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this. Serious petitioning must now be done to the United Nations, the government of Switzerland or whoever else might serve as a honest broker, willing to serve an international watch dog function to help guarantee the coup that began in 2000 is not given four more years to solidify power.
11) THE HOUSE MUST BE RE-REDISTRICTED: Through redistricting the GOP has already guaranteed that the Democrats have virtually no chance of ever re-taking the House of Representatives. In one fell swoop, with typical vicious cynicism, Rove and DeLay have eliminated a dozen Texas Democrats even before the election is held. Nationwide, the system is now so twisted Democrats could carry the composite House vote by a wide margin and still end up vastly outnumbered on the floor. This was not the intent of the nation's Founders and must be changed, by Constitutional Amendment if necessary. Millions of us, especially in urban areas, have been effectively disenfranchised for years. The Democrats must publicize this curse on the Congress, and then do something about it.
12) PREPARE FOR RACISM & HOMOPHOBIA---The stench from George H.W. Bush's racist 1988 Willie Horton campaign still taints the presidency. In 2000 the GOP machine specifically targeted African-American and Jewish voters in Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas and elsewhere with Jim Crow tactics that threw those states---and the election---to Bush. This year we can expect similar racism and the smearing of gays and whoever else might be available to mobilize the extremist "religious" right. Somebody should replay those Willie Horton ads to remind the nation who these people really are.
13) ENOUGH ABOUT RALPH NADER, ALREADY: For four years Democrats have indulged in blaming Ralph Nader and the Greens for "losing" the 2000 election. But Al Gore won by 500,000 votes. Add Nader's 2.7 million and 2000 represented a powerful Dem-green mandate, which Bush aborted. THAT'S what the Dems should have been screaming about for the past four years.
14) BUSH-ROVE WERE GOING TO STEAL THE ELECTION NO MATTER WHAT: Nader's supporters were not the mindless property of the Democratic party that Ralph somehow hijacked. And a GOP capable of stealing 16,000 votes in a single Florida district was more than capable of stealing all they needed, Nader or no.
15) PICK UP THE PHONE: Nader remains the most effective citizen activist in recent US history. He still draws huge (paying) crowds. He has a phone. And an office with a door that opens. So do the activists who chose to support him, and may yet again if the Dems repeat their folly of 2000. A few phone calls, some meaningful conversation, a search for common ground, some POLITICS, and maybe the Dems can mobilize at least part of an activist hard core they absurdly blew off in 2000. There's absolutely no excuse for doing otherwise.
16) FORGET THE CONFEDERACY: Conversely, those folks driving around with Confederate flags are going to vote for Bush. The old Slave South (Bush's REAL taproot) is not going to come around. But as Norman Solomon and others have pointed out, the Hispanic southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado) is in reach and need to be worked on. If, by miracle, Florida or Texas can be got, it's with Hispanic, not racist white votes. How about New Mexico's Hispanic Gov. Bill Richardson for VP?
17) REMEMBER THE ENVIRONMENT: Not even the bought corporate media can hide that Bush has launched a total kamikaze assault on the natural planet. This is an issue the resonates even with much of the fundamentalist right. Mother Earth is still right up there with apple pie. Forget the Confederate flag. Wave the Green one!!!!!
18) REPEAL THE PATRIOT ACT: Bush's one legitimate applause line was that the Patriot Act is about to expire. Even right wingers like William Safire have been lining up against it. The Dems startled poor Georgie when they clapped for that line in his otherwise pathetic State of the Union. Much of the nation, left and right, feels the same. Use it!
19) REMEMBER WATERGATE AND VALERIE PLAME: Somebody very high up in the White House, probably Karl Rove and/or Dick Cheney, has committed a serious felony (and pissed off the CIA) by outing covert operative Valerie Plame. This cancer is eating away at the junta's core. If there is a single issue to push push push alongside the economy, that may be it. Think dagger to the Constitution. Think Dick Nixon, August 9, 1974, getting on that Plame...er, plane.
20) YOU GOTTA BELIEVE: The mainstream mantra that Bush can't be beaten is only true if we let them steal the vote count again. They've got the money. But they've got Bush. The "inevitability" of his victory is as deep as the headlights in his deer.
21) THE HARDER THEY COME: Our theme song. Buy the Jimmy Cliff album. Dance the dance. "...as sure as the sun will shine.......the harder they come, the harder they fall, one and all....."
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