As for Congress, Democrats may be in for a big shock in 2008. Expecting major gains in both houses, they may find themselves surprised if the independent voters who came out for them in 2006 stay home, and leave the field to Republicans and nativist independents who base their votes on issues like immigration and an unreasoned fear of terror—both issues that the Republican candidate plan to stoke.
There is still time for the Democrats to recover, but they won’t do it on their own. The leadership of the party has lost its connection to the American people and to reality, and is living in a world of image management, corporate pandering and inside-the-Beltway machinations.
With an overwhelming majority of Americans clearly in favor of an immediate end to the Iraq war, and a similar majority in favor of impeachment hearings against both Bush and especially Cheney, it is clear that the entire electoral situation would change overnight if Democrats in Congress announced that there would be no more funding bills for the Iraq War—only for withdrawal—and that impeachment hearings were beginning.
This is not going to happen, though, without an even more forceful mass movement by the American people.
What we need is a tsunami of mail and phone calls to Democrats in Congress demanding both things. We need marches on the local offices of Democratic members of Congress. And finally we need mass resignations from the Democratic Party, with voters making the point directly and unambiguously that people are leaving the party until it acts decisively to end the war and to begin impeachment proceedings.
No more symbolic votes. No more posturing.
Only action.
_____________
DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based journalist and columnist. His latest book, co-authored by Barbara Olshansky, is “The Case for Impeachment” (St. Martin’s Press, 2006 and now available in paperback edition). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net
There is still time for the Democrats to recover, but they won’t do it on their own. The leadership of the party has lost its connection to the American people and to reality, and is living in a world of image management, corporate pandering and inside-the-Beltway machinations.
With an overwhelming majority of Americans clearly in favor of an immediate end to the Iraq war, and a similar majority in favor of impeachment hearings against both Bush and especially Cheney, it is clear that the entire electoral situation would change overnight if Democrats in Congress announced that there would be no more funding bills for the Iraq War—only for withdrawal—and that impeachment hearings were beginning.
This is not going to happen, though, without an even more forceful mass movement by the American people.
What we need is a tsunami of mail and phone calls to Democrats in Congress demanding both things. We need marches on the local offices of Democratic members of Congress. And finally we need mass resignations from the Democratic Party, with voters making the point directly and unambiguously that people are leaving the party until it acts decisively to end the war and to begin impeachment proceedings.
No more symbolic votes. No more posturing.
Only action.
_____________
DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based journalist and columnist. His latest book, co-authored by Barbara Olshansky, is “The Case for Impeachment” (St. Martin’s Press, 2006 and now available in paperback edition). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net
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