# Dems, what are your feelings on 'Six for '06'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 28, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360 "2006-07-28T03:19:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/1 "2006-07-28T03:19:52Z")
Was reading [this](http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/27/campaign.2006/index.html) article today on the Dems version of the Contract with America (Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid accomplished nothing). Thought I’d see what the various Dems on the board think of it. > [@](#): > > Democrats insist most of this year’s campaigns – 75 percent – will be a referendum on President Bush. > > But they also realize they have to give voters a reason to vote for them, not just against Republicans. > > “Its closing the deal,” said New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. > [@](#): > > The document, which carries the title “A New Direction for America,” is a brief compilation of six themes Democrats have been pushing in various ways all year: > > - National security > > - Jobs and wages > > - Energy independence > > - Affordable health care > > - Retirement security > > - College access for all > > “This 100 days is about drilling in the different direction we as Democrats will take this country,” said Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Do you think this is going to excite voters and turn things around for the Dems this election…or is it simply a rehash of the same ole same ole? What do you think about the emphasis of 75% as merely a referendum against GW? Do you think that will be effective? Should it be more? Less? > [@](#): > > 15 seats > > Emanuel said that their polls show 12 Democratic candidates currently ahead of Republican incumbents. > > However, neither he nor Schumer would predict how many seats Democrats will pick up. They need 15 seats to take control of the House. > > At a meeting with reporters at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters, Democratic leaders unveiled a Web video with clips of the president saying “stay the course” interspersed with graphics such as “gas prices at an all time high.” > > They played the video on a small laptop in the front of the room full of reporters because, they said, they couldn’t find a screen projector. -XT ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/2 "2006-07-28T03:21:11Z")
:smack: This (Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid accomplished nothing) should say (Which Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid says accomplished nothing). Sorry about that. -XT ---
**Author:** ![nameless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/779978/32.png) [@nameless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nameless)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/3 "2006-07-28T03:37:26Z")
At this level of detail, how can anyone be opposed to this plan? I agree with the positions, but how will they be implemented? Is there a more detailed document available? Seriously, I am going to have a campaign document that says “I like puppies” when I run for president, and I will win. That said, the polls I’ve seen indicate that the Democrats could probably coast to big wins in Congress at this point, so any concrete proposal at this point might dissuade more voters than it could possibly persuade. Bush’s approval rating is real, real low at this point. Perhaps it’s crazy like a fox. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/4 "2006-07-28T03:49:10Z")
Its a platform, doesn’t really count for much. It might provide a good answer to the “They have no plan!” bamboozle, but it won’t stop them from saying it. C’mon, dude, facts? The Pubbies will have to go for the long bomb. Gay married Mexicans streaming over the border to take our guns and burn our flag. Something like that. Merely the prelude. If the Dems get control of the House, they get their mitts on subpoena power, the trajectory of the shit will _really_ intersect the locus of the fan. ---
**Author:** ![nameless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/779978/32.png) [@nameless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nameless)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/5 "2006-07-28T03:57:20Z")
[QUOTE=nameless] That said, the polls I’ve seen indicate that the Democrats could probably coast to big wins in Congress at this point, so any concrete proposal at this point might dissuade more voters than it could possibly persuade. Bush’s approval rating is real, real low at this point. Perhaps it’s crazy like a fox. [/QUOTE] Also, maybe I could say “at this point” like five more times in a goddamned sentence. I hate everything. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/6 "2006-07-28T04:10:56Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] Was reading [this](http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/27/campaign.2006/index.html) article today on the Dems version of the Contract with America (Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid accomplished nothing). Thought I’d see what the various Dems on the board think of it. [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: at the “New Direction for America”. It boils down to “we like puppies”. It’s not offering solutions, or taking distinct positions, or doing anything more than creating a sound byte for the media. That ain’t gonna fly at the polls. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/7 "2006-07-28T04:21:58Z")
As always, the devil’s in the details. These are outline points. They don’t even rise to the dignity of slogans. It is a place to start – the mix of domestic and foreign/national security points is encouraging. I’ve been watching this stuff since General Eisenhower took out Bob Taft in ‘52. I’m not sure a platform or a program or a wish list makes any difference with the bulk of the electorate. They seem to chose their leaders, Presidents, Senators, Representatives, Governors, county supervisors and dog catchers on the same basis as they select a tooth paste – flashy TV ads telling them that their teeth will rot and fall out if they don’t buy brand X. It isn’t talking points that win an election . Elections are won by projecting a pleasant personality and digging up a plausible boogeyman. The candidate’s trade is perceiving with dismay and pointing with alarm. That is not to say that the current incumbent didn’t both scare me and repulse me, but a narrow majority in the states that counted apparently were not all that scared or put off by our cowboy. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/8 "2006-07-28T04:23:38Z")
Six is too many things. Always break things down by threes. When talking this gives the feeling of a beginning, a middle, and an end. I think a better grouping would be: ```auto 1) National security 1a)- Energy independence 2)- Jobs and wages 2a)- Retirement security 3)- Affordable health care ``` I don’t think the lack of specifics at this point is a big minus. There is time for candidates to present their ideas on each category during their campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/9 "2006-07-28T04:28:21Z")
Nobody votes for the platform anyway. This election, like every midterm election, will largely be a referendum on the President. Bush’s approval ratings are so deep in the shitter that the Dems should be able to sail to victory in at least one House as long as they don’t do anything stupid. To me the platform looks substantive but safe. I know there’s not anything in there as exciting and as urgent as preventing queers from getting married or stopping people from burning striped swaths of cloth but it’s servicable. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/10 "2006-07-28T04:40:28Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Its a platform, doesn’t really count for much. It might provide a good answer to the “They have no plan!” bamboozle, but it won’t stop them from saying it. C’mon, dude, facts? [/QUOTE] But that isn’t a plan. “Energy independence” is a goal, not plan. The Contract with America worked because it was concrete legislation that the Pubs promised to enact once elected. Now, that doesn’t mean that something else can’t work, too, but I don’t see anything here that I can sink my teeth into. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/11 "2006-07-28T04:43:35Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] Was reading [this](http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/27/campaign.2006/index.html) article… [/QUOTE] Authored by [This](http://mediamatters.org/items/200507140005) Dana Bash? Pardon me if I get my facts elsewhere: This piece at [HouseDemocrats.gov](http://HouseDemocrats.gov) probably lacks the wingnut filter: [A New Direction for America SIX FOR '06](http://www.housedemocrats.gov/issues/issue.cfm?level2id=98&CFID=4892929&CFTOKEN=31642843) It’s amore detailed than the CNN piece, so it’ll take a while to dig through. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/12 "2006-07-28T04:44:42Z")
Are we to take it, then, that your previous mad enthusiasm for progressive politics has paled? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/13 "2006-07-28T04:45:51Z")
Previous meant for **John** ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/14 "2006-07-28T04:50:19Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Are we to take it, then, that your previous mad enthusiasm for progressive politics has paled? [/QUOTE] Well, I don’t vote party line anyway, so it’s not about me. If there’s a Dem I like, I vote for that person. The only time I’m inclined to vote by party is if I want to split up the legislative and executive branches. Besides, living where I live it doesn’t matter which way I vote-- a Dem is always going to win. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/15 "2006-07-28T04:52:36Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] It’s amore detailed than the CNN piece, so it’ll take a while to dig through. [/QUOTE] This seems to be the fleshed out parts, afaict anyway. > [@](#): > > REAL SECURITY AT HOME AND OVERSEAS > Reclaim American leadership with a tough, smart plan to transform failed Bush Administration policies in Iraq, the Middle East and around the world. Require the Iraqis to take responsibility for their country and begin the phased redeployment of US forces from Iraq in 2006. Double the size of Special Forces to destroy Osama Bin Laden and terrorist networks like al Qaeda. Rebuild a state-of-the-art military capable of projecting power wherever necessary. Implement the bipartisan 9/11 Commission proposal to secure America’s borders and ports and screen 100% of containers. Fully man, train, and equip our National Guard and our police, firefighters and other first responders. Honor our commitments to our veterans. > > BETTER AMERICAN JOBS - BETTER PAY > Prohibit the Congressional pay raise until the nation’s minimum wage is raised. End tax giveaways that reward companies for moving American jobs overseas. > > COLLEGE ACCESS FOR ALL > Make college tuition deductible from taxes, permanently. Cut student loan interest rates. Expand Pell Grants. > > ENERGY INDEPENDENCE - LOWER GAS PRICES > Free America from dependence on foreign oil and create a cleaner environment with initiatives for energy-efficient technologies and domestic alternatives such as biofuels. End tax giveaways to Big Oil companies and enact tough laws to stop price gouging. > > AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE - LIFE-SAVING SCIENCE > Fix the Medicare prescription drug program, putting seniors first by negotiating lower drug prices and ending wasteful giveaways to drug companies and HMOs. Promote stem cell research that offers real hope to millions of American families who suffer from devastating diseases. > > RETIREMENT SECURITY AND DIGNITY > Stop any plan to privatize Social Security, in whole or in part. Enact real pension reform to protect employees’ financial security from CEO corruption and mismanagement, including abuse of the bankruptcy laws. Expand personal savings incentives. BTW, I didn’t realize Squink that CNN was a bastion of conservatism and wingnuttery. And contrary to what you may believe, I’m glad you found more data on this…I was in fact hoping (and quite confident) someone would. I did a quick search when I first started the OP, but didn’t see anything right off the bat. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/16 "2006-07-28T04:55:16Z")
It’s something of a myth that the Contract With America had a significant role in the '94 election. It was introduce only a few weeks before the election and from what I remember, exit polls at the time showed that most GOP voters (something like 70%) had never heard of the CWA and a majority of those who _had_ (55-60%) heard of it said it didn’t have anything to do with their decison. The '94 election was all about righties hating Clinton, not grassroots enthusiasm for the GOP’s exciting legislative agenda. The same will hold true in this election. No one who hates Bush is going to by stymied by a boring Democratic platform. They could scrawl bathroom wall limericks on that thing for all I care. Platforms never really drive the agendas anyway. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/17 "2006-07-28T04:57:39Z")
So you agree with the 75% towards making this a referendum on Bush then DtC? You think thats pretty much all the Dems need to do to win back control? -XT ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/18 "2006-07-28T05:10:25Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] So you agree with the 75% towards making this a referendum on Bush then DtC? You think thats pretty much all the Dems need to do to win back control? [/QUOTE] I don’t know that they’ll win back control but I just don’t think they really have that much ability to affect the election no matter what they do. People are going to vote based on how they feel about Bush and there’s nothing either party can do about it. And since Bush’s spectacularly bad performance is their strongest issue anyway, it’s the issue they might as well milk for all they’re worth. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/19 "2006-07-28T05:25:57Z")
Its what it _should_ be about! This administration has led us into a turd-infested fever swamp! Since they cannot feasibly be tossed out on their butts, we have to do what we can to slow the machinery. Their judgement isn’t in question, that question has been resolved, to our dismay. Were it possible for them to blunder their way into bringing on a plague of boils, they would have done so. The Republican dog and pony show is in tough shape, the pony is dead and the dog has rabies. Some minor jawing will take place around the Dem’s “agenda”, but the real punch from the Pubbies will be whatever wedge issue they settle upon, this years gay marriage. They never did give much play to the human-animal hybrid crisis, maybe they’ll settle on that. The agenda’s fine, no prob, but as has been pointed out, the mechanisms haven’t been worked out. That will be difficult (wishing we had an understatement smilie…) And then there’s those roosting chickens, homeward bound. Such a fascinating innovation in economics: cut taxes and start a lengthy, wildly expensive war! We’re likely to have less with which to accomplish more. But first and foremost, we’ve got to get a handle on his bunch of shitwits before they wreck these even worse. ---
**Author:** ![AFAIKnow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@AFAIKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AFAIKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360/20 "2006-07-28T05:35:53Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] So you agree with the 75% towards making this a referendum on Bush then DtC? You think thats pretty much all the Dems need to do to win back control? -XT [/QUOTE] Didn’t they try that a couple of years ago and fail miserably? I can still hear the echo from the backfire on that plan. Mainly form the direction of the Supreme Court. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dems-what-are-your-feelings-on-six-for-06/366360.md?page=2)