Since last Tuesday, I've lost count of the
times I've heard Democrats blame
the loss on "stupid American voters." In
reality though, it was the INTELLIGENCE
of American voters that saved the Democrats
from a devastating defeat.
In last Tuesday's election, Americans demonstrated
a STRONG PROPENSITY
to vote Democratic. Think about it...
The Republicans have got:
1) a ton of money,
2) a popular sitting president,
3) a distracting (though fake) war,
4) at least four TV networks vigorously
cheerleading for their side.
The Democrats: they got NUTHIN'.
And yet Democrats received only SLIGHTLY
FEWER votes than Republicans.
The ratio of votes cast in Senate and House
races was 10 for Dems to 11 for Republicans.
If you count gubernatorial races, the Democrats
had a net gain of offices and got more votes than Republicans.
Here's another way to look at it: Democrats
received 50% MORE VOTES-PER-DOLLAR than Republicans.
Republicans spent 54% more than Democrats
($527.4 million to $343.7), but only got a tiny bit more votes.
That extra $184 million literally BOUGHT
the election. It shows that it takes enormous force to suppress
America's strong tendency to vote for Democrats.
Tuesday only proved again that:
Even when Democratic candidates are buried
under an avalanche of money and ruthless attack ads...
Even when Democratic candidates are humiliated
over and over and don't fight back...
Even when Democratic candidates act like
Republicans...
Even when Democratic candidates suck...
EVEN THEN, Americans voters are still more likely to vote Democratic.
The other comment I've heard since Tuesday
concerns "the stupid Americans who didn't vote."
I don't buy that one either.
The fact is that liberal-leaning Americans
who did not vote simply did not see how a Democratic candidate
would benefit them or the country. And
can you blame them? They may be wrong, but all they have to go on
is what the candidates say; and these days,
most Democratic candidates sound exactly like Republicans.
(They differ sharply only on a few issues,
all of which happen to matter very much to millions of
Americans. GUNS. Way to pick your battles!)
We who live and breathe politics know why
it's important to vote no matter how lame the Democrats get
(for example: judicial appointments!).
But that's only us! How are people supposed to know about that kind
of stuff if the press doesn't tell them,
the candidates don't tell them, and if WE don't go out and tell them?
OK, I don't want to just bitch and moan
about Democrats bitching and moaning--I've got a positive
suggestion for how we can use the Internet
to turn this situation around. I've been mulling this idea
over for a while, and this seems like the
right time to propose it...
It's an idea for how to use the Internet
to turn out ONE OR TWO MILLION non-voters in 2004;
and to raise tens of millions of dollars
in small contributions from people who have never given to
a political campaign before.
Rather than take up any more space in your
inbox, I'll explain this idea at http://AngryDems.com .
Please visit and tell me what you think.
If a lot of people are interested, then maybe we can get
a bigger online group to endorse the project
or take it over and run it themselves.
Check it out at: http://angrydems.com
.
..and tell me what you think!
Optimistically,
Your wartime Webmaster,
Zack Exley