Democracy for New Mexico

Bush Blessing, Kerry Curse?

I know there's been alot written about evangelicals believing Bush is guided by a supreme being, but a Beliefnet article provides some absolutely astonishing quotes from leaders of the Christian right. Excerpts:

“This was Providence,” evangelical leader and presidential adviser Charles Colson told Beliefnet. “Anybody looking at the 2000 election would have to say it was…a miraculous deliverance, and I think people felt it again this year.” By allowing Bush to stay in office, Colson said, God is “giving us a chance to repent and to restore some moral sanity to American life.”

Richard Land, a leading Southern Baptist who participates in a weekly strategy call between the White House and evangelical leaders put it this way: “Whoever won, it would have been God’s will.” But because Bush won, Land told Beliefnet, God has clearly shown America his blessings. If Kerry had won, it would have proved God was cursing the United States. “The Bible says godly leadership is a sign of God’s blessings and a lack of godly leadership is a sign of God’s judgment. I don’t see Kerry as a godly leader.”

Meanwhile, Paul Weyrich, founder of the and one of the original engineers of the conservative Christian political revolution, wrote an essay claiming that “God gave this President and this President’s Party one more chance…God heard the fervent prayers of millions of values voters to keep His hand on America one more time despite our national sins of denying the right to life, despite ignoring the Biblical injunction against acts which are ‘an abomination unto the Lord’ and despite the blatant attempt to remove God from the public square.”
[. . .]
Plenty of ordinary American evangelicals also believe that by allowing Bush to be re-elected, God has given the United States another chance. For months leading up to the election, many Christians nationwide prayed and fasted, in an effort led by Intercessors for America, to assist in Bush’s re-election.

Take a few minutes to read the entire article and you may find yourself wondering if we really are living in a secular democracy in the 21st century.  This kind of panicky dependence on almighty intervention to save us from the boogieman is eerie and creepy, at least to me . I guess this kind of "faith" does get you off the hook, freeing you from any need to make an effort beyond praying, fasting and finger pointing at the evil ones -- those who are different, those who are "other."

Remember what Pogo said, oh so long ago? "We have met the enemy . . . and he is us." Doesn't ring a bell with these people. Why bother with analyzing your own part in the problems we face when you can blame it all on "them," while claiming that god is on your side? It's "them" causing the problems, only god can fix it, so why bother with things like stricter environmmental laws or seeking justice for all? And anyway, as long as events play out as "ordained" in the Middle East, stay tuned for The Rapture!

I have alot of respect for spirituality and good deeds driven by a conscience, whether humanist or religious, but this bunch is just beyond belief. Ouch.

(Image courtesy of )

Sound Off! On the Brink of Turning the Tide

We had our regular DFA - Democracy for New Mexico Meetup in Albuquerque the day after the selection. We had wavered on whether to hold it or not, given the horrors of the manufactured mandate Bush claims. But some people had signed up for it, so we went ahead.

To my surprise, the Page One coffee shop was absolutely PACKED with people. Faces old and new. Long-time DFA folks and new people finding their way from MoveOn and ACT and the Kerry campaign, looking for a way to the future, to remain connected and active despite the Pyrrhic victory of the dark forces of fear and repression and war for its own sake.

We just went around the room and let everyone ramble. People expressed all the emotions I know I have no need to list. But there was an incredibly creative energy also present in the room, an energy ripe with ideas for action by little circles of citizens, small but potent cells of citizens, loosely networking across the city and the state and the nation. Planning actions that may well be effectively politically, but that are also intrinisically valuable because they are right actions, expressive of caring and humanity and soul and democracy with a small "d."

It is only since the early actions of MoveOn and then the wildly inclusive and original tactics of the Dean campaign that we have actually had any real and widespread grassroots citizen action plan for taking out Bush and his minions and evolving the agenda to serve the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party. We almost won, despite how difficult it is to take out a "commander-in-chief" in "wartime" with the corporate media working against us. In spite of the religious poobahs going so far as to claim it would be sinful to vote for Kerry, while posters of Bush morphing into Jesus were making their way into many a small-town and rural byway.

Of course they stole votes. Of course they used all kinds of filthy tactics to prevent our people from voting. But still, they almost lost. We are literally on the brink of turning the tide. A tipping point is coming and Bush's no-doubt disastrous second term may well provide it.

He, and those who voted for him, have made their bed and they will have to lie in it. They have the presidency AND the Congress. There is no-one to blame. There is inevitable disaster coming as an inevitable result of their misguided and dishonest and incompetent plans for our nation and the world. This may well provide the perfect opportunity for completely discrediting their positions and approach. They will look like asses and have no-one else to point to, to blame.

Sure, wide swaths of humanity will suffer and even die. More and more of the planet's natural places will be sacrificed to greed and drilling. Our social safety net, health care system and the remnants of a sense of the common good will continue to deteriorate.  So of course I feel angry and miserable and depressed. But I'm trying to keep my eye on the silver lining.

Lyndon Johnson won a landslide and yet had to withdraw from the next election. Richard Nixon won a landslide and quickly found himself in Watergate and ruin. Sometimes when the asses of hubris get their own way, what they really get is enough rope to hang themselves.

All I know is that I've met so many incredibly talented and passionate and zanily funny people in this new political landscape. And I know most of them are in no way ready to give up now. If you feel the same way, go ahead and click on the Meetup button on the left-hand side of this page and join us. And share your hopes and plans and strategies and opinions here. There's a movement a'brewing.

Barbara Wold

Heart of Darkness

From the Taos blog, FarrFeed, by John H. Farr (whose daily photos alone are worth a visit):

Here's a joke from a Canadian reader:

Q: How many American voters do you need to change a burnt out light bulb?

A: None, they're perfectly happy being in the dark.

Hard to argue with that!

Help Ensure Every Bernalillo County Vote Is Counted

Patricia Lee, whom many of you may know as a volunteer for the Clark and Kerry campaigns, sends in a message about her experience volunteering at the Bernalillo County vote counting warehouse, and urges us to participate:

This afternoon I spent some fun-filled time at Warehouse H, 2400 Broadway SE.  OK so fun filled-may be an exageration but try it -- you'll like it.

To be perfectly honest I had to force myself to go, there's lots I need to do around the house and there's homework still to be read.  However, I figured if I was going to bitch and moan about people who don't participate, I better go help out.  So now I can say first hand go help -- it was really gratifying to participate in the process.

Also, I think it was good for the morale of the County Clerk's staff who are working 15+ hours a day to know they are not doing all this work in a vacuum. Interestingly, one of my fellow Dem volunteers said that many of the Rep "watchers" were paid staff.

The process is really easy.  Everyone is asked to sign a confidentiality agreement so I can't be specific.  However, you'll get a form to fill out and you sit across from one of the computers that the County staff is working on and just take down the information. 

Warehouse H opens at 7 a.m. and folks will be working until 11 p.m. Any time that you can give will be greatly appreciated and I think you will come away knowing that you contributed to making every vote count.  Even if the outcome isn't altered what really matters is letting voters know that we care enough to spend the time to make their votes count. 

Earlier this week I heard a report on NPR about some Santa Fe high school students who left class to lobby the Governor about counting votes.  We need to let those kids know they have been heard.

Please pass this on.
Thanks. Best,
Patricia Lee

P.S.  It's really easy to get there.  Take I-25 south to Gibson, west on Gibson to Broadway, south on Broadway a short distance to 2400 Broadway SE.  There is construction and the turn into 2400 was just before the south bound traffic had a bit of a zig zag to the right.
*************
Note from editor: A similar plea from the Kerry campaign:

We have now entered the qualifying process of the vote count.  The vast majority of the votes being questioned are Democrats.  The Republicans are here at the warhouse in full force and we need your help to protect our votes.

We are asking for volunteers to please take the time and work one of the following shifts.  We will be working all week to insure every vote gets counted.

8am to 11am
11am to 1pm
2pm to 5pm
5pm to 8pm

Please call me on my cell phone to let me know if you will be able to help with this critical process.

Marci Youngmark
Volunteer Coordinator
505-270-2526

A Mandate?

Mary Ellen thinks it odd that Bush is claiming a "Man-Date" since he's so opposed to gays. And what kind of a mandate does he really have? Compare and contrast. From the Eparch blog:

Past Presidential winners and the percent difference by which they won the popular vote.

Warren G. Harding	26.22%	1920
Ulysses S. Grant	25.46%	1868
Franklin D. Roosevelt	24.26%	1936
Richard M. Nixon	23.16%	1972
Lyndon B. Johnson	22.58%	1964
Ronald Reagan	18.21%	1984
Herbert C. Hoover	17.46%	1928
Franklin D. Roosevelt	17.28%	1932
Dwight D. Eisenhower	15.43%	1956
Ulysses S. Grant	11.80%	1872
Dwight D. Eisenhower	10.75%	1952
Abraham Lincoln	10.06%	1864
Franklin D. Roosevelt	9.95%	1940
George H. W. Bush	7.72%	1988
Franklin D. Roosevelt	7.50%	1944
George W. Bush	3.00%	2004
James E. Carter Jr.	2.06%	1976
John F. Kennedy	0.17%	1960
George W. Bush	-0.51%	2000
Rutherford B. Hayes	-3.01%	1876

(Election data from Ohio Kids)

Frames and Memes and Us

You probably have heard of Howard Dean's favorite linguist, George Lakoff, and his "frames" theory that explains why Republicans are so successful in gaining support for their ideas by using language carefully. His new book, "Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate--The Essential Guide for Progressives" explains his concept concisely and clearly. Many believe it's a must-read for all progressives as we strategize our message and approach to issues after this devastating loss. Here's a link to the book on Amazon.

"Frame Wars" in the The Texas Observer summarizes Lakoff's theories as well as those of Frank Luntz, the Republican pollster and consultant who helped them use "context" to their advantage with such terms as " war on terror" and "tax relief."

A thoughtful and enlightening article on Dead Reckoning called Applied Memetics for Disillusioned Dems goes deeper and explores the use of "memetics" and "memes" to establish positive attributes for democratic and Democratic values.

These concepts may sound complicated and confusing, but Lakoff's latest book and these two articles are actually quite good in explaining them in a way that is easy to understand. They demonstrate how these concepts can be used effectively by progressives in our efforts to overcome the Republican advantage in "marketing" ideas to voters.

The More Things Change . . .

From Sensory Overload via BOP.

A roundup of terrific maps relevant to the presidential election is presented at BOP as We've Gone Map Crazy! by Barry Ritholtz. Well worth a look.

Morals vs. Class

As we know, one can often find more careful and truthful political analysis on certain blogs than one can in the mainstream media. Political scientist Philip Klinkner, with a number of excellent books in print that analyze election and demographic data, offers a fresh and compelling analysis of the presidential election results on the blog Polysigh. He points to an increase in support for Bush from monied classes, rather than from churchgoers, as a primary reason for his win:

I've been reviewing the results and exit polls for 2000 and 2004 and I'm not convinced that Bush's victory was due to his turning out religious conservatives in great numbers.

1. Bush's gains were not concentrated in any particular geographic region. He improved a bit more in the South than in other regions, but his swing in the vote was pretty consistent around the country. Among the top 10 states with the biggest swing toward Bush were Hawaii (+7.3), Rhode Island (+6.9), New York (+5.5), New Jersey (+5.5), Connecticut (+5.10). These states are hardly a part of the Bible Belt. These shifts might reflect the influence of Catholic voters, who did shift to Bush, but I'll have to look at the county-level data.
[. . .]
3. Turnout and support for Bush among those who attend church weekly or more did not change since 2000. In 2000, those attending church weekly or more were 42 % of the electorate and gave Bush 59% of their votes, for a Bush performance of 25% (performance = % of electorate X % of support for Bush). In 2004, these voters were 41% of the electorate and gave Bush 61% of their votes, for a Bush performance of 25%--no change from 2004.

4. Bush picked up votes among city dwellers. He was up 10 points among those in urban areas, but only up 3 points with suburbanites. Bush actually fell two points among rural voters.

5. In contrast to the lack of change along religious lines, there was change along class lines. In 2000, those making more than $50,000 made up 53% of the electorate and gave 52% of their votes to Bush, for a Bush performance of 25%. In 2004, those making over $50,000 made up 55% of the electorate and gave 56% of their votes to Bush, for a Bush performance of 31%. Also, these shifts were concentrated in the highest end of the income spectrum. Those making more than $100,000 went from 15 % of the electorate in 2000 to 18% in 2004, and Bush' support in this group went from 54 to 58 percent, causing Bush's performance to increase from 8% to 10%. In fact, this jump of 2% points performance was what allowed George W. Bush best John Kerry.

Read the entire blog entry for more, including a chart of results analyzed according to these categories.

Nonverbal Amusement

I've been so caught up in reading and answering emails, checking out the blogs and news sites and discussing the election and where we go from here in phone calls and in person that I haven't had much time to keep this site updated. I also need to change its focus from candidates and the election to our ongoing work to defeat the forces of BushCo. This will all be accomplished in time. However, I thought I'd include a few graphics that may amuse you in the meantime. Enjoy. And welcome to all the new folks drifting over to look for opportunities to stay active. Hope you stick around and join our Meetup group.

Kerry Wins:

(Click image above for larger version.)

Says it all:

Only the Faithful Allowed to View the Master

I know this is a little late, since Bushbomb has already achieved his Pyhrric victory and all, but I thought it was still worth sharing just to emphasize the environment of repression we will be confronting at the dawn of the Moralitygate administration.

You may recall Leanne Potts from her days as an entertainingly snide reporter and sometime concert critic at the Republican talking point disseminator that passes as our morning newspaper, the Albuquerque Journal.  She recently fled the Journal and now has a local blog, and is pursuing freelance writing gigs. I came across this post by her today and think it speaks volumes about the fear-driven people who now control so much about our world.

Read all about how the Secret Service and RNC teamed up to make sure no Democratic sympathizers were allowed into the seats reserved for Albuquerque's Journal Pavilion workers and their families during Bush's last-minute rally there on the eve of the election. Venue workers and families who could prove their Republicanism were treated royally with close-up seat sfor Bush's speech, while venue workers and families who were discovered to be sinful Democrats were barred from the event, including a four-and-a-half month-old baby. Also note that the "massive crowd" reported to be more than 10,000 people was really only in the 6,000 range. But then again, facts just get in the way of the Republican faith-based, blind-leading-the-blind assault on reality.

Click here for the story.