Democratic Feedback

[willow_red]

Today, I got an e-mail from the Democratic Party, asking for feedback on how the 2004 election went. You too can tell them what you think at http://www.democrats.org/feedback/


I am *extremely* disappointed with the pathetic performance turned out by the Democratic Party in 2004. This should have been the biggest "gimme" election you guys have ever seen! But no, you had to come up with John Kerry, run a thoroughly ineffective campaign against a pair of men who have lied, cheated, and stolen at every opportunity over the last four years. A Democrat should have taken this election easily, just based on the platform of not being responsible for over 100,000 deaths! What were you guys thinking?

I have been a registered Democrat since I turned 18, and have voted in every election, major or minor, ever since. I have never been more disappointed with the Party than I am right now. You had an opportunity to educate America, to present a plan that would turn this nation around, but you blew it. 60-70% (depending on which poll you read) of Americans think Saddam Hussein was behind the 9/11 attacks. A third of Americans think WMDs were found in Iraq. The Republicans won this election by a) capitalizing on the ignorance of the masses, and b) having no real competition to speak of from the Democrats.

I don't blame the Republicans for winning the election; I blame the Democrats for losing it. Come talk to me when you have a useful plan. Until then, all you do is prevent the rise of a third party that might actually fight for a change in our government.

I know my rantings are unlikely to make them change, but maybe if a lot of people give this sort of feedback, they might realize that hey, they're letting a lot of people down. So please, go and tell them what you think. And if you think they did a good job, but were simply unlucky, tell them that too.

Comments

[cheshirecatco.livejournal.com]

If enough people rant with a sufficently consistent message, they might listen. Here's hoping...

I find it hard to blame the party...

[mackys.livejournal.com]

When 55% of registered voters polled in mid-September believe that "based on all you know, we were right to go to war in Iraq" and a whopping 42% believe that "Iraq was DIRECTLY involved in the planning, financing, and carrying out of 9/11" - even though Rumsfeld himself admitted he had never seen any hard evidence for an Iraq-Al Qaida connection.

I feel like blaming the Democrats for Americans being blindingly stupid this election is like blaming your carpenter for your deck collapsing when you had him build it out of rotten wood. Some things you just can't work with...


-Ben

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

You might find this interesting.

[mackys.livejournal.com]

He won because he has values, clearly defined values, and even though I agree with little of what he believes, at least I know what he believes. At least I know that he really does believe in something. At least I know that he will do what he says he will do.

I find this sentiment, which I've seen several times before in different forms, unendingly hilarious. It boils down to, "I'd rather have someone who I KNOW FOR A FACT WILL DO THE WRONG THING, than someone who I suspect but cannot be sure will do the right thing." Consistancy being far more important than correctness, apparently.

Some people DO get the kind of government they deserve...


-Ben

Re: I find it hard to blame the party...

[willow-red.livejournal.com]

This is true, but I remain disappointed that of all the Democratic candidates that were trotted out in the primaries, we could not find one who could hand Bush's ass to him.

There are a disturbing number of stupid people out there, and many of them vote Republican. I can't find the link right now, but earlier today, I saw a breakdown of states in order of descending average IQ, and the states on top voted overwhelmingly for Kerry, and the states on the bottom were equally for Bush. I also learned that the average IQ in Colorado is 99.

[willow-red.livejournal.com]

I am thoroughly disturbed by the idea of Bush as the "moral" choice. Last I checked, ordering actions that lead to >100k deaths is not moral, nor is blatantly lying to the nation in order to start a war under false pretences.

But then, I don't have a gay couple living next door, so I don't understand what a threat they truly are </sarcasm>

I refuse to listen to Dick Cheney. I refuse to live in fear so he can profit.

[willow-red.livejournal.com]

Thank you for linking to that. It was very interesting. I can understand why she was so hurt by the way a lot of campaigning was done. I've only just recently started listening to Air America, and even then it's only a few minutes here and there (I don't like talk radio).

What I've been learning from the politics discussions on the Nanowrimo forums is that it is possible to have civilized discourse, as polarized as we all are, if only people are willing to sit down, speak with reason instead of passion, and boot all the trolls.

I can't believe that 51% of this nation honestly thinks Bush is the best person for the job (as he's proven he's a looney). There has to have been a better alternative than Kerry. I just don't know what the Democratic Party was thinking this round.

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

I've never understood it either. Why not just spend your life banging your head against walls and save yourself the trouble? I mean yeesh, what if the person who you weren't sure would do the right thing actually did the right thing? Gasp! Inconcievable!

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

Well, I try not to buy into conspiracy theories, but the sheer number of, well, numbers that don't add up is beginning to make me pause. I mean yeesh, how many voting machines can be wrong by several thousand votes in key states before it stops being coincidence? Very interesting.

I don't think it's a matter of 51% believing Bush is the best person for the job so much as 51% believing Bush was better for the job than Kerry, which is still a bit depressing but not so much.

As for the Democratic Party, they were thinking "Hah, this will be easy!" and didn't start hard-hitting until too late. Meh. Not impressed.

Re: I find it hard to blame the party...

[vyrin.livejournal.com]

Hi there. I found your link through Randomchris's question about terminal velocities and I was just surfing through some of your posts. I agree that the vast majority of American's are distressingly ignorant and myopic in their view of the world, but in this particular case that IQ chart was a fake.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/ballot/stateiq.asp

Still, I like and agree with your rant to the democratic party. I can't help but feel that Dean could have run a much more effective campaign against Bush. I hope that he'll take over as head of the Democratic Party and whip them into shape.

[willow-red.livejournal.com]

Last I checked, neither did you.

Re: has

[willow-red.livejournal.com]

If you notice, I was expressing my disappointment with the Democratic party and their inability to come up with viable alternative to what the Republicans are offering. As we are stuck with the two-party system for the time being, I would like to see the side I chose become more useful than simply ranting.

I'm sure you've heard me say this before. I despise all politicians. I simply dislike the Republicans more. On the day I wrote this particular rant, I was very upset at the Democrats.

Re: I find it hard to blame the party...

[willow-red.livejournal.com]

Actually, I liked Dean even less than Kerry. He was too far left for enough Republicans to swallow voting for. The primaries were pretty disappointing. The only candidate from the Democratic side I couldn't find something to dislike about in less than ten minutes was Clark. I found it unfortunate that he didn't get very far.