It's three days after the election, and for this somewhat far left voter, the writing seems to be on the wall...we were good enough to carry the Democrats into power in Tuesday's election, but now that the dust is settling, we are being pushed off to the side, ignored as the party tries to embrace a centrist image. We rapidly are becoming the fraternal ugly twin of the Republican Party's Religious Right who were given promises during the campaign, but tossed aside and ignored once election day had come and gone. They found themselves without a true voice in the process, and early signs indicate the liberal left will suffer a similar fate.
The earliest sign of this reality came in news articles aimed at denying bloggers and You Tube video makers their share of the credit, and with that credit, access to our elected officials.
Many of the local Congressional races were tough, hard fought battles with razor thin wins. In New York's 19th Congressional District for instance, it was a 51-49 percent ordeal with less than 10,000 votes separating the two candidates. Democrat John Hall is going to Congress having upset favored six term Republican Sue Kelly. One You Tuber loaded up numerous video's attacking Sue Kelly's record, and just one of those video's had just short of 3,000 views just ten days before the election. That same You Tuber had various attack blogs that received well over 30,000 hits in the months just before election day. One group of grassroots folks put up and maintained the Take 19 blog for 18 months, being in the fight for at least six months before John Hall even entered the race. Yet, three days after the election, there is NO EFFORT to reach out to these folks, no plans to give them a seat at the proverbial table. None of us are reaping the rewards of our efforts, while others who apparently are more politically correct are already seeing benefits...being brutally honest, where is OUR PLUM? Where are some of our faces as new staffs are put together, where is our seat at the strategy table?
In his public messages since the election, Dean seems to be sending out to all of us a clear signal that there will be NO INVESTIGATIONS of the Bush administration, and that bipartisanship is the new BUZZ WORD of the party. HELLO...many of us worked our buns off to put Democrats in power because we wanted investigations, wanted the true tale of the corruption brought out into the light of day. What, the Foley scandal now gets swept under the rug, Gitmo has become a mute issue? Bush fires Rumsfeld and Mehlman steps aside at the RNC and we all make nice? Do the Democrats now in power think this is what we fought so hard for? Bolton being pushed out come January the icing on the cake as our new Democratic leaders give us a wink and a nod and turn their backs on us...is that what we fought so hard for?
The Liberal Left was marginalized and insulted for 12 years under Republican dominance of Washington. When the time was right, we stepped up with our time, money and hearts and carried our party into control. Now, we seem to be hearing the beat of ugly drums, the message beating into our heads...you have served your purpose, been good foot soldiers for the cause, but now you need to step aside and be silent as we drag our party into the center and secure our new found gains. What about OUR GAINS, what about our voice here on the left? We came together as a team to win a majority in both the House and the Senate. In sports, you do not abandon what brought you to the big game, you go with that winning strategy...I'd caution the Democratic Party to heed that advice, would suggest there is a great deal of peril in 2008 if you snub the liberal left, fail to give credit to the bloggers and grassroots activist that got you to where you stand now. Defeat in large numbers if you fail to give us seats at the table of power...we brought you back into power, and we can see to it you are taken out of power as well.
The earliest sign of this reality came in news articles aimed at denying bloggers and You Tube video makers their share of the credit, and with that credit, access to our elected officials.
Many of the local Congressional races were tough, hard fought battles with razor thin wins. In New York's 19th Congressional District for instance, it was a 51-49 percent ordeal with less than 10,000 votes separating the two candidates. Democrat John Hall is going to Congress having upset favored six term Republican Sue Kelly. One You Tuber loaded up numerous video's attacking Sue Kelly's record, and just one of those video's had just short of 3,000 views just ten days before the election. That same You Tuber had various attack blogs that received well over 30,000 hits in the months just before election day. One group of grassroots folks put up and maintained the Take 19 blog for 18 months, being in the fight for at least six months before John Hall even entered the race. Yet, three days after the election, there is NO EFFORT to reach out to these folks, no plans to give them a seat at the proverbial table. None of us are reaping the rewards of our efforts, while others who apparently are more politically correct are already seeing benefits...being brutally honest, where is OUR PLUM? Where are some of our faces as new staffs are put together, where is our seat at the strategy table?
In his public messages since the election, Dean seems to be sending out to all of us a clear signal that there will be NO INVESTIGATIONS of the Bush administration, and that bipartisanship is the new BUZZ WORD of the party. HELLO...many of us worked our buns off to put Democrats in power because we wanted investigations, wanted the true tale of the corruption brought out into the light of day. What, the Foley scandal now gets swept under the rug, Gitmo has become a mute issue? Bush fires Rumsfeld and Mehlman steps aside at the RNC and we all make nice? Do the Democrats now in power think this is what we fought so hard for? Bolton being pushed out come January the icing on the cake as our new Democratic leaders give us a wink and a nod and turn their backs on us...is that what we fought so hard for?
The Liberal Left was marginalized and insulted for 12 years under Republican dominance of Washington. When the time was right, we stepped up with our time, money and hearts and carried our party into control. Now, we seem to be hearing the beat of ugly drums, the message beating into our heads...you have served your purpose, been good foot soldiers for the cause, but now you need to step aside and be silent as we drag our party into the center and secure our new found gains. What about OUR GAINS, what about our voice here on the left? We came together as a team to win a majority in both the House and the Senate. In sports, you do not abandon what brought you to the big game, you go with that winning strategy...I'd caution the Democratic Party to heed that advice, would suggest there is a great deal of peril in 2008 if you snub the liberal left, fail to give credit to the bloggers and grassroots activist that got you to where you stand now. Defeat in large numbers if you fail to give us seats at the table of power...we brought you back into power, and we can see to it you are taken out of power as well.
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