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Truthdiggers of the Week: The Architects of Nov. 7

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Posted on Nov 10, 2006
Nov. 7 architects

The architects of the Democrats’ Nov. 7 victory: House Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) celebrates with fellow Democrats at an election-night rally on Capitol Hill. She is joined by, from left, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), chairman of the House Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; Senate Democratic leader Sen. Harry Reid (Nev.); and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. At right is Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.  Beneath those pictures are the logos of two of the most powerful Internet-based Democratic fundraising and advocacy organizations—MoveOn.org and ActBlue.

Truthdig salutes the individuals and organizations that swept the Democrats to victory: the members of the Democratic leadership, and the progressive netroots. Kudos all around.

First, the Democratic leadership:

  • Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), the House Democratic leader
  •  

  • Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), chairman of the House Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
  •  

  • Sen. Harry Reid (Nev.), the Senate Democratic leader
  •  

  • Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
  • Advertisement

     

  • Howard Dean, chair of the Democratic National Committee
  • Next, the progressive netroots. In particular:

     

  • MoveOn.org, the Democratic advocacy group that raised $27,157,797 this election cycle.
  •  

  • ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising organization that helped to raise over $17,000,000 since 2004.

  • There’s a spirited debate across the media about which deserves more credit: the Ramh Emanuel types or the netroots. Supporters of each point to losses and victories of candidates that either had championed, but it’s probably too early for solid conclusions.

    For a start, check out this fine roundup of political junkies wrestling with this issue. (Compiled by TPM Cafe’s Greg Sargent.)

    It begins:

    ... Some say the netroots deserve credit because they had the guts, foresight and online organizational clout to push quirky but principled candidates whose strongly articulated opinions slowly generated appeal among voters. Others point out Rahm’s fundraising helped “netroots” candidates at least as much as the bloggers did, and note Rahm’s successful pragmatic candidate-recruitment. A third school of thought holds there’s plenty of credit to go around and the two camps actually complement each other.

  • Also: Check out this San Francisco Chronicle article that details how Pelosi helped boost the Democrats to power.

  • And learn more about the presumed new Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, in this N.Y. Times profile.


  • New and Improved Comments

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    By Quy Tran, November 15, 2006 at 6:54 pm Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Hang them high ! Just hang them high !

    Report this

    By Allen, November 15, 2006 at 11:54 am Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    GWB should be hung right along side S. Hussein for leading us into a war that can’t be won, that we can’t seem to get out of, to act on advice from neocons like Wolfowitz. whether Nancy said we wouldn’t try to impeach Skippy is alot like himsaying ‘I’m a uniter, not a divider.’ If I see the future at all (&I don’t) she’ll allow lots of noise on the matter.

    also glad to see you praising the peeps who got the Country going again.

    Report this

    By Bob, November 14, 2006 at 1:48 pm Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Just curious. What did the Democrats stand for in this election?  The only claims I heard them make were it’s time for a change and this canidate vote with President Bush 95% of the time. 

    Now that your obstructionist party is in charge just sit back and watch how they do nothing just like they did when they were the minority. 

    Notice they never have any good ideas they just vote against everything that the Republicans want to do.

    Margaret Curry

    You are right the is a lot of voter fraud. Do some research on how many false and incorrect voter registrations A.C.O.R.N. put through.

    Also, I’m thinking about switching to Democrat so that I can vote when I’m dead.  lol

    Report this

    By Margaret Currey, November 13, 2006 at 2:11 pm Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Liberman is a good man and deserves to be in Washington, a lot of people if they had the choice would be on the Liberal party, or the Independent party, or the Green party, etc.  The DEMS and GOP parties are more alike than different, the thing that should be done is get the special interests out of Washington and to do that there is a need for just two major parties.  The people who are in the lobby business get rich at the expense of the taxpayers.  The war was pushed through by the Republicians because Bushie boy was handled by a group of Hawks and the Chaney Rumsfeld party was also the most for hiding information from their own government.  Thank God that people saw through all the lies and half lies that were being thrown aroung.  Now all people have to realize is that the Great state of Fla. is still stealing votes, that state has the largest of the touch screen voting machines than Washington or Oregon.  In other words Fla. the state that bought us Kathleen Harris and her friends also bought us the voting machines that were set up, after all almost everyone knew the House was going to win, so knowing that the machine was set up to somehow malfunction for the right canadiate, I mean to loose by 300 or 400 results is bending the mind, and it does not take much to suspect that something unfair is cooking, after all Fla. is still a Republician state, and the state has to look after all the snowbirds.

    Report this

    By MightAsWell, November 13, 2006 at 10:14 am Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    MoveOn.org did much more than raise money. They organized grassroots volunteers to make almost 7,000,000 calls to Democrats in 60+ Congressional Districts. Congratulations to all who gave precious time to turn America around.

    Report this

    By Liking Pelosi more every day, November 13, 2006 at 7:02 am Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Comment #37778 by John Doraemi:

    I’m on your side: Bush and his neocon friends need to go to jail.

    But don’t give up on Pelosi. She’s doing some interesting things. She’s denied key chairmanships to Democratic pro-Israel hawks and hacks. Most notably, she’s not having Jane Harman for the intel committee chair. She’s also pushing for antiwar Murtha - not AIPAC darling Steny Hoyer - as majority leader. I think she’s willing to let a lot of investigations - with key antiwar Democrats leading the House - proceed to the point where the PUBLIC will start clamoring for impeachment. Then she can just ride the wave.

    Report this

    By Sheriff Ali, November 13, 2006 at 1:58 am Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    WINNING IS ONLY THE BEGINNING

    The American Voters have spoken
    The Democrats they have chosen,
    But if they begin to walk with a swagger
    They’ll place us in further danger

    Americans are looking for resolve
    And not for disparity to further evolve
    We must again honor the Constitution
    And refrain from retribution

    Our Government is a democracy
    It is not a Theocracy,
    President Bush must stop being a dictator
    And no longer continue to be a fabricator

    Divided we will fall
    Despite standing tall,
    Together we can withstand
    Enemies of any brand!

    © Sheriff Ali 2006

    Report this

    By Joe Craine, November 12, 2006 at 4:58 pm Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Greenback,

    You left off an important item;

    The use of radioactive weapons of mass destruction against a civilian populace.

    DU (depleted uranium) is radioactive and it is the primary weapon being used in Iraq.  It has covered all of Iraq and most of the middle east, including Israel (also using it) with U238 dust, being breathed by everyone in the area.

    Report this

    By Joe Craine, November 12, 2006 at 4:43 pm Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Red Joe Lieberman deserves credit also.  The best eveidence shows he used his repug connections to win in CT;
    http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/senate/
    448,077 votes for Ned
    http://clerk.house.gov/members/electionInfo/2000/2000Stat.htm
    448,077 votes for Phil
    911 commission believers will say, hey, that’s a statistical possibility.
    http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/11/10/what-are-the-odds/
    http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:3eOd95GA7skJ:empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/11/10/what-are-the-odds/+"448,077"&hl=xx-elmer&ct=clnk&cd=1

    Others will say, Lieberman cheated.

    Report this

    By John Doraemi, November 12, 2006 at 4:29 pm Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Rahm Emmanuel is a pro war neocon, part of why this country is immoral and beyond reform:


    How Rahm Emanuel Has Rigged a Pro-War Congress
    http://counterpunch.org/walsh10142006.html

    Emanuel’s War Plan for Democrats
    http://counterpunch.org/walsh10242006.html

    Pelosi, same, and she’s coddling the tyrant Bush, refusing to impeach before even given the choice.  Pelosi is unfit to be speaker of the house and should be challenged before given the opportunity.  We need impeachments, indictments and a total reversal of the classic fascist policies of the Bush junta.  We do not need collaborator scum to rub the bellies of the pig-ignorant masses.

    http://crimesofthestate.blogspot.com/

    Report this

    By Tom, November 12, 2006 at 7:02 am Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    To: Comment #37624 by Julia Glifford on 11/11 at 7:58 am

    This type of anti-Semitic comment would be a treason in most european countries (including germany). So enjoy your freedom in this particular area.

    Report this

    By Kath Cantarella, November 12, 2006 at 3:03 am Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Greenback, why are you impugning Nancy Pelosi? On what grounds? Is it because she’s Italian, or because she’s female? If neither of those, please explain.

    Report this

    By Rich, November 12, 2006 at 1:37 am Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Hey Independents and Republicans helped vote for change as well as Democrats, lets not forget that.

    Report this

    By mill, November 11, 2006 at 11:51 pm Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    I really think that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Abramoff, Delay, Brownie, Foley and Hasert lost the election

    the Democrats have won control of the agenda in Congress ... it remains to be seen if they can do something with it

    it is sad to see some posters caught up in revenge

    the national interest is best served if the Democrats push hard for positive change in our foreign and domestic policies .... if you’re disappointed that more extreme candidates didn’t win,  maybe you just don’t have the votes to implement your point of view - better organize, like the religious right did, take your case to voters, or you’ll remain irrelevant - i’m delighted that Pelosi and Schumer pushed for candidates who could actually win in places like Virginia —- instead of the usual approach .. push the preferred of the party insiders ... and get thumped at the polls because (us) centrists trust those even less than the right-wingers

    Report this

    By Not buying it, November 11, 2006 at 4:06 pm Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Comment #37624 by Julia Glifford is such an anti-semitic caricature of the antiwar position, it could well have been written by someone trying to create the impression that we who rightly denounce Israel’s role in dragging the US into war are anti-semites yearning for another holocaust.

    Come off it, “Julia”. Whether you’re for real or not, you’re pathetic.

    Report this

    By Thomas Ward, November 11, 2006 at 11:13 am Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Give everyone credit,  My reccomendation is w bush the murderous frat boy.  Hiz drunken parties on the blood of the victims, torture of suspected victims and removal of all our rightes so he could prosecute anyone anywhere without any oversight. He deserves the lines (lions?) share of the credit!

    Report this

    By Nancy Shea, November 11, 2006 at 10:10 am Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Thanks to Howard Dean who didn’t give up his plan in the face of a lack of enthusiasm on the part of the DCCC

    Report this

    By Julia Glifford, November 11, 2006 at 8:58 am Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Rahm Emmanuel is an operative for Israel. So this isn’t an anti war victory.

    Now we will see the Dems thumping for war.. only a different war… but on the same people.

    Bush flinched when AIPAC and the neocons said “on to Iran and Syria”. [That’s when his political fortune changed]

    Emmanuel carefully crafted a democratic congress with more Jews in the House and Senate… same game, different voices.

    What a con job!! 

    MY only question is what kind of ‘provocation’ will we see next? A suitcase nuke in California might enlist more Latino Islamophobes to send their children to die for Israel.

    Watch these treasonous bastards play us like the tools we are. 9/11 was a con to enlist Islamophobics to the war party.

    The next “event” will be to stiffen the spine of the anti war party. Same con job. Same masters.

    The Germans knew they had an enemy within. At least they tried to do something about it.

    Report this

    By NO RAHMBO FAN, November 11, 2006 at 7:04 am Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    On your list are a bunch of the kind of “Democrats” that we don’t need in a Congress that needs to stop Bush’s next war - against Iran.

    Rahm Emanuel and Chuck Schumer et al STILL think the Iraq war was a good war merely mismanaged. They are totally on board with the right-wing AIPAC agenda, and that agenda calls for America to complete its self-destruction by undertaking a NATIONAL SUICIDE BOMBING of Iran.

    Report this

    By greenback, November 11, 2006 at 2:30 am Link to this comment
    (Unregistered commenter)

    What now? “Pelosi and Bush are Burying the Hatchet”???What does she mean she’s not going to impeach Bush? She and the creep are “settling their differences,” what? Who in the world does she think she is? First off, she’s not even chosen yet to be the Speaker of the House. Sorry, Nancy, but there’s actually a process and competition for the position. As well, we the people have not spoken on the matter yet; though CNN and FOX and the others have weighed their desire for her quite heavily. The Democrats have been put in power on a mandate of the people to investigate the actions of this Administration which has steered the nation nearly off a cliff, and she’s to set the process of restoring America’s standing in the world and our quality of life, security, and health at home. Pelosi is there because we the people want our Constitution and Bill of Rights restored as of 4pm, friday afternoon, January 5th, 2007. We the people put the Democratsi in charge of the House because we want to get to the bottom of the massive number of deaths in the Gulf Coast which is directly connected to the Administration’s handling of the matter. Katrina was not just a glass of spilled milk, it was negligence to the worst degree demands independent investigation. We the people put the Democrats in power because we no longer want to be dependent on foreign, filthy and archaic Gas & Oil for our energy needs, and we are not going to be happy with simply raising the standard automotive mpg from 21mpg to 25mpg (1925 Ford Model T got 25 mpg). We want alternative energies now, not because we are dreamers, we want it because it is cheap, clean and fucking available. We the people put the Democrats in charge in charge to investigate why the Administration scared the bejeezus out of all of us with the notion that Sadam was minutes away from nuking Disneyland and the rest of America, when in fact we all now know that it was a bold face and well planned out lie. More than that, we now know that the small group in the Administration have had plans for invading Iraq since at least 1999 when they pressed Bill Clinton with the idea of Iraq invasion and US hegemony of the Middle East. We know about the Bush White House meetings with Oil executives and their 2000 pre-invasion plans for private profit pipelines throughout the region. We the people did not put Nancy Pelosi where she is today so that both she and Bush can feel comfortable together at dinner parties. We the people want transparency in government and we want results. We the people put Democrats in charge of the Congress because there has been criminal activity in the White House and we want it stopped and ultimately because we demand the IMPEACHENT of BUSH!

      •  The administration “fixed” intelligence to embark on a war of choice, unsanctioned by international law.
      •  A criminally incompetent lack of planning has caused that conflict to drag on longer than U.S. involvement in World War II, while spurring the nuclear ambitions of the mullahs in Tehran.
      •  Bush authorized the National Security Administration to engage in warrantless wiretaps of American citizens in violation of the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, the doctrine of separation of powers, and the express will of Congress in establishing the fisa courts.
      •  The president has authorized the use of torture in contravention of military law and Article Three of the Geneva Convention, violations of which, as Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy pointedly observed in the Hamdan decision, “are considered ‘war crimes,’ punishable as federal offenses.”
      •  The president has subjected “enemy combatants” to unconstitutional trial by military tribunal, and held American citizens in indefinite detention without access to lawyers or criminal courts.
      •  The administration’s homicidal dithering left more than a thousand of our most vulnerable countrymen to perish, needlessly, under the waters churned by Hurricane Katrina.
    Speker of the House Kucinich sounds much better than Pelosi. This guy is ready to clean the House. Pelosi is readying to go to dinner parties with Bush.??http://www.truthdig.com/intervie…ennis_kucinich/

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