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Vote Them Out
Posted 10-21-2006
As we head into the home stretch of the 2006 election cycle
I am cautiously optimistic that we can win some seats at the federal level
in both houses of Congress. Even though polling has the Democrats ahead in
many races both in Pennsylvania and across the country, I saw what happened
in 2000 and 2004. Well in 2000, Al Gore actually did win, and, only because
the party of states rights took their scheme to their flunkies on the US
Supreme Court, did we end up with this train wreck in the White House. But
I've seen enough favorable exit polls that for some unexplainable reason
didn't end up right that I am not counting any chickens before they hatch.
And you should not either.
In fact my message to anyone that will listen has been this:
the right wing will be organizing in churches, clubs, and anywhere else they
can to get out their vote. In recent elections, they have done a better job
than the Democrats. So this time, if we want the polls to hold true, we all
better go the extra yard to make sure we get our people to the polls.
Turnout will be the key, and we cannot get complacent.
But victory is possible for a variety of reasons. The
greatest reason that victory is possible has been the ineptitude of the Bush
administration. They could have probably skated through eight years of tax
cuts for their rich supporters and adding hundreds of billions of dollars to
the national debt because they control the media here. But they can't
control the world, and they misplayed their hand with regard to Iraq so
badly that not only has public opinion here, but also traditional allies
around the world have turned bitterly against them. They cannot even "spin"
the news to make anything sound good about Iraq. They have been relegated to
infighting because many Republicans are distancing themselves from Bush or
finger pointing at us because we haven't been supportive of their failed,
corrupt policies. The reality was that they lied to get us in Iraq, and when
you start with a lie, things never turn out well. Also, when you shape a
foreign policy based only on your own perspective and are unable to perceive
how others may view the situation, that policy is doomed for failure.
This year, association with Bush is a burning tire around
the necks of Republicans like Slick Rick Santorum and Melissa Hart. I can't
remember in my lifetime association with a sitting president (well maybe
Nixon) (the Democrats gained 45 seats in 1974) was such a politic - but he
also has a number of other problems. His residency issue has finally blown
up in his face, and finally people are seeing his unpleasant, nasty,
sneering, pasty-faced disposition. I've heard of angry conservatives before,
but Ricky is taking it to a new level. I know Republican operatives that
were closely associated with Ricky in the past that will not be voting for
him this time and for them it is personal.
The other local race that has drawn national attention is
Congressman Jack Murtha against Diana Irey. It hasn't drawn attention
because of Irey, but because Big Jack said nationally what so many others
were saying, "we cannot continue on the same course in Iraq". It isn't
cutting and running it is recognizing when things haven't worked out the way
you planned, then you must adjust your course of action. No one has been
more pro-military than Jack Murtha, and if it wasn't for the blind
partisanship of the right wing, everyone would have embraced his views. Now
what is going on? Republicans like Senators Warner and Hagel and Britain's
top general are all saying exactly what Murtha said.
But with all the negativity surrounding Bush and the
candidates of his party, their blindly loyal supporters will come out in
droves because they have been sold lies for so long they cannot recognize
the truth or are unwilling to recognize it. There is little "spin" left for
Bush on Iraq. They are not even claiming small victories any longer, but
simply arguing we can't change courses or "the enemy wins". Guess what
followers of Bush? Leaving our troops in a land where they are dying and
prolonging the inevitable reshaping of that nation after we are gone is
absolutely cruel and foolish. Greater Americans than the ones in this
administration (such as Eisenhower in Korea) recognized when a situation was
untenable and changed a course of action. Recognizing the truth isn't a
weakness, it is a strength. So if the majority party can't recognize the
truth, let's get out and vote them out of office.
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