The reality is that Democrats could have won these elections heads up if they had fought the right fight. Which fight is that? CLASS WARFARE. The argument was there to be made. The GOP have constantly supported those who have been the beneficiaries of the policies they advocate; tax breaks to companies that outsource, lower tax rates (15%) for investments favored by the wealthy when the working man pays up to 35%. Privatization of services is nothing but a transfer of wealth as the profit component to the companies becomes an expense to the tax payer.
Sestak and others are slowing playing into the narrative but not near aggressive enough. A true narrative is the most effective when presented as something that materially affects citizens today and will be worst tomorrow.
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My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare: The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom
Book’s Webpage: http://books.egbertowillies.com – Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies
PHILADELPHIA — As the Pennsylvania Senate candidates prepare for two crucial debates, the first one here tonight, the question is: why has Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak pulled even with Republican/Tea Party Rep. Pat Toomey?
The answer requires two things: getting the voter-registration numbers and talking to Rep. Bob Brady, the burly guy who runs the Democrats’ antique yet still-potent Philadelphia machine.
I did both and the bottom line is this.There may be a GOP wave building elsewhere in the country, but it doesn’t show up in the registration figures in deep-blue Pennsylvania; and Brady, a skeptical man who at first was no fan of Sestak’s, now thinks "the admiral" can turn it around.
Of course, all elections are about numbers, but in Pennsylvania the arithmetic is stark and simple. The Democrats traditionally have had a huge edge in party registration — and need to keep it — and a Democratic statewide candidate needs to "come out of Philly" with at least 400,000 votes.
Chet Harhut, the commissioner of elections, has yet to certify the official final figures, but he and his staff gave me the up-to-the-minute totals and here is the good news for the Democrats: the number of registered Republicans in Pennsylvania is shrinking, not growing. In 2006 there were 3.3 million Republicans in the state; as of today there are 3.1 million. Over that same period, the number of registered Democrats grew from 3.9 million to 4.3 million today.
Both parties have lost adherents since 2008 — and there has been a small surge in voters who don’t register in either party which, Harhut suggested, might reflect the influence of the Tea Party.
But the point is, Pennsylvania remains a Democratic stronghold, and there is no evidence of a GOP surge in registration.
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Which means that Sestak’s main goal has to be to make the sale to traditional Democrats. It hasn’t been easy. He wasn’t the establishment Democrrats’ candidate in the primary — Sen. Arlen Specter was. Sestak ran as an outsider, which was an advantage in some places but, paradoxically, not necessarily here, even in a "throw-the-bums out" year.
Pennsylvania is a state with old-school Democrats who grumble about crooked politicians, but distrust corporate power and cling fiercely to the belief that government exists mainly to help working people.