Almost makes you want to cry…

Democracy Loses…Again
by DoubleSpeak contributor Philip Elwood

de·moc·ra·cy (d-mkr-s)

1. Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.
2. A political or social unit that has such a government.
3. The common people, considered as the primary source of political power.
4. Majority rule.
5. The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community.

One of my primary complaints about the current state of politics is that most of our elected officials would rather betray the founding principles of this country than read them. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights have all been ignored. Senators stand in the Senate well, while House members insert their voting cards to pass crazy legislation that would make our founding fathers roll over in their graves. But the definition of “democracy,” I assumed, they all at least knew.

Not Joe Lieberman. There are five articulations of the definition above. Joe missed them all. Government by the people indicates that the ultimate arbiter who governs belongs to the people; those folks said no to Joe. A political unit that has such a government is referring to the party within the structure; they said no to Joe. Next, The common people, considered as the primary source of political power; Joe’s disdain for this apparent from his non-concession-concession speech, in which he indicated that even though his party did not chose him to run, he knew better than them and would fight on. So apparently, it is Joe’s ego that is the greatest social power, not the common people. The forth articulation, Majority rule. 52-48. I think that number says enough. And finally, the principles of social equality and respect for the individual. It would appear that Mr. Lieberman neither respects social equality nor the individuals within the communities he represents; the Democratic Party, the State of Connecticut, his colleagues in the Senate, or the voting population of the country. Joe has simply lost his class.

One final note, Cynthia McKinney is crazy. But, at least she has the decency to concede her loss. Lieberman doesn’t. What do you do when a Representative who hit a cop in the U.S. Capitol has more class than you do? Keep fighting or move on? I’d say, move on Joe, it’s Ned’s turn.

Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) goes down, hard. Congratulations to the next Congressman from the Georgia 4th - Hank Johnson.

Political Wire has more…

If you are sitting down to your computer, drinking your first cup of Joe (ok, I had to) and thinking about the big events up in CT today then you are not alone. Not only does this primary hold the political fate of ancient Senator Joe Lieberman, but it also could be the beginning of a more focused debate on Iraq and redeploying American troops out of harms way.

DoubleSpeak will be here all day to give you last minute poll numbers and to give you our take on the action. One thing is for sure- this race will be closer than anticipated as Lieberman’s campaign has blanketed the airwaves in the final days of this campaign and continues to remain negative on Lamont.

“She might not be feeling this good in a few hours”

We will also be covering the GA-4 runoff election between Cynthia McKinney and Hank Johnson. This race leans towards Johnson and has been an especially nasty campaign over the past couple of weeks.

Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the Georgia Democrat who is running for her political life in Georgia’s 4th district, is trailing her opponent Hank Johnson on the eve of this important runoff election.

Check out the Insider’s Advantage poll as reported from WXIA-TV in Atlanta, GA:

Some new polling numbers released Monday in the hotly-contested Democratic runoff for Metro Atlanta’s 4th Congressional district show incumbent Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney continuing to trail her challenger. McKinney is fighting for political survival against tough competition from former two-term DeKalb County Commissioner Hank Johnson.

The latest polling numbers come from a poll of 400 likely voters conducted Friday through Sunday night by InsiderAdvantage. The poll results show Johnson leading with 53 percent of the vote, Congresswoman McKinney has 40 percent, and 7 percent of voters said they were undecided. The margin of error was plus or minus 5 percent.

This is going to be a tough one for McKinney. DoubleSpeak will keep you posted tomorrow night as results come in from Georgia’s runoff election and the Democratic primary up in CT.

Crazed cop-beater/Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney is once again in big political trouble. A new Insider Advantage Poll has McKinney badly trailing her runoff opponent, DeKalb County Commissioner Hank Johnson.

After publicly suggesting that George W. Bush had foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks, voters in Georgia’s 4th Congressional District rejected McKinney’s brand of racial demagoguery in 2002 and instead elected Democrat Denise Majette to represent them. Luckily for McKinney, Majette left the House after just one term to wage an ill-advised, losing campaign for U.S. Senate in 2004, allowing McKinney to reclaim her House seat.

This year, the punditocracy thought McKinney would easily vanquish the lesser-known Johnson. The chattering class was wrong: after garnering less than 50% in the primary on July 18, Johnson and McKinney duke it out in an August 8 run-off.

Hank Johnson, on the other hand, promises “to restore respect to progressivism.” That’s a promise DoubleSpeak likes.

Looks like Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), who is facing her first election since the “smack heard ’round the world” will face have to have a runoff with Hank Johnson, her closest competitor in the race.

From ABCNews:

McKinney, the state’s first black woman elected to Congress, is seeking her seventh term after a scuffle in March with an officer who stopped her when he didn’t recognize her as she entered a House office building. A federal grand jury in Washington declined to indict the congresswoman, but she had to apologize on the floor of the House.

Johnson, a former county commissioner, has roots in McKinney’s core constituency. With 95 percent of precincts reporting, 1,540 votes separated the two. They face an Aug. 8 runoff, and the winner will face Republican nominee Catherine Davis in the heavily Democratic district.

“The battle’s engaged and I intend to win,” said McKinney early Wednesday.