dagblog - Comments for "The Mid-Term Elections: Taking the Longer View"

First, my unintellectual

Beetlejuice — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 17:31:39 +0000

In reply to The Mid-Term Elections: Taking the Longer View

First, my unintellectual reading of The Federalist Papers leads me to believe under the Articles of Confederations individual States held most of the political power. The new Constitution introduced at the Constitutional Convention ... which was being held to correct issues with the AoC, not replace it ... stripped away quite a bit of State powers and gave them to the Federal government. The icing on the cake was the Bill of Rights recognizing citizens were equal with State government at and the Federal level.

In Unreasonable Men, Michael enlightens us to the role "fighting " Bob La Folette ... a republican no less ... played in pushing progressive legislation that empowered the public to exercise their say in governing by direct election of Senators, reasonably expecting the Federal government to litigate on their behalf forcing employers to observe standards in number of working hours per week, pay, benefits, and so forth.

And let's not forget Eisenhower who firmly believed any person elected to office owed a duty to their country and the public who put them there.

Our current Democrat Party is quite an abysmal failure. Once it became apparent Obama was a fence sitter ... preferring bipartisanism over exercising political power mandated by those whom had elected them ... they should have taken the bull by the horns and steered him in the direction the Party wanted to go.

They didn't. Instead, they supported Obama without a note of regret.

For instance, the single-payer issue for health care wasn't on the table simply because politics overrode the public interest and desire. If it was not a feasible solution, then there should have been an open public debate on the issues so the public could see the issue and decide for themselves.

What's more, republicans had no issue with using reconciliation process to get legislation passed with 51 votes. Of course, there would be sun-set clauses, but at least some things would get passed and the public would be the judges if it worked ot failed.

If Democrats want to be in charge then they're going to have no choice but to find progressive legislation that rings a bell with the public who would be willing to support them.

I'm not holding my breath.

1) This is why the Democrats

Resistance — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 13:31:39 +0000

In reply to The Mid-Term Elections: Taking the Longer View

1) This is why the Democrats will keep losing. They offer the working class nothing accept to pull the cart

2) His Excellency the Emperor, Obama who will help further destroy the most powerful allies the Democrats ever had. (The American labor movement (Unions))

Giving Amnesty to 5 million more prospective workers will only help to undercut the ability of American workers to challenge the income inequality in America. SUPPLY and DEMAND

A question for the American Labor movement

With friends like that; who needs enemies

This So called - Democratic President, is about to onshore 5 million more.

IMPEACH THE EMPEROR

Resistance — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 14:22:21 +0000

In reply to 1) This is why the Democrats

IMPEACH THE EMPEROR

Send a long term message; The democratic Party of today are not our grandparents Democrats.

Obama just sent a message: MORE GRIDLOCK in order to maintain the status quo until the Republicans get control of all three branches.

Both the R' and small r's (democrats) can continue the blame game. but in the end, it is the working class who'll suffer.

When you look at Kansas where

rmrd0000 — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 13:25:11 +0000

In reply to One thing I noted as I read

When you look at Kansas where a Republican Governor sent the state into debt by cutting taxes on the wealthy but got re-elected, the voting makes no sense.

"Fine, then I'll vote for the

Resistance — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 10:42:52 +0000

In reply to One thing I noted as I read

"Fine, then I'll vote for the other guy and see if democrats get the message."

Many who might have been previous Democratic voters didn't care to vote at all

Tired of the same lame reasoning "we're not as bad as the other guy"

I also disagree with Coates. The politicians who ran away from Obama weren't stupid. They heard from their constituents and knew the handwriting on the wall; people don't like Obama.

One thing I noted as I read

ocean-kat — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 08:16:48 +0000

In reply to I think the voting public's

One thing I noted as I read your link. Many of the issues referred to in the article as issues Americans agree with the democratic party don't actually affect most Americans. So yes most Americans support raising the minimum wage but most Americans already earn more than the minimum wage. Most Americans support gay marriage but most Americans aren't gay. Most Americans support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in the country but most Americans are already citizens.

Its great, and frankly a bit surprising to me, that most Americans are so willing to support policies that help people other than themselves. But I think people also want to know what democrats are going to do for them. Democrats don't seem to have messaging or policies that most people see as directly affecting their life and they haven't seen government do much for them for at least six years.

There're many reasons people voted as they did this election but I think part of it was a protest vote. Even though many support dem policies they want to know what democrats are planning to do for them. Especially since so many don't think they're doing very well. If the answer seems to be nothing some simply said, "Fine, then I'll vote for the other guy and see if democrats get the message."

This is a well written and

Richard Day — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 02:15:22 +0000

In reply to The Mid-Term Elections: Taking the Longer View

This is a well written and substantiated essay Coates, as always.

But I cannot help to add this headline I just ran across:PALOENTOLOGISTS DETERMINE

DINOSAURS WERE KILLED BY SOMEONE THEY TRUSTED:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/paleontologists-determine-dinosaurs-were-killed-by,37468/

I think the voting public's

rmrd0000 — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 16:34:14 +0000

In reply to The Mid-Term Elections: Taking the Longer View

I think the voting public's disconnect between policies that voters like and which party they elect is more significant than suggested. Marijuana legalization and background checks for guns are accepted by a large percentage of voters, but supporters are not single-issue voters, and Republicans can still win elections. Anti-abortion voters may be single-issue voters while those on the women's right to choose side may cast a vote because of other issues. Kansas is in debt but re-elected the Governor who created the problem. The Washington Post article listed as # 4 notes the problem.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/11/04/americans-wil...