Voting blocs can attain the electoral strength they need to win Congressional elections even when their candidates face strong opponents with seductive messaging machines that are well-financed by special interests. They can do so by conducting sustained, systematic campaigns to increase the membership of their blocs and form electoral coalitions.

Both strategies are built around the Interactive Voter Choice System’s consensus-building tools, including the Voting Utility. These tools enable voters to continue negotiating and even voting on which priorities they wish to include in common agendas, until they can identify the combinations of priorities that attract the number of votes required to beat their candidates’ opponents. This process also enables them to build electoral bases that outflank and outmaneuver those of stand-alone, special interest-controlled parties and voting blocs, whose members are constrained to accept fixed, narrow-gauge, special interest agendas.

In case you hadn’t noticed, there is a Senate primary in Colorado – pitting a Conservadem – Michael Bennet vs a people powered candidate, Andrew Romanoff – who has taken the Obama pledge to take no PAC money.
(Conservadem is not my label, Rachel Maddow gave Senator Bennet that name for joining Evan Bayh’s coalition of conservative democrats)
Despite millions of corporate dollars being spent by Michael Bennet, Andrew Romanoff has taken the lead in polls with the Primary on August 10th.
Pundits have written that Romanoff’s win will send a message throughout politics, that we the grassroots voters, can reverse the Corporate Stranglehold on Congress .

HR 2687 was introduced to end the practice of mailing at taxpayers’ expense in the 110th Congress but died in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

To set up a wave election you need a compelling national reason to fire the party in control of the Congress. Republicans have been looking for anything to make this happen. They believed that the Health Insurance Reform bill would be the ticket, however, as time has gone by and popular things like the end to pre-existing conditions for kids and the end of rescissions have started this issue has faded with the independent voters. They might still find something; after all there have been scandals like Rep. Eric Massa of New York and ethics problems like Rep. Charlie Rangel also of New York.

The thing is none of these have lead to a meme that suggests that the Democrats should be fired. A big part of this is that the Republicans candidates are making a habit of self-immolation.

"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"

It can happen at anytime in a campaign. Things are going along great, you are ahead in the polls then someone looks up, sniffs the air and asks “Do you smell smoke?” Then before you know it; Whoosh! Your candidate has said or done something that makes their candidacy burst into 70 foot tall flames. Self-immolation is an occupational hazard of running for office, but it seems the there is a rash of it in the Republican Party this cycle.

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As the meme of Republican inevitability in 2010 rises, there’s a cautionary tale…that nobody seems to be reading inside the USA.

The lesson of this campaign is, simply put, in offering what this country desperately needs, be true to yourself, i.e., do not be what you are not.