re: #37 Belafon

The Democrats have acted for far too long like a team that scored 30 points in the first quarter and then spent the next 3 quarters defending that lead by going 4 and out and relying on defense. It doesn’t help that the public, comfortable with what they have, hasn’t been voting to keep what they have. I do lay a good portion of the blame at the voters’ feet. Their giving into racism and greed is a big part of this.

re: #38 wheat-dogg

It would help if the Dems would remind people what the Democrat Party has done for them, beginning with Social Security.

All of that would require running candidates.

My own representative (Adrian Smith, R, NE3) is not a racist as far as I can see. However, when he runs for office his (and whichever Libertarian) message is the only one heard throughout the district.

A couple election cycles ago, we had a rancher here who decided to challenge Rep. Smith in the election as a Democrat. I was overjoyed. Fellow put a whole bunch of his own money into his campaign, travelled all over the district.

Got no help whatsoever from the national or state parties. Even doing it all on his own, he managed a close enough race that Rep. Smith had to actually come back to the district and campaign himself. (Smith’s difference: The state and national GOP poured a bunch of resources into his reëlection campaign.)

I periodically hear the refrain “the Dems have to put their money into places they think they have a reasonable chance at winning” or variations. I guarantee you the Dems have no chance of winning anywhere they don’t compete.

I wonder how the election would have turned out if our local rancher had party support? Maybe he would have still lost; you don’t win every election anyway. But with state and national support the Democratic message might have gotten out here better, and given the voters a real choice.

I’m not wealthy enough to try to mount a campaign all on my own. With the lesson of the Kimball rancher to go by, that’s the only way I could challenge Rep. Smith.