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How the Democrats Can Blow It ... in Six Easy Steps

By Michael Moore, MichaelMoore.com. Posted August 13, 2008.


A blueprint for losing the most winnable presidential election in American history.
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For years now, nearly every poll has shown that the American people are right in sync with the platform of the Democratic Party. They are pro-environment, pro-women's rights and pro-choice. They don't like war. They want the minimum wage raised, and they want a single-payer universal health-care system. The American public agrees with the Republican Party on only one major issue: They support the death penalty.

So you would think the Democrats would be cleaning up, election after election. Obviously not. The Democrats appear to be professional losers. They are so pathetic in their ability to win elections, they even lose when they win! So when you hear Democrats and liberals and supporters of Barack Obama say they are worried that John McCain has a good chance of winning, they ain't a-kidding. Who would know better than the very people who have handed the Republicans one election after another on a silver platter? Yes, be afraid, be very afraid.

In an effort to help the party doofuses and pundits -- and the candidate himself -- spare all of us another suicide-inducing election night, as the results giving the election to the Republican pour in, here is the blueprint from the Democrats' past losing campaigns. Just follow each of these steps and you, the Democratic Party establishment, can help elect John Sidney McCain III to a four-year extension of the Bush Era:

1. Keep saying nice things about McCain. Like how he's been "good on global warming" and campaign finance. Keep reminding a country at war that he and he alone is a war hero. Not to mention an all-round good guy. Say that enough and what happens? The same thing that happens when you repeat over and over, "Apply directly to the forehead" - people start to believe it! You've sold them on the idea that McCain isn't a bad egg, and they do not hear the rest of what you have to say: "But John McCain is four more years of George W Bush." If you keep saying he used to be a "maverick", our less-attention-span citizens hear only the "maverick" part, not the past tense verb included in that sentence.

This is not to say you should in any way demean John McCain as a human being or as an American. Disagreeing strongly with his policies or the direction he would lead the country is not the same as denigrating him as a person. This particular style of politics is the cesspool that the Right and the Republican Party apparatus swim in. We do not further our agenda by imitating them. Fight, fight back, and fight hard - but fight clean. It's ultimately what I believe the majority of Americans would like to see.

There is also nothing wrong with saying nice things about McCain's constituency, and you should. We want to hold out our hand to people who have voted for Republicans in the past. Many of them are tired, a good number are disgusted. They won't agree with a lot of what we stand for, but they've had it up to here with the Republicans and we should make sure our tent is big enough to welcome them in.

So if you want to help elect McCain, keep blessing him as if he were the white knight who accidentally hopped on the wrong horse. Forget to continually point out that he is truly up to no good. Keep pulling your punches. Don't remind people McCain wants to help the oil companies even more than Bush did. Don't bring up that he wants to outlaw all abortion. Back away from painting McCain as the guy who thinks it's a good idea to stay in Iraq until pigs fly. That way, if you keep praising him, you can send a mixed message to the less-informed who are simply not going to figure it out. When they walk into a voting booth, they will see two names on the ballot:

· Barack Obama

· War Hero

Trust me, this ain't Sweden. War Hero wins every time.

2. Have Obama pick a vice-presidential candidate who is a conservative white guy, or a general, or a Republican. Yes, it will seem like smart politics at first. Shore up Obama's lack of military experience with a hawk.

Be true to Obama's message that he'll be a president for everybody by having him run with a Republican.

Make a pitch to the purple states of Virginia and Indiana to vote Democratic this time by putting one of their own on the ticket.

Or swing for the fences and make the red state of Ohio happy by handing the vice-presidential slot to its governor.


Digg!

See more stories tagged with: democrats, election 2008

Michael Moore is an Academy award-winning filmmaker and author of "Mike's Election Guide."

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View:
Barack Obama the Candidate of "Same"
Posted by: mmckinl on Aug 13, 2008 12:21 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Instead of building on the theme of change and harnessing the anger of the American people Barack has retreated into a lethargy of sameness and lameness that has been incredible to watch.

Instead of sticking to his guns on denying telecoms immunity he endorsed it! Instead countering McCain with a real energy plan he called for drilling! Instead of saying what we all know ... that we have lost the Iraq War because of the cost to our reputation and our treasury he fudges his position.

Obama is now losing the support of liberals and progressives as well as independents due to his wishy washy middle of the road, nondescript platform of sameness. The anger and angst of the American people over the last 8 years seems to have been completely forgotten in his rhetoric. Where is his call for accountability and justice for what has been the worst 8 years of modern American History?

Obama is offending everyone by not taking on anyone ...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Poulist type Posted by: BlueTigress
» RE: Poulist type Posted by: JSquercia
» RE: Poulist type Posted by: BigElectricCat
» Sen Obama: A Trojan horse of Socialism? Posted by: theVRWCwhodatesLiberals
» War Hero Posted by: Moore Hognutz
» RE: War Hero Posted by: BlueSun
» RE: War Hero Posted by: racetoinfinity
Doofuses?
Posted by: synx on Aug 13, 2008 1:44 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You seem to think the Democratic party is unintentionally losing. Their purpose is to steal your vote, break their promises, lose badly, then give speeches about how they are uniters. When they lose, the people who would have repaired the system are dragged down with them, just as planned, leaving the corporates once again with exclusive rights to all resources and power. The Republicans are the same way, except they take out the nasty people who'd bring about social change.

There's nothing incompetent about these parties. They're professional, capable, powerful men who didn't joke around in law school. Everything they do is very deliberate, and if it looks like they're being harmless doofuses, you should consider it likely they're doing something malicious and prettying it up to look like an accident. Forget the speeches, follow the money.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Doofuses? Posted by: LionHeart
» They serve the lobbyists Posted by: feduphoosier
» Not consistently, they don't Posted by: leftymathprof
» RE: Doofuses? Posted by: Annapurna1
» the point was... Posted by: jimmshorts
Um, Editor?
Posted by: norsegirl on Aug 13, 2008 1:45 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Care to actually include points 1-3?

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» RE: Um, Editor? Posted by: StillStanding
» RE: Um, Editor? Posted by: Last Chance
COUNTER POINT: The GOP's winning two-part strategy. Or so it thinks.
Posted by: HughScott on Aug 13, 2008 1:54 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Yesterday I had my second epiphany of the week. For GOP trolls, epiphanies are Ah-HAH! moments.

Thanks to a morale-boosting comment from fellow Alternetter "jstepp590," I now believe in my heart and mind that Unfit McCain will be defeated in November. However, it won't be easy and here's why.

One day before my sudden surge of optimism, I watched Chris Mathews on "Hardball" interview Tom Ridge. Asked if the GOP could win his home state, he replied confidently with a twinkle in his eye (I'm paraphrasing now), "Not only we will win Pennsylvania, we will carry the nation!"

That's when I had my first epiphany -- the GOP's two-part strategy.

1. The Republicans will try to destroy Barrack Obama using every dirty trick in Karl Rove's playbook, including dealing the race card from all parts of the deck.

2. McCain will chose Ridge, a moderate Republican, as his running mate.

Conservative Republicans and the far right will howl in protest but not fence-sitting independents and embittered Hillary fans, sucked into the McCain camp by the GOP's branding of Senator Obama as an uppity, inexperienced minstrel man.

Meanwhile, the McCain/Ridge campaign will be all about SECURITY.

Every issue will be tagged with the fear-mongering term. Improving the economy will improve our SECURITY. More jobs will make us MORE SECURE. Winning in Iraq will boost our SECURITY. And so will tax cuts and off-shore drilling...blah, blah, blah -- SECURITY!

You can also expect GOP-orchestrated rumors about McCain being a one-term president. In that case, in 2013, the former head of Homeland Security, a Vietnam veteran and ex-Pennsylvania governor who believes in choice, would perpetuate rightwing Republican control of the federal government for eight additional excruciating years. Listen closely and you can almost hear the sound of goose-stepping jackboots pounding down Pennsylvania Avenue.

To keep that heart-stopping vision from coming true, every freedom-loving American will have to get involved in the election process and support Barrack Obama -- like him or not.

Simply blogging on the Internet won't hack it. Beating a McCain/Ridge ticket will mean attending Obama rallies, displaying Obama signs on front yards, working at Democrat voter registration tables in local shopping malls.

In 2004, I went to a MoveOn.org house party (I'm a member) and listened to a live nationwide conference call ironically by Michael Moore. He said something I will never forget -- "After this meeting tonight, some of us will party until three a,m. That's when Republican campaign volunteers go to work."

To defeat Unfit McCain and Tom Ridge in November, it will be our turn to get up early. Otherwise, come 2009, nothing will have changed and the ongoing national nightmare will continue.

On the other hand, if McCain picks Plastic Man Mitt Romney for his veep, we can sleep in and still win. Unless, of course, Obama doesn't denounce Micheal Moore.


With love,

*Hugh E. Scott, Vietnam vet, lifelong registered Republican and ardent Obama supporter.
Seven Reasons to Vote Against Unfit McCain

*For the benefit of first-time AlterNet visitors.

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» diction, diction, diction Posted by: edgar1
» Vote Democrat! Posted by: Lloyd Drako
» RE: Vote Democrat! Posted by: ChicagoPaul
» Dirty Tricks on Obama or just Telling the TRUTH! Posted by: theVRWCwhodatesLiberals
Iraq will fall and there will be hostages pt.1
Posted by: hrayovac2 on Aug 13, 2008 2:16 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The dirty s.o.b's will try the Reagan move on Obama with an inside deal laid out for McCain. He will be prompted through this and the hosatges will be released shortly after the McCain election victory. Sweet dreams.
My money is on Obama being aware of American history.

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Dealing with the Clintons
Posted by: Tom Degan on Aug 13, 2008 2:17 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
#4:
"Forget that this was an historic year for women"

Yes, obviously this was a very historic year for women. No one is forgetting that -certainly not I. Having said that, let me say this:

The Democrats have already blown it by letting the Clintons hijack the convention

The Clintons have even forced the Dems to put some ridiculous wording in their platform which blames Hillary's defeat in the primaries on sexism in the media. Oh, Please. She was defeated because she ran a mind-bendingly, idologically disorganized and stupid campaign.

I naively believed that Bill and Hillary had finally conceded to the inevitability of the moment and jumped on the Obama For President bandwagon. That would have been wishful thinking on my part. They are both trying to sabatoge Senator Obama's chance to be the first African American in history to call the White House home. Just last week, when approached in Africa by a reporter from the American Broadcasting Company, Bill was asked if he believed Barack Obama qualified to be president of the United States. Our man Bubbah just could not bring himself to utter one somple, three-letter-word:

"YES"

And now Hillary is determined to have her name placed in nomination at the convention, which is only bound to stir up the emotions of her starry-eyed, sycophantic, core supporters - not a hell of a lot of them, but enough to do some sreious and lasting damage. They still deeply resent the fact that their gal was defeated by this relatively unknown prarie lawyer from Illinois....Forgive me. I meant to say "freshman senator"....What was I thinking?

This is liable to get ugly, campers.

The fact that another four years of Republican control of the executive branch of our government would be the final nail in this doomed country's coffin means not a thing to Bill and Hillary Clinton. All they care about is power - raw, naked power. Neither one of them give a flying fuck about the country they profess to love so much. Neither one of them have so much as a clue as to how transparent they are in their lust to reclaim the White House. These are two, thoroughly disgusting human beings.

And you ask me why I am no longer a Democrat? Please.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
"BETH QUINN APPRECIATION DAY

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» RE: Dealing with the Clintons Posted by: beautifulady2003
» RE: Dealing with the Clintons Posted by: nochicagoboys
» Why Does Being Wrong Feel So Right? Posted by: BigElectricCat
» RE: Dealing with the Clintons Posted by: cmaciain
» RE: cmaciain: Posted by: Tom Degan
» Pragmatism vs. Idealism Posted by: nochicagoboys
» RE: cmaciain: Posted by: cmaciain
» RE: Dealing with the Clintons Posted by: ChicagoPaul
» The GOP will get the Blame not the Clintons Posted by: theVRWCwhodatesLiberals
Huh?
Posted by: EvilPoet on Aug 13, 2008 2:32 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What happened to steps 1-3?

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Where's the rest?
Posted by: BeckyD on Aug 13, 2008 3:12 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I'd really like to read the rest of this article, please.

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The very best arguement to vote for
Posted by: leerhok on Aug 13, 2008 3:34 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
- GodBarack is McSame!
- McSame is GodBarack!

And the same goes for DEM and GOP!

Any doubt the old gentleman was/is right:
Something is rotten in the land of ......

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» Tomorrow never comes... Posted by: nochicagoboys
» Some facts left out........ Posted by: LionHeart
» RE: spoiled whine. Posted by: leerhok
A pessimistic but realistic appraisal
Posted by: LMNOP on Aug 13, 2008 3:44 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I disagree that the election is the Democrat's to lose. I think that they have an uphill battle and will be lucky to prevail. There are three factors to consider, all of which will take a piece of Obama's slim lead (about 6% now, plus or minus?)

1. Racism skews polls. When people are more liberal and tolerant in polls than they are on Election Day. This comes to surface when people are asked, "Could you vote for a black man for president?" and then "How about the members of your family?" The first category always does substantially better. People say what they think is expected of them about themselves, but project themselves more honestly onto others.

2. The slime machine has three more months to play out. They got off to a late start with Obama, concentrating instead on Hillary through April or May because it was assumed that she would be the nominee. Remember how at one point it seemed like the press was giving Obama a walk at Hillary's expense, say, about February? I believe that the Republicans unintentionally knocked Hillary into second place by harping on her exclusively for so long. Do you recall Limbaugh asking his Republican audience to vote in the Democratic primaries and to vote for Hillary? Ever wonder why? I believe it was to restore the carefully damaged Democratic candidate rather than have to start over again on Obama. As a result, he's only been smeared for about six weeks or two months. The smear has not produced any palpable results in the last month, but there are three more months to go, and that stuff is powerful. Intellectually, I know that Gore and Kerry are good men, but emotionally, there is a part of me that is unfairly and irrationally repulsed by them due to that programming, although Gore has restored himself with an Oscar and a Nobel prize since he has been largely out of their slimelight. Powerful stuff.

3. If Obama can get by the racism and slime, then there is the election tampering, which I suspect will only come out if the race is close. Nobody knows how extensive that can be - how many states are affected - what kind of penetration has been achieved with electronic ballot boxes. Then there are all of the other dirty tricks - voter purges, deliberate confusion of voting precincts, congestion of lines, etc. Florida has another Republican Secretary of State to replace Katharine Harris. A Democrat has replaced Ohio’s Blackwell. I don't know how many Republican SOS's there are, but anybody who is interested might begin with THIS LIST

These seem like a lot of hurdles for a candidate with a small lead mid-August. I wish him the best, but I have such a deep, abiding faith in the Republican's dishonesty and unwillingness to relinquish power that if Obama won, I would wonder if he wasn't one of them.

Now that's prejudice!

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» Obama reminds me of the New York Yankees Posted by: theVRWCwhodatesLiberals
» No thanks Posted by: LMNOP
» Thanks Posted by: LMNOP
FAITH-BASED BS
Posted by: soowee on Aug 13, 2008 4:18 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I was unable to download items 1-3 of Michael Moore's prescription for Obama's loss in November, but I totally agree with Nos. 4-6. The gibbering doofuses are seriously in charge, and Howard Dean has been muzzled.

I would add yet another item to the prescription: embrace the twit ideas of George W. Bush and promise to expand them, like the security state as enhanced by the FISA Act and the USA PATRIOT Act, and the transfer of precious taxpayer dollars to so-called "faith-based" social programs.

I WON'T be voting for Obama in November if he does not change his tune NOW. I just won't care if McCain is elected.

H. Watkins Ellerson
PO Box 90
Hadensville, VA 23067
(804) 457-4243

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» RE: FAITH-BASED BS Posted by: Aredee
» RE: FAITH-BASED BS Posted by: soowee
» Of course you will Posted by: Hans B
» RE: Of course you will Posted by: soowee
» RE: Of course you will Posted by: soowee
» RE: FAITH-BASED BS Posted by: LMNOP
» RE: FAITH-BASED BS Posted by: soowee
» RE: FAITH-BASED BS Posted by: LMNOP
FMA in Mass
Posted by: FMABBI on Aug 13, 2008 4:20 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I don't know if I can bear another Republican administration! McCain is proving to be more of a war-monger than Bush! The military is his answer to every conflict in the world. Obama should do continuous ads about the "mindset that led us to war in the first place".

I think the best thing that could happen is to have them debate the issues - in detail - side by side. Not the silly two minute stuff they call a debate. The contrast would be striking.

We have to get the new voters out to the polls. But let's not forget about the Congress' lack of spine and complete ineptitude. Let's get some folks in there who represent US - you know - us people and not big money.

We, the voters, have to make our elected representatives ACCOUNTABLE. By focusing too much attention on just the Presidential race and not enough to the other co-equal branches we are doing ourselves a great injustice. Congress has the authority to declare war and to manage the treasury - not the President.

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» Get lost Posted by: LMNOP
Moore does not know the American people
Posted by: edgar1 on Aug 13, 2008 4:21 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"They don't like war"

This comedian, who thinks he's a political pollster and sociological analyst, states the above quote which is neither true nor false. People don't "like" war. Of course not. But about half of the public consistently doesn't want a quick pullout from Iraq(even Obama only wants a partial withdrawal after 16 months of his Presidency). Moreover, most people don't seem to object to the increasingly pointless and costly war in Afghanistan.

Finally, this genius has been in Hollywood too long. He has no idea of the vast numbers of Americans whose livelihood depends on military, homeland security and intelligence spending. Like the Germans under Hitler, Americans can't just say "WE didn't know and we didn't start the war".

Bush started the Iraq War and the 9/11 terron campaign with great public acclaim. Despite the manipulation of the media by Bush, the public continues to support a massive military industrial complex and its activities regardless of disclosures about lies and forgeries that lead to war.

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» Don't care about either war? Posted by: kabac55
What Is This?
Posted by: thebeerdoctor on Aug 13, 2008 4:21 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What is with the editing of the Michael Moore article, first published in the The Guardian/UK. Here is a gem from the original source that did not find its way to the "edited" Alternet version:

Keep writing speeches for Obama like the one in front of the American Israeli lobbying group the day after the final primaries. Here's what he said: "The danger from Iran is grave, it is real, and my goal is to eliminate this threat." And: "Let there be no doubt: I will always keep the threat of military actions on the table to defend our security and our ally Israel. Sometimes there are no alternatives to confrontation."
Sounds like a speech McCain would give. Sounds like he's ready to invade Iran. He staked out an even worse position for the Palestinians vis-a-vis Jerusalem than the one held by George W Bush.

There is more of Moore that was left out. For those who want to read the complete text, Google up: Michael Moore/The Guardian.

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» RE: What Is This? Posted by: beautifulady2003
» RE: What Is This? Posted by: StillStanding
Missing Pieces
[