX Mar 2018 #44
You are right, MM. gademocrat7 Mar 2018 #21
Thanks for your help to come! MineralMan Mar 2018 #24
You are correct! UCmeNdc Mar 2018 #22
yeah really..... Takket Mar 2018 #28
Exactly. Primaries will be held soon in many states. MineralMan Mar 2018 #29
No gun control bill? I'm SHOCKED!!! Adrahil Mar 2018 #30
we shouldn't let up 'raging about it' bigtree Mar 2018 #33
It's a matter of focus, really. MineralMan Mar 2018 #34
I'm curious bigtree Mar 2018 #37
I can hardly wait to see Adam Schiff head the House Intelligence Committee and Nunes in jail! PearliePoo2 Mar 2018 #35
agree totally. I haven't been able to vote for a republican demigoddess Mar 2018 #36
Have high school kids make sure their parents vote? pwb Mar 2018 #38
Spring Election - wisconsin statewide Supreme court *VOTE Judge Rebecca Dallet riversedge Mar 2018 #39
Amen!!!! Katinfl Mar 2018 #41
That's all we can do, short of a revolution. We have to win big enough to overcome Russian fixing. Honeycombe8 Mar 2018 #42
This message was self-deleted by its author Pacifist Patriot Mar 2018 #43
Don't forget your state house elections. LongTomH Mar 2018 #45
Thank you for not forgetting about the state-level candidates! Pacifist Patriot Mar 2018 #57
10000% AGREE. ONLY chance to stop the Republic & the World from the drain at the hands of SHitler CousinIT Mar 2018 #46
And if you live in a blue state and district BigmanPigman Mar 2018 #49
We really need to shame people who are not participating at least by voting. They're the problem. YOHABLO Mar 2018 #50
America is bleeding and we are in triage mode RandySF Mar 2018 #51
Midterms, Midterms, Midterms! Heartstrings Mar 2018 #52
The upcoming elections that will most likely be hacked...because we've done NOTHING to prevent it? C Moon Mar 2018 #53
VOTE, Dammit! calimary Mar 2018 #54
so when the Russians come after the states and the democrats, and the repubs help them librechik Mar 2018 #56

CanonRay

(14,101 posts)
2. It's gotten to the point where any Democrat
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 11:24 AM
Mar 2018

is better than any Republican. Anywhere. They may not be perfect, but at least it won't add to the problems.

MineralMan

(146,286 posts)
3. Exactly. We definitely do not need anymore infighting in the Democratic Party.
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 11:26 AM
Mar 2018

There will be primaries. After those occur, we must all support the Democratic winner of those primaries. Period. If we do anything less, we aid the Republicans. It's not a new lesson. It has always been true.

MineralMan

(146,286 posts)
7. Yup. I don't share Manchin's views on many things,
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 12:37 PM
Mar 2018

but he votes with the Democratic caucus most of the time. A Republican would never do that.

Primaries are where we replace candidates. I'm all for them. But, once the primary's over, the Democrat on the ballot should get our votes. Every time. We simply can't afford any more Republicans winning elections due to spite voting or non-voting. We cannot!

LiberalLovinLug

(14,173 posts)
32. I take it that also includes..
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 02:26 PM
Mar 2018

Not only that the "all" support who wins the primaries, but the part of the "all" that voted for the winner, not spend months, years, bad mouthing the one that came in second, and his supporters.

Atticus

(15,124 posts)
4. EVERYONE can do something. If you can't afford to contribute $10, send $2. If you can't go door
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 11:56 AM
Mar 2018

to door, volunteer to phone bank. If you can't write LTEs, put a sign in your front yard. If you have a car, offer rides to early voting or polling places. Help someone register to vote.
Get Out The Vote!!

DemocracyMouse

(2,275 posts)
48. Throw voting parties a week before election.
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 10:02 PM
Mar 2018

Motivate a massive blue votefire by inviting all your friends to a voting party. Tell them they can't come unless they are committed to voting.

Voting paties are aspirational and contagious. Make voting a passion, not just a duty.

Mountain Mule

(1,002 posts)
8. Colorado Dems caucus on March 6th and I'll be there!
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 12:45 PM
Mar 2018

And I'm bringing a friend. Been exercising my legs and walking 3 miles per day - in part so I can help canvas for the Dems this fall.

UNITED WE STAND!

Grammy23

(5,810 posts)
13. Right after Election 2016, as horrified as we were by the outcome,
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 12:54 PM
Mar 2018

Many people at that time said our next chance to make things better was the 2018 election. And it seemed like an awfully long way off. It felt like forever.

Well, here we are in 2018. The time went by faster than we imagined it would. That was partly because things have gone so much worse than we imagined. And because every day topped the day before for craziness in the White House. So truly the time as zipped on by and we find ourselves facing another election in 8 months.

We have our work cut out for us, but tRump himself has inadvertently helped us by being the worst American President. Ever. Period. So let’s marshall our forces. We need to pummel tRump mercilessly for his failure as a leader, failure as a decent human being, failure as our representative on the world stage.

But we need to do more than criticize tRump and the Republican Congress. We have to outline a better plan which the Republicans have failed to do. tRump made big promises and said it would be easy to fix our problems. In fact, that can be a talking point right there. None of the problems we face will be easy, quick fixes. But that alone is no reason to throw up our hands in despair. The American people are desperate for leaders who hear them and can deliver on their campaign promises.

The time to reach out to voters from all parties (or no party affiliation) is now. We have just a few months to find them and give them better answers. We can do it. We must do it if we are going to have any chance at ridding us of the menace currently occupying the White House and the thugs and thieves running Congress!

MineralMan

(146,286 posts)
27. Yes. We need any voters we can find to vote in Democrats
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 01:53 PM
Mar 2018

and vote out Republicans. I don't care what they call themselves, as long as they vote to help us win.

Many of us know Republicans who are horrified by Trump. We can help them to decide against voting for Republican down the ticket. We need to show them the way out of this awful mess.

 

louis c

(8,652 posts)
14. Vote for the Democrat. Any Democrat
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 12:54 PM
Mar 2018

this is not a time to be "politically pure".

There may be a time in the future for that, but not now. We must take control of the Congress. if, in the general election, there is a candidate who will caucus with the Democrats, that's who we need to support. We don't need to look for an excuse to vote against that person, we have to look for a reason to vote for him or her. And that reason is that he or she will caucus with the Democrats. If we gain the majority in any chamber, we control the committee chairperson. We control subpoenas. We control the hearings. We control the voting agenda. We bring bills to the floor for a vote. We control the conference committees.

Come on people, there is only one litmus test in 2018. If the general election candidate will caucus in the House or the Senate with the Democrats. Period.

PatrickforO

(14,570 posts)
15. A straight Democratic ticket in November is our best hope,
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 12:55 PM
Mar 2018

as a people, of taking back our Republic from these robbers and capitalist pirates.

But...I also encourage all of you to have the backs of these kids who are pushing back against the NRA. My wife will be participating in the March for our lives on March 24. This march needs to be bigger than the Women's Marches - why? To keep the pressure up. To keep people thinking. To keep people seeing the stupidity, illogic and immorality of the Republican positions on pretty much anything.

I say this, MineralMan, because I believe organized resistance will keep us from feeling alone, and keep us from despair in these next 8 months. Every day there is a new outrage and the parasites are sucking from a thousand veins - common decency and common sense are attacked on a thousand different fronts. Resistance may help us from becoming numb again, because I think we have many of the problems we do, because as David Gilmour sang, we "have become comfortably numb."

For me, I guess, this is why I continue active resistance. I don't want to get numb.

MineralMan

(146,286 posts)
23. We can push other things, but solidarity at the polling place is crucial.
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 01:48 PM
Mar 2018

Nothing else matters. If we don't win in November, we lose for a much longer time.

DinahMoeHum

(21,783 posts)
16. We must bust ours. . .TO KICK THEIRS.
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 01:03 PM
Mar 2018

Last edited Sun Mar 4, 2018, 02:09 PM - Edit history (1)

And that means GROUND GAME, people..

Join up with the local Indivisible chapter in your area.
In my area, they supply additional people power for the canvassing, phone-banking and postcard writing to GOTV

Join your local Democratic committee/club and become a district leader/precinct captain.
They are the ground troops in all this; oftentimes Indivisible provides reinforcements for GOTV activities.

In my area, we did this and became part of the blue wave that swept through the nation in 2017.

2017 was just the warm-up.

Now I'm taking my own advice and going out this afternoon for yet another round of neighborhood canvassing, for a special election come April 24 (for NY state senator, since the previous one is now our county executive)


JustABozoOnThisBus

(23,338 posts)
18. "I do not want to be on DU after the election ... complaining about Republicans doing stupid things"
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 01:11 PM
Mar 2018

"I do not want to be on DU after the election, doing the same complaining about Republicans doing stupid, harmful things."

Hopefully, the Dems will have a good majority in the House, and a slim majority in the Senate.

Then, we can be on DU, complaining about blue dogs, and about Republican 40-member filibusters in the Senate.

These are preferable complaints.

Pepsidog

(6,254 posts)
20. Vote these Mother Fers to hell!!
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 01:19 PM
Mar 2018

The ONLY justice we will have is at the ballot box so that these bastards are swept away in a tidal wave of votes. Take nothing for granted, VOTE!! Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania voters must especially correct their grievous actions from the 2016 election.

gademocrat7

(10,654 posts)
21. You are right, MM.
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 01:21 PM
Mar 2018

We all have to be very proactive in the upcoming midterms. Vote, register friends and family to vote. Help in any way you can.

Takket

(21,560 posts)
28. yeah really.....
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 01:53 PM
Mar 2018

it is already march. the elections will be rolling around before any impeachment hearings will be concluded. we are stuck with this piece of shit for better or for worse this year. only flipping congress will save us

MineralMan

(146,286 posts)
29. Exactly. Primaries will be held soon in many states.
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 01:55 PM
Mar 2018

There's no time to waste in getting active. If we wait, we lose. We must not forget our state legislatures and other offices, either. They have a huge impact on the direction we go.

 

Adrahil

(13,340 posts)
30. No gun control bill? I'm SHOCKED!!!
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 02:05 PM
Mar 2018

News flash" NOTHING happens until these assholes see the price they pay. Until they do, they'll remain in the NRA's pocket.

bigtree

(85,986 posts)
33. we shouldn't let up 'raging about it'
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 02:31 PM
Mar 2018

...that's most of the way we garner support from the public, at large.

I'm always bemused (at the least) by these arguments which counsel moving from agitation to the vote, as if the two weren't entirely integral to each other.

MineralMan

(146,286 posts)
34. It's a matter of focus, really.
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 02:43 PM
Mar 2018

Unless our "raging about it" ends up electing Democratic majorities, it's wasted, frankly. That's my opinion.

bigtree

(85,986 posts)
37. I'm curious
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 03:07 PM
Mar 2018

...how do you distinguish 'raging' from other advocacy you believe is worthwhile?

Here's the thing: Midterm contests are mainly, 'anti' elections where voters 'raging' about what they disagree with or dislike dominating attendance. Very rarely do we find masses of voters voting their approval in these contests. That's what we saw during the Obama era, with voters anxious to counter the results of the presidential election with their votes for Congress and the Senate.

Unless there's a palpable fervor among anti-Trump voters at election time, there won't be a turnover. I don't believe we get there by a sterile focus on legislation, for instance. Indeed, voters won't respond at the polls like we want if all we do is invite comparisons on policies that republicans don't even believe in, and often elevate to debate to divert from basic incompetence or malfeasance of their candidates..

PearliePoo2

(7,768 posts)
35. I can hardly wait to see Adam Schiff head the House Intelligence Committee and Nunes in jail!
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 02:55 PM
Mar 2018

Get out and VOTE!

Send money to Democrats if you can!

Andrew Janz CA-22!

https://www.andrewjanzforcongress.com/

K&R

demigoddess

(6,640 posts)
36. agree totally. I haven't been able to vote for a republican
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 03:06 PM
Mar 2018

and look myself in the mirror in decades, but now they seem to have lost their brains, morals, and their citizenship in one fell swoop.

Besides, we need to do it for the school kids of America, especially the first graders and the high schoolers and all in between. Unless we want to see teachers armed in classes.

pwb

(11,261 posts)
38. Have high school kids make sure their parents vote?
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 03:12 PM
Mar 2018

So many don't vote. A drive by them could make the difference .

riversedge

(70,187 posts)
39. Spring Election - wisconsin statewide Supreme court *VOTE Judge Rebecca Dallet
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 04:48 PM
Mar 2018



Candidates and Races | Wisconsin Vote
2 minutes
Wisconsin Vote
Supreme Court Justice

The Wisconsin Supreme Court consists of seven justices elected for ten-year terms.
Justices are chosen in statewide elections on the nonpartisan April ballot and
take office on the following August 1. The Wisconsin Constitution provides
that only one justice can be elected in any single year. In the event of a vacancy,
the governor may appoint a person to serve until an election can be held to
fill the seat.

Candidates:
Critical Dates

Primary Election
Spring Primary Election - Tuesday, Feb. 20

General Election
Spring Election - Tuesday, April 3



?itok=zAXV7Tzn

Primary Election
Wisconsin State Primary - Tuesday, Aug. 14

General Election
Wisconsin State General Election - Tuesday, Nov. 6

WisconsinVote.org
is a service of

Wisconsin Public Television

Honeycombe8

(37,648 posts)
42. That's all we can do, short of a revolution. We have to win big enough to overcome Russian fixing.
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 06:37 PM
Mar 2018

So there's that.

There's little chance we can take back the Senate & House, but we can get more people in there to make a difference.

Response to MineralMan (Original post)

LongTomH

(8,636 posts)
45. Don't forget your state house elections.
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 09:00 PM
Mar 2018

I just donated to a MO state senate candidate. I will work for her campaign and others here in Missouri and Kansas.

CousinIT

(9,239 posts)
46. 10000% AGREE. ONLY chance to stop the Republic & the World from the drain at the hands of SHitler
Sun Mar 4, 2018, 09:18 PM
Mar 2018

is to VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE in November and get a Dem majority in at least ONE house.

THAT will hogtie him a bit until 2020. With all the indictments and Mueller closing in, add a Dem majority to it, he may just resign. If not, we can - IF WE'RE STILL HAVING ELECTIONS - outs his ass in 2020.

If Dems have the majority in congress they WILL (THEY HAD GODDAMNED BETTER) begin impeachment proceedings. EVEN if the Senate majority won't vote for it -- they should DO IT anyway.

RandySF

(58,770 posts)
51. America is bleeding and we are in triage mode
Mon Mar 5, 2018, 01:19 AM
Mar 2018

So if you go to the voting booth and don't like your local Dem, just think of them as one inch of the bandage. We can worry about rehabilitation later.

librechik

(30,674 posts)
56. so when the Russians come after the states and the democrats, and the repubs help them
Mon Mar 5, 2018, 11:04 AM
Mar 2018

and god forbid the elections do not go as planned and the repubs CHEAT to stop us from doing anything about it and half our people say You are just imagining things...Then what?

You know, like now.

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