HOW TO WIN ELECTIONS IN 2006 AND 2008

People need to know what the Democrats stand for:
Let’s get down to the bedrock principles that people identify with most, and stress that the American people are now the priority, not the corporations: (the economy will always be first):

THE ECONOMY IS OUT OF CONTROL: HERE’S WHAT WE’LL DO:

Stop the gouging on gas and oil prices and take back huge giveaways to the oil companies, promise to save Social Security and Medicare (first by changing the prescription drug cost by government price negotiating), rejecting the tax cuts to the rich, and a concerted effort to slow global warming.

Ask the people to sacrifice here to save our planet.

DEFENDING OUR COUNTRY:

No more pre-emptive, illegal wars!  Funding the VA so veterans will get the benefits they were promised!

We will rebuild our intelligence agencies with qualified people.  We will defend America from real threats, from within and without, but we will respect our laws and respect other countries’ values while doing so.  We believe respect is earned, not forced from the muzzle of a gun or the threat of nuclear bombing.

MORAL VALUES:

One America, with equality for all, protecting a woman’s inherent right to control her own body, treating other countries with respect, and holding the President accountable to execute the laws he signs.

Barbara

( – promoted by odum)

Generalissimo Martha’s transparent posturing to be all things to all voters and never take an unpopular stand angered both conservative and liberal newspapers.

This week’s negative editorial in the Democrat- leaning Times Argus and the Rutland Herald has already been reported here. Below is the May 10 slam from the Republican daily, the Caledonian-Record, published in the Kingdom.

Rainville seems to have a long way to go to win Ms. Popularity. I wonder if her foot-in-mouth disease caused her media spokesman Noyes to bail out of her campaign?

The web link is http://www.caledonianrecord.com/pages/editorials/story/846fe36cc.

The Caledonian-Record Online Edition  ·  Wednesday May 10, 2006
www.caledonianrecord.com
Web Contact:
Ron Fontaine, Webmaster
190 Federal Street, PO Box 8
St. Johnsbury, Vermont 05819
fontainer@caledonian-record.com
Phone: 802-748-8121

Is Martha Rainville A Republican?

– When Martha Rainville came to St. Johnsbury to finish her two-day declaration of candidacy for Vermont’s congressional seat, she had some things to say that didn’t sit well with this traditionally Republican newspaper. She said that she wasn’t going to Washington principally as a Republican, but as a representative of the people of Vermont. All well and good; that is political boilerplate. But then she said that she would not blindly follow Republican policy positions. Instead, she would be an independent thinker – there’s that word “independent” that Bernie Sanders painted all over himself. She said that she wanted “to fix what is wrong with the Republican Party.” She declared that she is pro-choice, and said that she wouldn’t want George Bush campaigning for her.

Yesterday, she did a flip-flop and reversed herself, stating that Donald Rumsfeld should retire. Two weeks ago, she said that only the president should decide that. And recently she condemned the practice of earmarking unrelated bills with pork projects. Then, the press discovered that when she was head of the National Guard, she successfully lobbied for and got millions of dollars in pork for the Guard.

So the question is, is Martha Rainville a Republican? Or is she really another Jim Jeffords, who declared himself a Republican at a time when you couldn’t win a race in Vermont as a Democrat. Jeffords was always a Democrat at heart, voting with them much of the time until he declared himself an Independent – there’s that word again – after which he voted with the Democrats (and the liberal wing of that liberal party) most of the time.

The fact is that nobody really knew what Martha Rainville was until she declared herself a Republican. Did she do that because she suspected that she could not beat Peter Welch in a Democratic primary? If we buy her as a Republican, are we buying a Democrat in Republican clothing, a la Jim Jeffords? If that is the case, we suggest that it would be better to have a declared Democrat than a closeted one.

The Caledonian-Record is a daily newspaper serving Northern Vermont and Northern New Hampshire. Visit our website updated daily at www.caledonianrecord.com

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© The Caledonian-Record News 1997 – 2006 · St. Johnsbury, Vermont
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If you’re like me, you’re pretty sick of Richie Tarrant’s soft-focus, feel-good commercials on TV, te ones he’s been dumping so much money into. Somehow,his jump shot doesn’t seem like an important qualification for Senate, but maybe that’s just me. On the other hand, they don’t affect me too much because I hit the “Mute” button as soon as they come on.

Anyway, he’s finally started running issue ads and wouldn’t you know it? He starts lying to us in the very first one. He’s talking about health care and he wants to emphasize the differences between him and Sanders, and here’s what he says:

“Sanders wants the federal government to run your health care. I want all Americans to have health care coverage, yet I want you to be able to choose your doctor and ensure that you get the hightest quality health care, no matter how old you are.”

Let’s cut him a little break and assume that he’s fudging just slightly when he talks about the federal government “running” your health care. I know it’s not true, but the language is vague enough that you can almost let it pass.

But what about the key phrase: “I want you to be able to choose your doctor.”

Has Bernie Sanders ever said that people shouldn’t be able to choose their doctor? No.

Is there any health care proposal in play that would take away people’s right to choose their doctor? No again.

Does Tarrant really think that people can’t understand the difference between the system of paying for health care and the professional relationships between doctors and patients? I think voters know better than that.

I also think people might feel better having their intelligence insulted than being lied to, alghouth it’s a hell of a choice he’s given us.

Looks like the deal is done:

As many as 25,000 people who have no health insurance will be able to get it under a compromise health care reform package reached Tuesday among Gov. Jim Douglas and legislative leaders.

So it’s certainly a political victory for the Democratic leadership (at least until the Governor starts his own spin), but is the compromise a good thing or a bad thing? Will it hold up, or will it implode?

Differing views on the flip…

From Terry Doran of Vermont Health Care for All’s email:

There is a bit of guesswork and wishful thinking about where the money
will [come from]…

…the legislation, as far as we are concerned, is good politics, but not good health policy. The bills are patches on a weakening system that make good PR. We think they will add to overall health care costs, not reduce them. We think they will further burden the already over-burdened health care services. We think that primary care – the backbone of medical care – will take a heavy hit.

From the Speaker’s office:

This bill is an important first step in living up to the legislature’s commitment to
controlling the skyrocketing costs of health care.  It accomplishes that goal two ways: by making health care affordable and accessible to Vermonters who are currently uninsured, and by establishing an outstanding system of chronic care management…

…This is a bill that all Vermonters can be proud of.  We still have a lot of work to do to achieve our goal of comprehensive health care reform, but this is a solid step forward and I’m glad that the Governor agrees.

What do you think? Who’s right? I supported it, but felt I had little ethical choice and am deeply concerned about the plan. I also felt that by supporting it, I had a personal responsibility to push for deeper change quickly. Others felt differently. Are they right?

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Scudder Parker avoided the question of whether or not he supported the bill. Shortly after receiving the endorsement of Con Hogan — a proponent of more radical health care reform who has called the bill a sham — Parker merely said:

“It’s his creature as much as the Legislature’s” Parker said. “If I were governor, we would have a very different bill.”

So who’s right? Is it an easy question or a tough one? What’s next? And who stands to gain in November?

For a look at the details of the plan (or at least it’s claims) going into the negotiations with the Governor, check out this diary. We’ll have to wait for more details about what, if any, further concessions were made.