Actually, an association IS a correlation. But neither imply causation.

A good choir is a joy to behold. A good choir provides (or supports) the harmony in the music, giving depth and color and shades of meaning. A good choir helps the whole crowd sing better.

And a good choir makes you want to come to choir practice and not just church!

And a good choir practice is church, at least in my experience.

If the base/choir isn’t motivated, then it won’t motivate the swing voters. It is the base/choir that registers one more voter, makes one more phone call, knocks on one more door, drives one more person to the polls until the fat lady sings. The base does this. Not the squishy middle swing voter. Swing voters can’t be bothered to do that. They need “assurances.” They want winners and sure things.

When a campaign is a winner you can feel it. Ask any of those people in CT who worked on the Lamont campaign. I can guarantee that y’all could feel victory in your bones, couldn’t you? You always can, when the right candidate with the right campaign comes along at the right time. That’s the way it felt in ‘82 when the Dems in Texas won big in the state races. We could feel that victory, and it made us work all the harder. The base’s confidence and hard work and faith made all the difference.

Swing voters don’t jump unless the bandwagon looks interesting–better yet, that something is happening there that they’re missing out on, it looks like the people on the wagon are having the time of their lives. And that’s when they jump. Not before. That does not start without the base.

Preaching to the choir is old school politics 101, and a good candidate understands that. What is so fucking difficult about that to understand?

I had gotten to the point of feeling pretty alone and you guys have made me realize that there are millions of us.

Thanks and I’ll join in when I can!

OT- JC- I am gonna phrase this somewhat generally, but I trust you will understand. Do you happen to remember that person who came to FDL and kept hammering Jane and Christy by saying they weren’t writing about Jill Carroll (which was wrong)? He kept linking his blog, which was full of anguish, but had absolutely no practical information as to how to help. Initially people responded with practical info themselves, but then got fed up because it appeared that all he wanted to do was rant. I’ve seen this kind of person on other blogs. I don’t see them as trolls. Maybe something like “all piss and no vinegar”, if I understand that phrase correctly.

Yes, VG, I do remember him, but I cannot recall his handle.

Oklahoma kiddo @ 77

angie @ 57

For fans of Ann Richards, have a look at this fabulous photo essay here– on the left of the page.

If by “objectiftying” you mean that am I referring to Gov. Richards as an ideal, then yes I am.

*warning: gag alert b/c of some dubya photos but not too many!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200…..n_richards

Ann Richards: THE Yellow Rose of Texas. Some ‘things’ grow really well in the dry soil of the Lone Star State. Richards was one of those ‘things’.

Are you objectifying women?

If by “objectifying” you are asking if I am holding Gov. Richards up as an ‘ideal’, then, yes I am. I am not being gender specific.

egregious @ 75

Morris Sheppard @ 60

Eli @ 58

I’m just perpetually amazed at how a frickin’ law professor can sound like a right-wing Paris Hilton.

Some people, like us mostly, think of the law as a way to achieve justice and keep order in society. Others think of it as a way to learn how to screw people. Some of the latter kind even teach.

This is what the Soviets did. My uncle was an expert in Soviet “law.” Everything was against the law. But the law was/is only enforced against people they wish to intimidate, silence, extract money from, or crush. Sound familiar?

In Soviet Russia, law is against *you*!

For many Americans it is already Soviet enough. When I worked in law enforcement, narcotics officers called their grand jury and trial testimony “testilying.” Once the system gets onto a black, Hispanic or Native American, the law and the truth become subsidiary to the system itself.