>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com>
>
>
>Nathan Newman wrote:
>>Or do you really think big rallies in Washington, D.C. are intimidating to
>>GOP Senators from Red states?
>
>-They might be, if there were actually big rallies (plural).
>
>I don't buy it. A small delegation from THEIR OWN STATE is far more
>powerful, or better yet, a large vote on election day that scares the shit
>out of them. Look at Arlen Specter, who is facing life-and-death in
>Pennsylvania with Dem mobilization and has signed up as the only GOP
>Senator in support of the EFCA.
>
>A rally that doesn't translate into votes or the threat of a votes at
>reelection has no effect. The left loves rallies but they are way
>overrated for political effect. The ones that have an effect are those
>that are unexpected in some way, but the reality is that any large
>constituency can turn out some number of folks at a rally, so it's usually
>a waste of effort to prove something that everyone in Washington already
>knows you can do.
It's not necessarily the rallies themselves - it's what they'd signify about the level of mobilization and consciousness. Of course rallies alone wouldn't affect all that much, but a real MWM would show that the status quo was under challenge. You probably wouldn't get the kind of votes you're talking about without that level of mobilization either.
Doug