Posted on 10/23/2006 2:36:12 PM PDT by charbookguy
Democrats, the Media, and many Republicans are questioning whether Christian Conservatives will turn out in any numbers to effect the upcoming elections. After the Mark Foley scandal beginning earlier this month to increased violence in Iraq, many polls have given the Left a huge win in perhaps both houses of Congress. The real question is if Democrats, after suffering so many setbacks in recent years, will turn out in to support their ailing Party. I began pondering this question as far back as the 2004 Presidential Election, after George Bush trounced Senator John Kerry in an unexpected win. Such was the demoralization of their base; it made national headlines afterwards with Democrats seeking professional counseling to deal with the discouragement. Titles such as these right after the election are revealing: Clinical Depression (Washington Post), Dejection grips city Democrats (Washington Times), and Democrats Confront Identity Crisis (International Herald Tribune). Liberal icon Michael Moore later appeared on the Tonight Show dressed to the nines in suit and tie in a bizarre show of humility, with host Jay Leno making the comparison that he looked like Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. Today, their lack of message continues, other than the same Were not the others guys which failed them in the last campaign. Add to this the same weak leadership of Pelosi, Kerry, Reid, and Murtha and you see very little in the way of new ideas. In contrast, the outlook for the Right seems as strong as ever. Given liberals lack of leadership on the threat posed by terrorism, conservative governments have risen to power in many countries, including Canada, Germany, and Japan, while maintaining its strength in Australia and America. So, come November don't be surprised if the long-predicted Democrat resurgence turns out to be a washout.
But in the Blue States, there will be people who've never strongly identified with the party who will be pulling the Democrat lever, so what the Democrats lose in some states will be made up for in others. In some states, people who lost interest a long time ago in what the Democrats had to offer will be voting against Bush and the Republican Congressional leadership.
I don't have answers for 2, 3, and 5, but I'm going to write a bit about 1 and 4.
From what I hear, at the plants, Dems are allowed to put out their material because the union says that it's UAW sponsored. And usually, they get the day off, "to vote".
However, a lot of R supporters are in the unions, but they have to keep quiet about it because they don't want to mess up their union status. I've had different people come up to me and say that their whole department is voting R. And because Labor is a huge in MI, we've learned how to get our message out more effectively.
As for the districts here in MI, there isn't a close race for the House that we have to worry about. And the big focus is on the Senate and knocking out Stabenow, so that would be a gain for the R's. There are Congressional races that the lefties are trying to target, but I don't think that they are going to pull off an upset.
I really don't think the Dems on my state are as motivated as the Republicans. When it comes right down to it, it's very anti-incumbent out there - and our current governor and Senators are Dems - so I think that their victory dance is really premature here.
The 64,000 question is will the pubbie base turn out after 18 months of bashing Bush or will they sit home to "teach 'em a lesson." If it's the latter, we lose.
i made the same mistake. never again.
of course, in liberal SF, my vote is wasted as pelosi will have no trouble. but i still need to show up to vote against all of the ridiculous liberal initiatives, most of which are for spending money we don't have.
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