Righting the Ship

Recent headlines like these, do not inspire me:

Obama backers show signs of disappointment

Obama Gets No Health Care Bounce

Democrats’ Long-Held Seats Face G.O.P. Threat

I myself file these headlines under the "I'll believe it when I see it" banner. The main reason for this: Do we really trust the media to tell us the truth? Isn't it possible the media is playing us, trying to trick us into believing our own desires?

Even if you want to buy into the headlines, this is no time to get over confident.

We can't go into November with the mindset that "all signs point in our direction". We must be different and we must be bold. We must campaign on our ideas and solutions. Just saying "vote for us, we're not Obama", does not build our movement in the long term. While we could squeak through an election cycle victorious, if we elect candidates to go and feed the perception of the "party of no", we will still be on our heels headed into 2012.

A lot can happen between now and November. There are national holidays (Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day), Mother's Day and Father's Day, and a long summer when people will stop paying attention as they go on vacations. If Obama starts to show signs of recovery, let's make sure we have a campaign plan that shows we have our own ideas for the direction of our country and that we have candidates willing and able to implement those ideas once elected.

Recently, I saw someone post these comments on Twitter, I was glad to see I am not alone. This person has a lot to say, obviously limited by Twitter's 140 characters per post:

"Ask yourself this question: WHERE IN THE WORLD IS DAVID AXELROD AND WHY IS HE SO QUIET? He's prepping for 2012, AWAY from social media #tcot"

"So get your bums off the chairs, sofas and Starbucks chairs, meet your neighbors, your colleagues and tell them the truth about today #tcot"

"FB, tweeting and blogging can only go this far .. while the Left is out there, canvassing OUR neighborhoods, we're all... HERE... #tcot"

"So if on November 3, 2010 you ask yourselves "What happened?", just look in the mirror and return to tweeting the same question! #tcot"

"So remember, you're here or on FB or WordPress or blogger.. Organizing for America is on OUR streets .. WAKE THE HECK UP! #tcot"

I think there is some truth to what this person was saying. Before we start patting each other on the back for what should or could be a great 2010 election, there is work to do.

If we squeak by and win in 2010 on the "we're not Obama" message, what have we really gained in the future? Think back to the great year of 1994. That year was sandwiched in between 1992 and 1996, years Clinton was elected and re-elected.

I agree with the Twitter poster, the Left is not sitting back waiting to take our best shot to see if they can survive. While they may not be confident going into November, they are still doing the work they need to do. They also had a much better head start in organizing on the heels of 2008 where they collected untold numbers of email addresses and cell numbers for texting. Even if the Left loses in 2010, they are building for 2012.

Let's work so we don't peak in April, when the election is in November.