"Part of the reason why the GOP wins elections and the Democrats have their hopes dashed stems from the party’s failure to communicate effectively, its failure to target and get their voters to the polls, and its failure to counter the GOP’s disinformation and preemptive smear campaigns with effective and early messaging of its own. At this point, I have seen nothing from Rahm Emanuel or Chuck Schumer that indicates any of this will be fixed by Election Day, thereby relegating the Democrats to another night of disappointment in November if we simply count on our base to come out in greater numbers than a supposedly demoralized GOP base. The Republicans always seem to get their sheep to the polls to vote against their self-interest. What the Democrats need to do is use the anti-Bush anger of their base and marry it with an overall national message of eliminating the rubber-stamp Congress to get independents to come along with us this fall. - - - Steve Soto