[lbo-talk] untapped "progressive" vote (was No, actually, I don't believe it.)

snit snat snitilicious at tampabay.rr.com
Thu Nov 4 15:16:01 PST 2004


At 05:41 PM 11/4/2004, John Thornton wrote:


>I don't know how giant it is but don't you think that many more people
>would have come and voted for Kerry if he had promised a CWA and CCC type
>job program to fix failing infrastructure and put people to work? That
>along with true universal health care would have brought out many more
>people to vote who just stayed home and ignored all this shit as being
>irrelevant in their lives. Programs like these would make it relevant to
>them and they would vote in greater numbers. Provided the Dems made their
>plans clear enough so people could understand them of course.

Nope, I don't think this at all. In the first place, any of the libertarians or former Bush voters that chose to vote for Kerry would have never done so with that program. Second, a good share of people would have come out to vote against Kerry. The Busheviks would have cremated KE'04 with talk of commies. Come on, read what that asschomp, NOrquist wrote. Better yet, read what a former client wrote me last night. He's a former cop, went into the infosec business after retirement, worked for a fortune 50 with a rep for began politically liberal, but is a big 2a fan. I think he's a lot more like typical people--who actually think Hitlery is LIBERAL! I about busted a gut -- it wasn't the first time I'd heard this. Bill and Hitlery were liberals!

"Hillary in 08 would be just plain crazy. The Dems have got to move more to the center if they want to compete. Also, need to find a candidate who can connect at a personal level. That may have been Kerry's biggest drawback. Finally, the can't ignore values. They can define them differently than the Republicans, but they've got to have them."

I'm not saying we can't ever do what you say, but our first task it changing the tenor of public discourse in the first place. That's a long, hard struggle but it's doable. We just need to be able to sit down and make a flippin' plan!

This mess needs some project management, damn it. Who do I send my resume to? :)

k

"We live under the Confederacy. We're a podunk bunch of swaggering pious hicks."

--Bruce Sterling



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