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Departments Election Issues An End To Mourning However, if after last week we hang up our ideals, put away our enthusiasms, and close the lid on our indignation, then change will be kept waiting. But change cannot do so; the urgency of the moment is even greater than before. Change cannot bear indifference. The time for mourning has ended; it's time to get back to work. Chief among our tasks is to continue the conversation. What a grand conversation it has been! This election energized Americans as never before in most of our lifetimes. Yet the swift current of events we call everyday life has a way of moving us downstream quickly, leaving unfinished business behind and forgotten. We must not let this happen. We are, in fact, swamped with unfinished business, to be done on behalf of our nation, our children, and our planet. Whether face-to-face or over the internet, it is essential that we keep talking about what to do next. Our first topic of conversation, however, requires of us some serious introspection: What is it about fifty-six million of us to which another fifty-nine million of us cannot relate, such to the degree that they would vote for a man whose policies generally run counter to their own economic self-interests? By this I do not mean to imply that our character is at fault for the loss of this election, but until this question is seriously considered, we can look forward to defeat again in 2008. Next among our tasks is to demand a change of leadership within the Democratic National Committee. While Mr. McAuliffe may well be the world's nicest guy, two elections lost (arguably, one) under his helm to a candidate so poor as Mr. Bush is a damning indictment, and does not inspire confidence for 2008. He should step down soon, or be forced to resign. Any reader who feels the same should contact the DNC at www.democrats.org/contact/. As for his successor, we must demand someone who would continue our momentum, and personify our energy. My vote would be for Mr. Dean. With new leadership, we then should simplify our message, and do it soon. Besides "Bush Is Bad", a valid message to be sure, what really was our message this election? What messages were there that voters could regurgitate without thinking, in the manner they could the Republican themes of "fight terrorism", "tax relief", and "moral values"? Crafting a new Democratic message requires that we ease up from being so intellectual about everything, and distill our message down to three simple themes, for example: Fairness (in taxation, in education, in civil rights, and so on), Universal Health Care, and Protecting The Environment. We're not really as divided as we're led to believe. The majority of Americans agree with the importance of these plain, unsophisticated themes. We need to hit these themes fast, and hit them hard, so that as each realm inevitably suffers over the next four years, or even over the next two ahead of the mid-term elections, voters can reflect and say: "Yes, you were right. You were right all along." Finally, our faith is an unnecessary mystery to most voters. It ought not to be. We need to take our spirituality out once in a while, and wear it on our sleeves. It's really ok to do this, provided we take care not to leave it out there so long and so far away from the heart that it withers away or becomes something false. It says something that the most successful Democrat over the past twenty-five years, Bill Clinton, speaks with tones of spirituality, and that people of all faiths and colors respond. Mr. Obama appears destined for political greatness in part for also infusing spirituality into his words. "Heartland" voters tend to see Democrats as amoral heathens, or, at the least, spiritually-impoverished, out solely to defend homosexuality and abortion. We can do better to articulate how our social conscience is consistent with and often learned from the teachings of the world's great religions. We need to do better at explaining how religion exhorts us not to promote divisiveness and intolerance, but to seek equality and justice. Martin Luther King, Jr. knew this, and to some extent so did LBJ and FDR. The Democratic Party is in desperate need of an "Extreme Makeover", which is why Senator Clinton should not be groomed as our candidate for 2008. Bright, articulate, passionate - yes, all these things - but she represents the centrist-right policies and politics of the past three election cycles that have failed us, and, for that matter, have not even truly represented us. Ms. Clinton is as polarizing a figure as Mr. Bush, and not one "red" state will change color to "blue" for her. In order to avoid defeat again in 2006 and 2008, we must seek and groom candidates who can speak loudly and without apology of theirs and our spiritually-soaked social and environmental conscience. Voters must draw a clear distinction between the deeds and words of our candidates, and the deedless words of faith spoken by many leaders within the Republican party, though not by the majority of Republicans themselves. It's time to get back to work. Todd Huffman, M.D. Pediatrician, Writer, & Social Activist Eugene, Oregon |
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Recent Election Issues Articles Ohio's official non-recount ends amidst new evidence of fraud, theft and judicial contempt mirrored in New Mexico Impossible Phantom Votes in New Mexico
The 2004 Presidential Election: Who Won The Popular Vote? An Examination of the Comparative Validity of Exit Poll and Vote Count Data Ohio GOP election officials ducking notices of deposition as Kerry enters stolen vote fray Another third rate burglary Hacking the vote in Miami County Update from the Ohio Frontlines Lawsuit Before the Ohio Supreme Court Kerry votes switched to Bush and ballots pre-punched for Bush Uncounted votes in Cuyahoga County Provisional ballots in Cuyahoga County Uncounted votes in Summit County Uncounted votes in Hamilton County Default settings in Mahoning County Ohio electoral fight becomes 'biggest deal since Selma' as GOP stonewalls Observations from an election observer TV Networks Officially Refuse to Release Exit Poll Raw Data; Mainstream media finally displays true colors Election results in Southwestern Ohio Voting Rights Groups 'Block' Talk of Machine-Free Elections Statistics from Warren County The greatest story never told The United States of Ukraine?: Exit Polls Leave Little Doubt that in a Free and Fair Election John Kerry Would Have Won both the Electoral College and the Popular Vote Certifiable election results Sinclair Broadcasting's Long History of Journalistic and Corporate Deception Ohio vote count battles escalate amidst new evidence of potential criminal activity American democracy hangs by a thread in Ohio Startling new revelations highlight rare Congressional hearings on Ohio vote New Ohio voter transcripts The One-Two Punch of Racism: Whitewashing the Voter Fraud Issue Rigging the vote in Lucas County
Uncounted votes in Montgomery County Why history demands an Ohio revote Ohio election fraud uproar blasting to new level Dirty work at the Philly polls Voter Suppression: STEALING VOTES IN OHIO URBAN AREAS (full documentation) In Ohio 2004, it's the People versus the Party of Hate & Terror and the Party of Duck and Run...but will the Democrats now stand and fight? Warren County, Ohio: most successful voter registration drive in American political history, or stuffing the ballot box Jesse Jackson demands Ohio presidential recount, blasts GOP election officials, and says Kerry supports the process Kerry Supports Ohio Vote Investigation, Jackson says Hope for the Homestretch Favoritism in the suburbs New Ohio voter transcripts feed floodtide of doubt about Republican election manipulation Election officials gave wrong information about provisional ballots - revealed in affidavit. US tells Ukraine to recount votes on fradulent election! Not counting the votes Stealing votes in Columbus Making every vote count How a Republican election supervisor manipulated the 2004 central Ohio vote, in black and white More Ohio voter suppression testimony prompts upcoming legal filing for statewide recount Ohio Presidential Results to be Challenged Franklin County, Ohio voting machine assignments, and other information Coalition's Support of Voting Machines Causes Confusion
Hearings on Ohio voting put 2004 election in doubt Closing the Circle: The Corporatization of Elections Subordinating nation's secular values to zealots' will The Public Hearings and Rally About Election Fraud in Columbus, OH this weekend, Sat. 11/13-Please pass widely! Slip-sliding away in Columbus Green and Libertarian Presidential Candidates to Demand Ohio Recount An End To Mourning November 3rd action The Bible, The Constitution, and the James Carville Experiment Basic report from Columbus Waiting to vote Confessions of a political Know-Nothing in the wake of the 2004 elections Let the spin begin Back Stabbers Cost Kerry in Ohio! The Last Battle Republican America! Republican Forever! Is there inner-city election suppression in Franklin County, Ohio? Michael Moore in Columbus No love in the Heartland: Kerry gets mocked in Pa. school election Ten reasons for Greens to vote for Kerry Twelve ways Bush is now stealing the Ohio vote GW Bush Before the Iraq War
MISOGYNY Foreign Policy Forecast: If Bush Wins | If Kerry Wins Hope for the homestretch FactCheck.org says Cheney got it wrong Do the Hokey Pokey Hope for the homestretch Addressing Republican issues with John Kerry Gallup Polls- Conditioning for Vote Rigging? Too Many Cameras and Not Enough Truth: John Kerry Dodges the Press Nader 2000 Leaders United To Defeat Bush Shut up and color: the politics of bullying Kerry, Nader and the Greens need to kill the circular firing squad Don’t Believe the Hype; Terrorist Warnings Just Another Way Bush Will Steal Election President of Greater Stark County AFL-CIO speaks out on Bush’s visit in Canton, Ohio I'll Follow Kucinich to Kerry, Sorry Ralph Badnarik Doubles in Recent National Poll ‘A green world is possible’ planned in New York City during the Republican National Convention An open letter to progressives: vote Kerry and Cobb A street fighting man? How Kucinich can win Scary, Scary John Kerry With all deliberate stupidity: US self-isolation makes Iraq a virtual non-issue in the elections so far To support or not to support; the Nader question Halliburton, VP Cheney's Former Company Faces Second Criminal Probe In Four Years The Lone Ranger of Righteousness The Wrong Side of History High Noon in America The Truth is Out: Kucinich is the choice of progressives Dean and Kucinich Bush Should Be Facing 'A Long, Hard Slog' On The Campaign Trail, But Dems Too Busy Fighting With Each Other Read Election Issues Articles by Year: |
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