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September 01, 2012 10:26 PM UTC

Why the 2012 Election Cycle Sucks, and how to blame the party of your choice

  • 28 Comments
  • by: MADCO

The Republican primary should have energized the party and thus the process.  It did not.  It could have – it should have.  

The Republicans acknowledged that the 08 Democrat (sic)  primary energized the Democratic Party.   When was the last time there were tens of thousands of protestors and witnesses at the credentialing meeting of any party at any convention?

But there’s a problem with the R attempted mimicry.  They excluded Ron Paul and all his supporters form the the show.  Contrast that with 08 when Hillary nominated Barack from the floor. No back room deal – she just did it.

The Republicans put on a lame show of wanting to energize their party, and thus the process.

But at every turn, they chose their third rail issues and not only allowed but encouraged some coat-tail riding loser to take the whole thing off the rails.  

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not complaining. The Ryan/Romney budget needed to die in committee (which is how Boehner runs the House). As did the hundreds of other for show only pieces they brought to a  vote.  Even S&P pointed the (middle)  finger right at the Republicans when they issued that downgrade on our sovereign debt.

And, lest you think I was not paying attention, the R supporters right here on CoPols have let us all down.

I wrote the redundant, boring diary about why I am voting for Obama again.  Overtly challenged the Romney supporters here to do something similar for their candidate, and challenged them to come up with something more intellectually developed than “he’s not Obama”..  < crickets  >

Complain about how gov’t functions or not  as much as you want- it works almost precisely how the founders intended.

Including the possibility that we people would want to change how it works.  But to do that, we have to want to engage and make it happen.

I’ve heard one serious proposal for a Constitutional amendment in this cycle: from President Obama regarding corporate personhood status.  

You want to have mandatory drug testing for recipients of public benefits?  Amend the 4th Amendment, or decriminalize drug use.

You want fewer abortions to be taking place?  Support  sex education and contraception.

I could go on, but what would be the point?

When I’m ready to engage and do it- I do. Or will.  Why should I or anyone give it all away in advance?

That said- our process is screwy. Exactly as intended.

The parties do not help in the sense that they are not guaranteed or even designed to get voters to engage.

In the end- I’m complaining about you weak posters here on CoPols.

Two recent quitters who tried to save face and claim it’s the heat and bitterness. In truth it was the carefully observed and reasoned calling out of their bs.

We even went out of our way to elect a front page editor, aka CoPols Overlord, from the anti-Obama, R leaning posters. Nada de Lo Squada. (not to be confused wi the parody band of the same name).

I’m not quitting CoPols.

I wish I had more time to help Miklosi in CD6  – he has the chance to be every bit as caring and helpful a representative as Perlmutter, and I wish Team Miklosi all the good luck in the world.  (Joe should do more to highlight Coffman’s ghostly presence in the District and then debate an empty chair. I’ll wear the chicken suit a couple of times if you want.)

And I will be there for GOTV.  

Anyone want to go to the inauguration?

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28 thoughts on “Why the 2012 Election Cycle Sucks, and how to blame the party of your choice”

  2. for many Americans to elect the most vacuous, cynical, and dangerous GOP ticket since, oh, 2000.

    I agree, it is a strange political season — both our resident GOPer’s and the Party are unable or unwilling to say what they would do better.  

    Create 12 million jobs.  Poof! Then a miracle occurs.  

    The GOP narrative is that Obama “failed” because he refused to capitulate to the GOP agenda.  Sorta like the 1 vote majority in the Colorado House — why did Democrats dare to oppose such an overwhelming mandate for the GOP agenda?

    We’ll see how the press covers next week’s Dem Convention, and what bump in the polls results.

    I believe this will be a watershed year.  Airwaves flooded with millions of dollars of “free speech” shredding candidates and/or facts.  Voters disenfranchised, disaffected and disillusioned.

    If the Obama of 2008 re-emerges, wizened, a lot tougher, but still able to inspire others to see a pathway to a better future for themselves, then all will be ok.

    The Republicans have a much tougher row to hoe.  The Tea Party radicals are an ever-present shadow over the GOP’s future.  Their 40-something princes — Rand Paul, Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan, are poised to euthanize their party elders and lead the party to an ideological oblivion.

    Americans hunger for something more.  2012 or 2016, Change is a comin’

    1. 2010 was the sweep year – why hasn’t the GOP house done anything for the economy yet?

      I mean besides the credit downgrade. And the pointless show votes on ACA and the Ryan/Romney budget.

      1. Gardner proposed legislation to prevent the EPA from doing stuff they had no intention of doing

        Lamborn proposed to relieve us of the yoke of NPR and showed his knowledge of Bre’r Fox

        Tipton hired family and paid his campaign debts. Then, in debating his current opponent said he is not interested in bipartisanship

        Coffman questioned the American qualities of President Barack Obama

        They can all run on their record

    2. Their 40-something princes — Rand Paul, Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan, are poised to euthanize their party elders and lead the party to an ideological oblivion.

      You nailed it there, harry.

  3. and the latest Reuters has both at 45 so blah R convention bump fading fast and D convention next up. Obama still far ahead on likeability and that’s always a good sign.  

    Say what you will about important issues, presidential elections are more popularity contests than any other  level of election. More really low info apolitical types come out to vote with little to go on but who do I like? Just ask Gore (it wouldn’t have been close enough to steal if he’d had more personality appeal)and Kerry.

    Now let’s see how much good Ds can do with their convention and Obama with the debates.

    Happy Labor Day. Wonder how much the GOP hates having to celebrate labor?

    2. I didn’t vote for him after he tried to out macho Bush with his claim that he’d spend more on the military.  It’s true that made him less likable to me, but there’s more to it than that.  Bush wasn’t linked to his policy failures so was still seen as likable in 2004 but I would turn it around and say that the Dems failed to make the case against Bush.  Dean was the only Dem capable of pushing that argument.  Kerry was incapable of taking the offensive and so never made the case.  Running against the incumbent one has to make a case that he shouldn’t be re-elected then has to make the case that they are better.  If both don’t happen, it’s pretty rare to beat an incumbent.

      1. 9/11, two wars on a credit card, a crashed economy with vets sleeping under bridges and going untreated for PTSD and the rightie majority Supreme Court we have to thank for the Citizen’s United decision. Thanks a lot for voting for the blatantly incompetent silver spoon frat boy cheer leader and evil side kick mentor who brought that all down around our heads in 2000.  Whatever your criteria were, they didn’t turn out to be very good ones, did they?

        1. and really, you expect anyone to listen to you when you make a personal attack?

          Note: there’s an election in two months.  be nice to allies and polite to opponents.  Just a suggestion.

              1. No sense trying to explain to you the real world consequences of voting spoiler for lofty high horse principle or declining to vote because neither choice is perfect enough for you.  One must assume you did one or the other since, while you didn’t vote for Bush  you didn’t vote for Gore either and therefore were among those who helped elect Bush. Just like my husband’s cousins, who will no doubt vote for the Bircher candidate as they did in the last election, will be helping to make an Obama win more likely.

                If that sounds to you like something a crazy Republican who talks to chairs would say, you’re certainly entitled to your opinion.

                1. I voted for Nader.  In Colorado, the numbers didn’t add up to a spoiler effect.  It’s math.  I understand your frustration, but blaming the voters doesn’t work.  A candidate has to get the votes and Gore hardly campaigned in Colorado.  Kerry did the same thing.  Instead of campaigning to win the most states, they chose to target specific states and put themselves in the position of having to run the table on those states.  Obama’s campaign didn’t do that in 2008 and had some surprises as well as near misses.

                  Despite working for Dem candidates for many years, I am being attacked for lack of purity, or so it seems.  I’m really not interested in debating who is better or purer.  Dems have experienced success in Colorado in part, in my, yes, opinion, because they have sought to convince voters to vote them in.  Best of luck to you.

                  1. this blog is mainly about progressives talking to each other about the best way to win. Our resident righties tend to convert at most at a rate of maybe one per election per every 4 years.  Our centrists got fed up with the GOP a long time ago.

                    It’s hardly as if you’re going to vote for Romney because I offended you, is it?  My California friends who voted for Nader didn’t affect the election either in their safe Dem state but I still told them exactly what I thought of their choice and we’re still friends. They felt awful about it, all the same, once they realized how much better Gore would have been, especially for the Supreme Court. They won’t be doing that again, regardless of living in a solid blue state.

                    Incidentally, even if a third party candidate could win I wouldn’t have voted for Nader because I think he’s a self righteous little prig with zero leadership potential and no clue on  the international issues. As it is, third party is a throw away.  I highly recommend it for righties who don’t think Romney is right enough but not for grown ups interested in having their votes count for something.  

                    As for convincing people to vote, I have always been a sought after phone banker and canvasser because I’m good at it.  When I was my precinct’s PCP I got very good results both with turn out and with persuadables.  Grow up and grow a pair. Blogs are where we let ourselves be more honest than diplomatic and let off a little steam. Delicate flowers should just lurk quietly.

  4. that I have to get involved as a Democrat.

    A few days ago it hit me that my thoughts about the GOP always started with “There’s no fucking way…” and yet Republicans are not dropping in the polls. These laughable candidates are actually competing with people with brains and they might win!

    “There’s no fucking way the majority of Americans would elect a VP who wants to ban all abortions.”

    “There’s no fucking way a corporate elitist could appeal to common workers.”

    “There’s no fucking way Romney is the best the GOP has to offer.”

    Frighteningly, that fucking way isn’t as impossible as it should be, so I’m going to go sign up to volunteer with the Democratic Party.

      1. That’s a a helluva compliment. I’m still trying to figure out how to respond to it. I figure I have 3 options…

        1- Leave a legacy of awesomeness and quit while I’m ahead (The DavidThi strategy).

        2- Attempt to make every post I create from here on out as awesome as this one by packing each post full of curse words and multisyllobic words that make my sound smarter (The Nock strategy).

        3- Consider everything I say to be awesome and true no matter what it is (The ArapGOP/Libertad strategy).

        I think I’ll go with number 3.

        1. it’s simpler.

          or maybe number 4.

          just keep on laying out the unvarnished truth.  

          Just remember this… People who use profanity are inarticulate motherfuckers.

          🙂  

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