And just how rigged IS the game?
The answer is very. Consider that now the DNC is actively throwing up HUGE roadblocks for any Democrat running against an incumbent. Now you cannot have access to the VAN database if you are running against an incumbent.
http://observer.com/2016/03/rigged-debbie-wasserman-schultz-strikes-once...
This, of course, is not just a huge roadblock for Tim Canova, but also for Bernie's revolution which required replacing large numbers of sitting Democrats. This is going to take some thought but I suspect a two-pronged approach.
Step 1) Don't vote for incumbents.
Unless, of course, they have endorsed Bernie. In this way, they won't be incumbents any longer which will nullify her rule and making it possible to reclaim the seat next go around.
Step 2) Develop a crowd-sourced replacement for VAN.
Sadly, I have no idea what's IN VAN so I have no idea how easy or hard that might be. I know the movement has plenty of tech talent though.
Good lord, the Democratic party is absolutely going scorched earth here, aren't they?
Comments
That is a great idea...
Crowd sourcing for new blood.
I have recently received new donation requests for candidates in my state and have decided to write them first as to where they stand hillary vs. bernie before I consider anything else. You're right. Make 'em stand up and say what they're about in unpolished speech.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
agree
In a similar vein, I have been ignoring the pleas for money from the Tammy Baldwin (US Senator, D, WI) campaign...no more funding from me for Clinton supporters. I live on a ridiculously low income and really have to budget donations carefully. Have been all-in for Bernie, and I guess I just lied about being careful to budget for donations
. But yikes, we are SO close in IL and Ohio, I couldn't help but chip in a few extra times. That ActBlue E-Z donate thing is dangerous!
In any case, Ive been to many a public meeting and fundraiser for Baldwin over the years, and frankly do not find her to be particularly smart, nor particularly serious about climate change and income disparity. Was at a meeting a few years ago when someone in the crowd brought up Occupy, and Baldwin turned pale. Wouldn't take the question nor the questioner seriously. She gets enormous support from wealthy donors (a big chunk out-of-state) and did not want to jeopardize that.
Shaylors Provence
Yes, she has been disappointing.
oh yeah...
yep. Tammy Baldwin. I get that one too. However! We must help Wisconsin be returned to sanity!
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
Good idea
May I suggest when you write your letter that you include maybe 5 questions that do not show which way you are leaning to make sure that they are not trying to second guess who you want them to support. In other words, do not telegraph that you support Sanders as politicians sometimes lie. = )
The 5 questions would give you a broader scope to determine whether or not their policies align with yours and Sanders. As we well know many Democrats have been supporting Republican policies for awhile now, so replacing a Republican for another Republican may not be the answer. Personally, I would send the same letter to any Republicans running for the same office as a cross check.
My 2 cents.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
OK with point 2, but as for point 1...
Replacing incumbents for the Democratic Party might sound like a good thing, until you remember that the Republicans won't be replacing their incumbents. So it becomes a one-sided fight.
There are some good Democrats that made some poor endorsements. But a wholesale purge? I hope not.
best, john
Strange that a harp of thousand strings should keep in tune so long
Yes, I understand the price tag
I get it that in order for the revolution to succeed we're going to need to say "no, you cannot get elected that way." But what DWS just did was make that a virtually mandatory stance unless and until we have a replacement for VAN. The vast majority of sitting Democrats are corrupt. How could it be any other way and have Gilens & Page still be true? Given that each and every one of them knows exactly how the sausage is made and only two of them have spoken out, what other viewpoint makes sense? I'm afraid "wholesale purge" is the only answer that will get us anything.
I grant that in a few cases there were "good Democrats" who, for whatever reasons, made an awful call. Perhaps they were pressured? Perhaps they were bribed with campaign contributions? Perhaps something else. But in the end, even those "good Democrats" represent truly weak allies in the war against oligarchy.
I'm afraid I see no way out of "wholesale purge". That's what systemic corruption means.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
"Systemic"
That needs more than just political change. And currently, the right has more drums, trumpets and 'stuff.' While the left is given the honest poets. Unfortunately, we have hack poets too.
best, john
Strange that a harp of thousand strings should keep in tune so long
We have to be prepared
for some pain in the short term to make for a better long term. The lesser of two evils approach always fails because it imposes no penalty on a Democrat for veering rightward.
It may well take a few GOP victories to focus the minds of the people that are supposed to represent us but that is a price worth paying imo.
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” -Voltaire
Yes
This is why if HRC gets the nom I will not vote for her or any down ticket Dem who is DLC or supported HRC. The DNC has once again shown that change from within the party is impossible, and they will change the rules on a dime to crush any progressive from breaking through. I think this country needs some pain in the short term, and if it can't learn, then we're done. The Repubs will ruin the country? So will the Dems, only slower, and its gone on like this for so long there's not much left, if anything. I'm not voting for HRC and I have no prob if the Repubs win, not because I am "pouting" or trying to pounish anyone, its because if HRC gets the nomn I believe this country is finished no matter whether she wins or noir, so there's no point trying to stave off the inevitable any longer.
If the DNC wants my vote back, they'll need to earn it. Stunts like this will not do it, and will ensure that I discourage as many people as I can to not vote.
HRC people whine that I am de facto voting for Trump? Yet not a word about DWS, who abandons Dems and hands gov seats to Repubs because theyre her "friends"? See how long the head of the RNC would last doing that. If anyone is giving aid and comfort to the enemy, its the DLC leadership of the DNC. Especially DWS.
enddrugtestingblogspot.com
Agree with this comment
Completely agree.
Will not vote for or support anyone who is supporting Clinton/DWS/DLC/Third Way.
Left the Democratic party when it was taken over by the Clintons, DLC, neoliberals, Third Way- registered as an Independent, even before I moved to the open primary state where I live now, MA.
Bernie Sanders is the first candidate who represents ME, my values, all I believe in, have hoped and worked for all my life. I'm not willing to give up on my values or Bernie Sanders.
Possible consequence, Trump wins. Still miles better than Kashich, Cruz, or IMHO, Clintons ( both of them!) - no more Clintons. It destroys the Republican party, which has at least said "no more dynasty" - and takes the Democratic party out of the clutches of the Clintons & their cronies. David Brock, really! How can anyone vote for someone who works with David Brock. No more Clintons.
Clintons are in it for themselves, more power, more money, more power. Will say and do anything to get back into the White House. Once was too much. Enough is enough, is enough. I will not be feared, guilted, shamed, threatened, SCOTUS'ed into voting for Clinton. Evah! Nevah!
Hear, hear, Caerus! ;-) EOM
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Wow
What an excellent idea.
There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties.. This...is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.--John Adams
Always make sure to tell them why
you are not contributing or why you're unsubscribing to emails.
I unsubscribed to Emily's List with the words "can't support the soft corruption of Hillary Clinton."
Even the smallest person can change the course of the future
While corruption has always been a feature, not a bug
the more blatant it gets, the less effective it gets at pretending to be a democracy.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Alternative Voter Database
Yes, this needs to happen.
Ballot shortages
Yet again, there have been a tremendous number of ballot shortages in this primary. I am beginning to worry that DWS (or someone in the establishment) has her hand on this also. I do not think this is CT. State after state, county after county has run out of ballots. This has disenfranchised a number of voters. After seeing higher turn out numbers, the party heads should have been prepared with at least a copier to print more ballots. Why aren't they?
Granted this is happening in both parties, but that does not mean that is isn't on purpose. I see the possibility of this also happening in the GE, particularly in states where no matter who the nominee is the states would probably go red. Having this happen could change the vote for progressive challengers.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
YES, DW-SCHLITZ has her claw in the flaw
Keerist, I know it's bad form, but AS A DEMOCRAT, I'M ALL FOR BOOING THE BITCH OUT OF THE BUILDING every time she comes near the podium... ''
******************************
Muerte al fascismo. Muerte a la tiranía. colapso total de los que promueven tampoco. A la pared con el unico porciento%
This Momentum
This momentum shall not cease. There are down-ticket votes that will help define the true Democratic Party. We have to persist in being the only sane voices in the crowd. But we are legion thanks to Bernie!
Now, I support our Democracy, and short of Al Gore, I can accept the majority electoral whatever vote. But the message is out there at least as loud as #OWS.
#FeeltheBern
We have work to do. As far as how rigged the game is, well, they have captured us in toto. They have - even philosophically - usurped the Democratic Party to their ends. Bernie, the Bernie eruption is here, all around us, let's carry on because we know how the odds are stacked against us, we have always known how the odds are stacked against us, but like snowflakes we persist, waiting for that avalanche..
Bernie is a win-win.