Feinstein's movement toward her base rather than to the right and I'm not so sure what he concluded is entirely valid.

Tell me what you think of my conclusions:

I put this hypothesis to myself:  "If our business was in the States and we moved there, would our lifestyle change?"

I'm not trying to be a troll, but I believe it would if we were interested in having our business succeed.

As a model new immigrant:

1. We'd go to church at least a couple of times a month.  
   
   
2. We wouldn't buy foreign-made cars, or RV's, they would be domestics.
   
   
3. One day a week would be devoted to charity work.
   
   
4. My speech would have to become more guarded and private.

In other words, I'd have to move a lot more to the right than what I'd be comfortable with, so I think I'd better stay where I am.  :)

The entire population just is more conservative than liberal.  Realistically, what does that mean for the Democratic Party if they want to get elected?

At least you senators are elected.

Alito is a puppet of GWB and the Democratic party rolled over and whimpered. SHAME on you.

We here in Canada do not have a choice and you Democrats have let the same happen there!

You have to have someone who a)protects the country(not some multicultural fool who bows to all non-American diversity), b)who values labor, like Roosevelt and Altman(Neoconomy), c)who can be tough, without puking in Duchamp's urinal, d) who can do finance(not federal deficit/credit subterfuge), and e)like (hate to say it) Bush,  cares neither a whit about 'Shampoo'  or 'Brokeback'; i.e., sees them as equal.

Otherwise, there is no opposition that will get a vote.

I was hoping Richardson might be a shade of this. But the press has taken care of him.

the one he gave at the DNC Convention was ispirational.  I'd put my money on him for lack of other candidates.  

He doesn't appear  to have any dirty laundry and he didn't betray this party by voting with the republicans.  He just needs more seasoning and he'd be ideal.  

as you said....

the 1919 white sox is the better comparison...they threw the Series.

I'm proud of my Senators, regardless of my disagreements with other issues they champion.

Seems teh Republicans know all the Dems' buttons....they can play them like an accordion, and get 'em too busy chewing on themselves to be effective as opposition.

Hope your trip to Persia isn't for too long...you'll be needed to help mobilise the troops to change the guard.....

rebuilding the Democratic party?  Since the blogsphere seems to be where most American 'liberals' now live, why not collaborate?

Atrios, Agonist, Josh Marshall, DailyKos, et al.

Start to rebuild from the bottom to the top.  Betcha a team approach would have contacts that reliably identify candidates that 'are' liberals.  

It isn't plausible to start a new party.  Just remake what you have into being what it is that is representative.  Purge where necessary.      

If you don't like the track record don't re-elect them. I think it's apparent that the vote to authorize military force against Iraq and today's vote on Alito were very important issues for the current Senate. In both cases liberals/progressives in this country wanted their Senators to vote no.

13 of 38 dems voted no and 11 of 38 dems voted yes on both counts. The current crop of Democratic Senators are not voting liberal/progressive.

--Senator--                 --Iraq--  --Alito--

Akaka, Daniel (HI)            no        yes

Baucus, Max (MT)              yes       yes

Bayh, Evan (IN)               yes       no

Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (DE)    yes       no

Bingaman, Jeff (NM)           no        yes

Boxer, Barbara (CA)           no        no

Byrd, Robert (WV)             no        yes

Cantwell (WA)                 yes       yes

Carper, Thomas (DE)           yes       yes

Clinton, Hillary Rodham (NY)  yes       no

Dayton, Mark (MN)             no        no

Dodd, Christopher J. (CT)     yes       no

Dorgan, Byron (ND)            yes       yes

Durbin, Richard (IL)          no        no

Feingold, Russell D. (WI)     no        no

Feinstein, Dianne (CA)        yes       no

Inouye, Daniel (HI)           no        yes

Johnson, Tim (SD)             yes       yes

Kennedy, Edward M. (MA)       no        no

Kerry, John F. (MA)           yes       no

Kohl, Herb (WI)               yes       yes

Landrieu, Mary (LA)           yes       yes

Lautenberg, Frank R. (NJ)     n/a       no

Leahy, Patrick J. (VT)        no        no

Levin, Carl (MI)              no        no

Lieberman, Joseph (CT)        yes       yes

Lincoln, Blanche (AR)         yes       yes

Menendez, Robert (NJ)         n/a       no

Mikulski, Barbara A. (MD)     no        no

Murray, Patty (WA)            no        no

Nelson, Bill (FL)             yes       yes

Nelson, Benjamin (NE)         yes       yes

Obama, Barack (IL)            n/a       no

Pryor, Mark (AR)              n/a       yes

Reed, Jack (RI)               no        no

Reid, Harry (NV)              yes       no

Rockefeller, John (WV)        yes       yes

Salazar, Ken (CO)             n/a       yes

Sarbanes, Paul S. (MD)        no        no

Schumer, Charles E. (NY)      yes       no

Stabenow, Debbie (MI)         no        no

Wyden, Ron (OR)               no        no

there are other bears in the woods

Single-minded fury at nitwit Dem senators is not the best use of our energy.  And 3rd party efforts are counter-productive.  See Ralph, 2000.

News flash:  pols follow public opinion, do not lead.

Why judges matter is VERY hard to explain to people who are not regularly in court.  And the hypocrisy of the PR efforts to promote the "decent family men with humble philosophies" is hard to puncture because the pulblic lacks the life experience to see through the slogans.

Iraq.  Health care.  An ecomomy headed in the wrong direction.  Domestic surveillance directed by a self-righteous and ruthless political clique.

Keep your powder dry.

and I agree, it's better to purge the Democratic Party.  The infrastructure is in place, many of the true democrats have their reputations built with the party and a lot of liberals and progressives identify with the democratic party.  

I thanked both Senator Levin and Senator Stanebow for their strong stand and I also shared this with them.  

"In response to the democratic senators that chose to abandon the democratic party and instead chose to support the republican party's shift to the far right, I will not be contributing to the DNC for 2006.  

I will continue to support you, Senator Stanenbow and the democratic senators, individually, that stood up for the Democratic party's view of government and defending the freedoms of all the American people.

You have my permission to inform your collegues that supported the cloture of my response to their lack of support on this issue.  "

Much of what has been said, I could resonate with.

On the third party, I think recapturing the Democratic party is much more viable than building a new third party.

The laws are stacked against a third party -- nationally, at the state level and below -- from local primary rules, to media access, it's more uphill than rebuilding a party.  

Certainly we can learn from the Republicans, or more specifically the neo-con Republicans who leveraged mass communcation, while using wedge issues and exploiting Democratic weakness to hold to core values.

result.  Please explain this vote to me?  Have your leaders moved more to the right than the population?  

Wow ... I thought my country was complicated, but at least when I vote for the various representatives, I know they are liberals, conservatives, NDP, or bloc.

Stunning result that boggles my brain.  

Strikes me in American politics, the politicians say one thing and do the complete opposite???

Sorry, but I just can't make head nor tails of it.  Liberman I understood, he's always been a conservative in liberal clothing, but for such an overwhelming upset as this, there has to be something else going on.      

is not a viable choice for liberals (or anyone for that matter) in the u.s.a.  i have been saying this here for quite a while now on this site since before they put the feeble john kerry up as a candidate.  

this is a bankrupt party.

sorry...

And I'm proud to have you on our side along with the others you named, Sean-Paul.  Thanks for blogging this.  

But now is definitely the time to clean out the human garbage.  

Any senator who voted for cloture should consider their political carreer over, dead, kaput.  Might as well declare yourself a Republican now, because you sure as shit ain't getting back into office as a Democrat.

We've got our list.  Hang it prominently on the wall until the next round of elections.  No matter what they do from now until then, these traitors have allowed Samuel Alito--a racist, fascist, theocratic corporate shill--to attain the highest judicial office in the land.  His decisions over the next few months will merely confirm what we already knew about him, and nobody who voted for him can claim they were surprised.  They knew.  They KNEW.

Never again should these Democratic traitors make it through a primary.  They have declared themselves enemies of democracy.  Our party can do better than garbage.

...is that we, the "liberals," represent less than one fifth of the electorate.  That means that for every person you meet that agrees with you, you'll find at least four that disagree.  We are not a minority, we're an afterthought.

So, those "Vichy Dems" were voting out of practical concerns.  Their votes were cowardly, but pragmatic.

We are not going to build a winning coalition based on our beliefs.  We should be what we are best at: a conscience, a reminder to what is just and beautiful about this country.  Our best weapon is to advocate those principles to the average, usually quite conservative, American.  Wilson understood this, FDR understood this, Truman understood this.  Afterwards, the Left got arrogant and began trusting their own advertising copy.  Their beliefs were not universal, nor were their policies self-explanitory.  All liberal leaders afterward came off as haughty.  Bush, like it or not comes of as a man who has worked hard all his life,and people trust him.  He plays to their baser instincts, just a Newt did, and Reagan did, and Nixon did.  These types of leaders will always be the rule rather than the exception.  People do not always listen to their conscience, especially when they believe it's a matter of survival.  But at least we still have a conscience, as this community attests, for a sociopathic country will not long endure.

to big sack John?

No, Kerry, John F. (D-MA)

What a pity Ted can't be a leading contender because of his previous history.  He's passionate and undoubtedly is a Liberal.  

John Boy, I don't trust...he bends with the wind and is probably collecting addresses.  John Dean too isn't viable because he's too emotional.  So where to get a candidate for the Democratic party?  

Hillary certainly isn't it...she has too much baggage and she is as opportunistic as Kerry.  

I'm not as familiar with the rest of the party that voated "No" for cloture...but there has to be one there.  Obama is looking good right about now.    

That is exactly what Hillary Clinton is doing.  She is making the Democratic platform palatable for Republicans.  

So couldn't the Democratic party platform be modified just a little more so it retains appeal for Democrats?

WSWS.org

Whoot!  Whoot!  They were both willing to filibuster!  

mirroring the views of the majority of WA voters...Maria Cantwell, on the other hand, decided to duck the issue, perhaps thinking that a NO vote would be thrown back at her during her re-election campaign by her as-yet unknown Republican (though McGavick is talking the talk) challenger.  I mean, for God's sake, she took on Ted Stevens over ANWR, who more could she have offended by supporting a filibuster over the arch-Federalist, Alito?

purging with the exception of members who are so far to the right that there is no way you can appeal to them.  The extreme right wing of the right will always belong to the Republicans.  Get the Republicans that are center right...you already have the far left as part of your base. Concentrate on building a platform that draws the centre right into your party and you'll have enough seats to be the next governing party.

Isn't this what you're saying mauberly?  I do concur.  

You all are making too big an issue over Alito.  I too am horrified that he will now be on the Supreme Court.  But remember this:

All agree that Bush can appoint whomever he wishes. Why should a Senator vote for the extreme measure of a filibuster when any replacement for Alito would be as bad or worse?  

Anyway there is no way that a filibuster could succeed in this Senate.  So each Senator chose to vote for political effect, without any hope to eliminate Alito.  If there was such a chance, most of those Democrats would have voted for the filibuster.

but you really do need to get rid of any Senator who is too far right.  Senators who are too far right would make a better fit as Republicans.

Democrats are never going to take those voters away from Republicans.  Senators who are too far to the right contribute nothing to the party.  There is no Democratic platform that would include them.  Better to have a senator that is able to garner votes for the Democratic party.  It's the number of seats in the senate that are important.  

Everyone talks about the "extereme left".   Who exactly are they and which issues of theirs are considered "extereme left"?  

Cantwell is a disgrace to us.  Her vote for cloture not a terribly surprising vote from the woman who voted for the Iraq war authorization when phone calls from constituents were running 20 to 1 against it.  But it is disappointing.  I just wrote her to say that I held my nose after her Iraq war vote, but after this I'd sooner vote for Nixon's corpse than for her again.  

It's hard to imagine the weenie Liberals of this state developing enough resolve to get rid of her, though.  

Chalo

...are up for re-election this year (33% of the senate is up every 2 years), and are from states that are either Red, or too close to call, so they're trying to straddle the fence, and get re-elected.

Others, I'd have to rely on those from their states to comment, since I also can't understand why they voted as they did.  Some have started calling them 'Vichy Dems'....I think the comparison apt, with the good Marshall channeled by Sen. Lieberman....

It's dumbfounding!  Man would I be ticked!  

is a dead man walking.

The democrats have been floundering for quite a while on where they stand on most issues.

I've said in the past, we liberals and progressives need to ditch the democrats.  This just makes it even more obvious that democrats have no intention of adequately respresenting us.  

Two words: Fusion Voting.

NY State has the Working families party and they are able to hold liberals accountable to sore issues by having a separate line. Without that line, the candidate may lose to the Conservative/Republican/Right to Life Lines.

Most states have banned it. I think we should start fighting for this everywhere.

an endangered species!  No wonder they call all of us tree huggers.  :)

Did you ever think up the dream team from pulling from both parties moderates to form a third one?

Are actually Pseudo-Con agents posing as Dem's to steal liberal/centrist votes only to turn around and support the base that pays better.  

I just received a request for money from the DNC. Funny, I received on Thursday and there was a survey that HAD to be mailed in within 72 hrs to be counted. And today this... No way in hell I'm giving to the Democratic party after this pathetic show...

but where the hell have the dems been on this?  do they lack the balls to have been screaming this from the roof tops since west texas intermediate crude took da fuck off over 2 years ago?  they should have been talking about this every day.  every damn day on every news channel but they do not because they lack even one iota of vision and now bush will use his pulpit to try to capture the cause and despite that being the greatest irony since jesus was a shvatza he deserves any wind it brings to the pubs back because southpaw was sleeping on his fat drunk asss...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060131/ap_on_go_pr_wh/state_of_union_15;_ylt=Akedm_dn_KF.WMdJGfetErlqP0
AC;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

even one from either party....  

the u.s. requires a great man to be thrown by fortuna and setting into politics from some other vocation and to rise to the occasion as great men sometimes do in order to restore reason and dignity into u.s. politics.  

it is a long shot but not unheard of.  walesa was an electrician...  unfortunately, we likely have significantly more deterioration before the climate for such an opportunity might arise...

of behind the scene deals. It has to be that or they were all castrated simultaneously. ;)

wit, charm and team building skills to create a true liberal party?  LOL!  

Ironically enough, the DNC called me about a contribution.  I told them, call me after I see what happens with Alito and you'll get my answer.  

I received a survey with request for a contribution to the DNC last Thursday. Ahahaha! They really blew it...

...going on between the parties.

Unbeknownst to most voters, the Oregon Legislature passed a cute little law last term saying that if you've voted in a primary, you're not allowed to sign a petition for a write-in candidate:

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/01/30/ed.edit.independents.0130.p1.php?section=opinion

Drafted and passed by a Republican legislature and signed by a Democratic governor.  Makes me sick to think that they'd even thought about doing this.

Time to ditch these losers, methinks.

payment pledge came in the mail yesterday, I think instead I will mail it back with a note from me instead.

piece of legislature.   Any feedback yet from the people in Oregon?  

That's not democracy.

to establish a liberal party.  It's long over due, in my opinion.  Sure it will take time, but purging the democratic party will take much longer and be less effective.  Hell, we've got just as many democrats supporting republicans as we do opposing.   Why give money to those odds?  Seems a waste to me.  

I'm more inclined to support a new party and convince the actual liberal democrats to swith parties.  

to come to the aid of their party.  In addition to being a typing exercise there is some ruth to it. We now know who the the good guys and the bad guys are and can vote and contrbute accordingly. My folks, in NJ did just fine. I called them both as did my wife.  Forget the urge to go for a third party.  That's what got us where we are today.  Get more rather than less behind the Dems, clean the deadwood who voted against the filibuster and move on  Don't succumb to this third party bullshit. That's defeatest. The Nader bid in 2000 is all you need to know about that.

Republican narrative you'll hear any night on Hardball. This is the kind of 'Democrat' think that is killing us. Go read the results of MyDD's poll, or any recent poll for that matter. The public, the entire public is against Bush's spying program. They are pissed they were lied into the war. The list goes on and on. You're simply repeating the RNC talkings points narrative. And it's not because you believe it, it's because that is all you hear on the 'Liberal' media. Believe me, having done time in talk radio and seen the response me, as liberal as they come, has gotten here in Red San Antonio, I disagree with you. You are completely wrong. ANd the reason is that we are mischaracterized, we don't have a voice. Believe what you want, Steve, but I'm fighting in the trenches. I've had soccer moms tell me things like, 'well, I never heard that on Fox News." And they are blown away when I tell them the OBJECTIVE truth.

Our ideas are better than Republican ideas. They poll better. And they are better for the country. But until Democrats start standing up for our ideas we will never get a fair hearing. That's what this whole Alito fight was about.

And I don't agree with the list of Vichy's. While Kennedy and Kerry knuckled under over the war, Senator Byrd was the only one with balls to say what needed saying.

It was Kennedy and Kerry that united to kill Howard Dean's canidacy, the one potential Democractic presidential nominee with courage enough to say what needed said (aside from Kucinich). Dean couldn't win with Democrat liberals--but he could have won with the general public.

Alito was the wrong fight. Not that Alito is a good guy, because he probably isn't. He just pales by comparison to the real criminals. He was a tool, a distraction that diverted attention away from the fact that we have a president that used phony evidence to send us to war, ignored evidence to the contrary, and even went to far as to punish those that tried to tell the truth.

bush has mismanaged the economy, set up his cronies to make them rich beyond belief and in the process will destroy the middle class. He is bankrupting our country.

He is fostering ill will around the world for the United States and throwing gasoline on fires of hatred that have simmered for centuries.

He has made us less safe and done more to promote the causes of terrorists than anyone in their own ranks could have possibly hoped for.

In our own hemisphere one country after another is falling for leftist leaders who run on anti-American platforms. Why? Because they now hate us, thanks to the escalation of interventionist polices of the bush administration.

Most of the people on the vichy list will vote against Alito. Most of them realized this was a lost cause. Had they been successful they would have gotten another Alito, another distraction and wasted more time and energy that should rightfully be spent taking down bush.

Here's my abbreviated vichy list:

Kennedy

Kerry

Biden

Clinton

Liebermann

he was fucking and then attempted to cover it up to salvage his own reputation yet he gets reelected as a democrat to the senate every six years.  

more evidence of a party rotted to the core...

you thought he was after that convention speech. I don't trust him after this one.

...we're going to put Tim Kaine on TV tomorrow night, whose response will be "Ditto on two-thirds of it, now here's where I disagree..."  Tim Kaine is  my governor, and I have hopes for him, but I know what he is.  Hardly the person to put out as the national face of the party.  Lieberman would be more honest.

Basically, there is no "star" Democrat that we can turn to.  We have to start building now.