| Methinks that "Bury(ing) Senator Baucus with e-mails" will do absolutely nothing.
"Yell louder" as a strategy doubtless has some validity, at times, and only omniscience would allow us to predict with confidence how effective it would be, right now. However the more money that is involved (I mean, the corporations' money that pays for the lobbyists), the harder of hearing the Congress will become. Even if they pretend, otherwise.
So, while I don't have anything against sending our {cough} {cough} public servants emails and faxes, etc., I just can't see this as a priority. Unless we get better people in Congress, we will always be fighting an uphill battle with the plutocratic class. Let's say that, by some miracle, they pass a single payer plan. What's to prevent Congress from dismantling it in 2 years, when Congress (if recent trends are any guide) will be even more corrupt than they are, now?
Fortunately, public health care, as well as some other issues, have such wide, even trans-partisan support, that we can (and should) pursue a strategy which will get better results for both the near-term and long-term. A strategy which can actually strike electoral fear into the hearts of Congress critters now, and help us replace the worst of the worst in upcoming elections.
The number one message that intransigent Congress critters should be getting is that we will primary you, unless you completely support us on X key issues. Also, there will be NO FORGIVENESS - whatever else they may do between now and their next primary, they will be voted against in their primary if they do not deliver.
Because the Congress is SO corrupt, IMO, the initial NO FORGIVENESS issues should only be trans-partisan. I.e., you should be able to ask your Democrat, Republican, and Independent friends and family to help you dump Senator Y. The most rational and trans-partisan way that I can think to go about this, while still respecting partisan constraints, is as follows (assuming we're talking about the Senate; it's straightforward to translate these 'rules' for the House):
Define the NO FORGIVENESS issues to be:
1) strong public option for health care (supported by 50% of Republicans, 73% of Independents, and 87% of Democrats)
2) anti-usury laws(credit card interest rates < 9%, etc.)
3) reverse the 'no-bargaining' aspect ofMedicare Part D (A form of legalized theft that affects 99% of Republican, Democrat, and Independent tax payers about equally).
Define the primary voting rules to be:
-> In safely Democratic states, not just Democrats, but Republicans and Independents pledge to primary Senator Y. In the case of Republicans and Independents, they will most likely have to register as Democrats
-> In safely Republican states, not just Republicans, but Democrats and Independents pledge to primary Senator Y. In the case of Democrats and Independents, they will most likely have to register as Republicans
-> In states that can go either way ("purple states"), Democrats and Republicans are not asked to pledge to vote in Senator Y's primary unless he/she is of the same party. However, Independents will pledge to primary Senator Y, registering with Senator Y's party, as required. And, of course, same-party voters will pledge to primary Senator Y.
(At 50%, we are just barely able to claim a strong public health care option as trans-partisan, but that is good enough, IMO. )
In PA, recently, primary day had 20% turnout. It should be VERY EASY to primary crappy Senators, if the public will just get @#$%^@ organized, with the intention of doing so.
If anybody can explain to me why this is not a far superior way of "yelling" than just sending faxes, emails, etc., to people who probably don't give a damn, please do so. Please.
There is more to successfully carrying out this strategy than what I have sketched out, here. E.g., we need a way to have 'instant runoff support voting'. This will be easy to do, with the internet. Say, e.g., that Senator Baucus makes the 'hit list', and we the people will do our best to primary him. Let's say that 5 Democratic challengers to Baucus run against him in the primary.
Unfortunately, 5 primary challengers to Baucus, if they split the anti-Baucus vote evenly, could easily damage each other so much that Baucus wins the primary, anyway. No good. I can even see where being 'too successful' in getting anti-Baucus pledges results in so many challengers splitting the vote, that that is the key factor which leads to Baucus winning his primary.
Consequently, pledged voters need to co-operate, before Primary Day, by having their own instant runoff election sometime before the primary, when they collectively decide which Baucus primary challenger they will ALL vote for. And support with $$ and volunteer hours.
We need to make sure that we take the Baucus' out, and that won't happen unless we collaborate in choosing the guy or gal who knocks them out.
If we can organize along these lines quickly, it could make all the difference not just in 2011 and 2013, but in 2009, also. |
STATE BLOGS
