3/23/2006

You Talking To Me, Republicrat?

Why can't the left get traction? I mean, let's just throw this out here. We are statistically an "educated demographic", sometimes excessively so- and we are committed, passionate people. Aren't we? We have righteousness and evidence on our side. And yet, we seem unable to translate our outrage into constructive actions...(continued)

It goes around, this little chat. "Its a lack of message" "lack of credibility""lack of sincere dedication, too much talking, not enough doing" etc.

Now I often think it is a matter of people embracing a certain position without really thinking it through simply because it is the position of others, and this occurs on both sides. And it is hard to commit to what you have handed to you versus what you have determined about the way you genuinely feel.

Further, people cannot get past their assumptions about what the other side is about, what they stand for, and the view is fixed and inflexible. You CANNOT be a liberal but oppose affirmative action, or be a feminist and be pro-life, or be a conservative that cares about the environment!! And yet- there are many such hybrid freaks.

And what gets lost from the strategy end is the fact that elections are often decided by that pool of voters in the middle. What do we do to reach out to them? Should we? Do we insist on extremes that alienate the 'middle'? Are we unwilling to yield on issues because we view everything as a rope being tugged back and forth, and conceding one thing will send us tumbling? Is it "selling out" to try to appeal to mainstream America? Is it about which party 'wins' or what is best?

My Republican friend tells me: "Its not a message issue, its a focus problem. You guys cannot seem to separate your priorities from your fantasies. You vascillate, you flit around from cause to cause like issue addicts. You end up with too much information, but too few skills to apply that to anything constructive. You speak the same language, know the culture, but are too wimpy to step away from your comfort zones to really align yourselves with mainstream concerns."

So whats the problem from our point of view?

On the subject...

The New York Times reviewed the book "Crashing the Gate" by Armstrong and of course the founder of Daily Kos-the lefty must read blog. Here are excerpts from that review if you are interested:

In early 2004, journalists began noticing
something strange about Democratic primary voters
in Iowa and New Hampshire: they talked like
political consultants. Instead of gushing about
which presidential contender had won their heart,
they analyzed who could attract swing voters in
the general election. Large numbers said
"electability" was their greatest concern.
Expecting to speak to birds, the journalists
found themselves speaking to ornithologists
instead.

In retrospect, this phenomenon is not hard to
explain. First, the long exodus of conservative
white Southerners has made the Democratic Party
more ideologically homogenous. As late as 1976,
when Henry (Scoop) Jackson and George Wallace
sought their party's presidential nomination, the
ideological differences among Democratic primary
contenders exceeded those in the general
election. Today, by contrast, a liberal primary
voter can focus on electability, secure in the
knowledge that anyone his party nominates will be
far more ideologically congenial than any
conceivable Republican opponent. Second, cable
television and the Internet have made
do-it-yourself punditry much easier. Now everyone
has access to the polling data and fund-raising
numbers that insiders have long used to gauge
electoral horse races. By the time a voter
decides whether she likes a candidate, she
usually knows who else likes him too.

If the 2004 Democratic primary represented one
milestone in the democratization of strategic
thinking, "Crashing the Gate," by Jerome
Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Z�niga, is
another. Armstrong and Moulitsas are
self-conscious outsiders, successful liberal
bloggers determined to overthrow the "Beltway
mafia" that runs the Democratic Party in
Washington. And yet they have written a manifesto
devoted almost entirely to political procedure.
Behind their indignant, even revolutionary
rhetoric, Armstrong and Moulitsas seem angry
about just one thing - that the Democratic Party
continues to lose.

As a critique of how the party organizes itself,
"Crashing the Gate" is persuasive. The authors
detail how unmeritocratic the world of Democratic
political consultants actually is. They argue
convincingly that the party hasn't adapted to a
newly diffused media environment, in which
campaign messages must be far more narrowly
targeted than in the past. They call on
single-issue groups to abandon their litmus tests
and band together in common cause. They even
criticize liberal organizations for not paying
their employees a market wage, and thus failing
to nurture political talent as effectively as
their counterparts on the right.

With their shrewd proposals for changing how the
Democratic Party does business, Armstrong and
Moulitsas nicely illustrate their larger point:
that in the Internet age, you don't need to be a
Washington insider, or a veteran operative, to
run a political party. It's probably no
coincidence that Moulitsas, the founder of the
popular blog Daily Kos, did a stint in Silicon
Valley. In his complaints about the Democratic
establishment, he sounds like the head of Google
describing General Motors: the party is slow,
top-heavy and destined for obsolescence unless it
makes a radical change in its culture.

What Moulitsas, along with his co-author,
emphatically does not sound like is a denizen of
the far left. Ever since Howard Dean's
presidential campaign, from which many of the
party's Internet-based critics sprang,
commentators have depicted the liberal
blogosphere as a revolt against the centrism of
the Clinton years. But "Crashing the Gate" is
explicitly nonideological. "Even though we have
described the obstacles to modernizing the
progressive movement," they write, "our
criticisms aren't fueled by significant
disagreements of vision." Most people in the
Democratic Party basically want the same thing,
they suggest. The insiders are just too timid and
outdated to achieve it.

Only in an age in which ideological divisions
closely track partisan ones would such an
assertion be possible. In the past - when the
Democratic party included both George McGovern
and George Wallace - it would have been
inconceivable. The problem is that while
Armstrong and Moulitsas are confident that
Democrats largely share the same principles, they
concede they can't define what those are. "This
hasn't been a book about policies or new ideas or
message," they write, "even though those are
critically important in taking back our country.
We like to believe the ideas that will lead the
Democratic Party to a new governing majority
already exist, but they need to be articulated
clearly."

Armstrong and Moulitsas don't deprecate the
importance of ideas. To the contrary, they insist
that "without ideas we have nothing." Yet having
written a book about process, they are forced to
argue that from the procedural changes they
advocate some kind of coherent vision will flow.
"Someday," they suggest, "we will get past our
divisions and our old ways and rebuild our
institutions of power. And when we have all that,
we will approach 10 random people on the street
and ask them, 'What does the Democratic Party
stand for?' and they will all give the same
answer."

But that's probably not true. Armstrong and
Moulitsas' template for a Democratic revival is
the Republican Party after 1964. In 1964, the
Republicans nominated Barry Goldwater, who,
though he lost big, starkly highlighted the
differences between the parties. Then, in the
1970's, they say, Republicans created the network
of think tanks and pressure groups later labeled
the "counterestablishment," which helped lay the
groundwork for the election of Ronald Reagan.
Since this model starts with a clarifying,
uncompromising presidential candidate and moves
to an organizational overhaul, it suits Armstrong
and Moulitsas' purposes. Just substitute Howard
Dean for Barry Goldwater. The problem is that
it's historically inaccurate.

Modern conservatism didn't begin in the 1960's,
with a presidential candidate followed by a burst
of institution building. It began in the
mid-1950's, when the founders of National Review
fused antistatism, cultural traditionalism and
fierce anti-Communism to create the core vision
of the American right. Goldwater gave that vision
broad exposure, and institutes like the Heritage
Foundation turned it into policy. But the vision
came first.

During the 1980's, the Democratic Party tried to
reinvent itself by concentrating on procedural
changes. In 1984 and 1988, Democrats addressed
their post-Vietnam weakness by limiting the
influence of liberal interest groups in the
nominating process. In the run-up to 1984, the
party created "superdelegates" - politicians who
were presumably more in tune with average voters
than the issue activists who had dominated
Democratic conventions since 1972. In 1988,
moderate Democrats instituted Super Tuesday, a
bloc of mostly Southern primaries intended to
steer the nominating process to the center. Both
these reforms failed.

What worked, in the years after 1988, was the
Democratic Leadership Council's effort to recast
party principles: to insist that the
beneficiaries of government programs act
responsibly; to embrace market mechanisms as a
means for achieving social justice; and to
identify stronger communities and families as a
key liberal goal. Bill Clinton made those ideas
the centerpiece of his 1992 presidential
campaign. Of course, he was a more gifted
politician than Michael Dukakis or Walter
Mondale. But equally important, he had a stronger
vision to run on.

Armstrong and Moulitsas may well be right that
the next great partisan transformation will be
theirs. In "Crashing the Gate" they have written
an insightful guide to how the Democratic Party
can retake power. Now all they need to do is
figure out why it deserves to.

Credit: NYT, Peter Beinart
Peter Beinart is editor at large at The New
Republic. His book, "The Good Fight: Why Liberals
-- and Only Liberals -- Can Win the War on Terror
and Make America Great Again," will be published
in June.

30 comments:

Rex Kramer, Danger Seeker said...

I have waited YEARS for the hippies to come around and ask me what's wrong with their party, and though I probably shouldn't reply, I will (I just love the sound of my fingers on the keyboard!) In any event, I can boil all of your shortcomings into one small, easy-to-swallow pill...

...we love America more than you!

See how I made all of your issues moot with one statement? That's what we do! That's why we win!

But seriously, stop hating America.

No Blood for Hubris said...

Maybe we just start talking like the Reichwing is already dead. A blog-ton of "After the Fall" postings on the coming struggle for dominance between the Greens and the Dems.

Anonymous said...

The Democrats need to remember who was their base for so many years, until they abandoned them in the nineties to serve the interests of corporate America, while letting extremists drive the rest away.
Yes, they need a common voice, a centered one that knows how to speak to the common American. We vote too.

Anonymous said...

Now all they need to do is
figure out why it deserves to.


Fact is, the Dems don't deserve to regain power. They have no vision and they have no balls.

Anonymous said...

We need something but the Greens are too disorganized and struggling with their internal issues so people don't yet see them as viable. But something needs to stop the democrats from taking progressives for granted. In all fairness though we can't be surprised that they do. Why cater to the shoe ins? They are trying to reach out to middle-road America but unfortunately there is little difference between the parties at this point.
Hate to say it- everyone will shoot me with hippie weapons and call me a fascist or something- but what about civil unions and first trimester abortions? Spousal rights but comprimise on terminology, and stop later abortions because many people view it as barbaric? It reserves the option for all those situations and it reserves it as a choice but it is not a free for all. These are the big divisive topics.I think most Americans are in favor of choice but think it should be early. Not any time. And many see civil unions as appropriate. But then the left say 'all or nothing' and the right say 'all or nothing, no way" and so back and forth. But neither represents the majority of americans. Dare I say though that in a Democracy , majority rules even if you don't like it, thats democracy? If you even call this democracy. But the will of the people should be the prevailing way, right? I don't know, I'm not trying to anger anyone.

Anonymous said...

I think the following would be a winning national strategy. Of course individual democrats would be able to accept all/most/or none of the agenda, which would be the official answer to want democrats believe. They should tend towards an isolationist military policy, a conservative fiscal policy and a liberal social policy. (I actually think you should be able to marry your dog.)

They should offer a radical, Pro-science Energy Policy. If Dems act now, they can “own” this issue. Granted, you have to tread carefully here - don't over promise, and do acknowledge the scientific realities of alternative sources of energy, but also point out the obvious reality of oil: sooner or later it will run out and something will need to take its place.

Remember a preacher named Martin Luthor King? I’m pretty sure he would have voted against Bush. There’s a very viable (albeit, often pro-life) religious left that could use some more face time at the Democratic conventions. If the secularist urbanites in the room start to complain about the sudden influx of religion, tell them to shut up – it’s for the good of the party.

Support the Military – support pay increases for the military, b) Provides flak jackets, increased armaments and necessary equipment for soldiers at war, c) Name the bill after a soldier who was burned to death in Iraq because he didn’t have the materials provided in b, d) How do you pay for it? Tax increase. (Maybe a gas tax?) Find me an American who’s going to complain (loudly) about a tax increase to support the troops. e) Keep in mind, it doesn’t matter if the Bill fails (unless you’re in the military.) You just need to be seen rooting for it.

Go after the South – the South is filled with a) Blacks, b) Hispanics, and c) poor whites – three groups that stand to benefit from Dem policies – this truly is a scar on the Party. I don’t know what you have to do to win some Southern states back, but start doing it. (Idea 1 – Don’t push for gay marriage, settle for civil unions.) And keep in mind, you don’t need the whole populace of one state, just 51%.

Take over Iraq as a topic. Democratic Senators and Congressmen should become the patron saints of the Iraqi people. Push for nationalization of Iraqi oil resources (similar to Alaska’s oil fund.) Start up drives to send medicine and toys to be distributed by the troops. Demand that the 18 billion dollars of reconstruction money that’s been sitting in limbo gets spent. Visit the country, and often. At best, you’ll gain points for being the side that fixed (or tried to fix) George Bush’s Iraq war quagmire. At worst you’ll help a whole lot of suffering people.

Take over the Deficit as a topic. Attack Republican waste and pork barrel spending. Mention the Bridge-to-Nowhere every day and take over the lobbying reform issue.

Those would be my ideas for starters.

Graeme said...

the working poor. public financing of elections. we also have to find a way to convince people that bush's war on terror creates more terrorists. Economic imperialism. people talk about stopping illegal immigration, how about not allowing multi national corps to reap massive profits in countries by not allowing the people in that country to control their own natural resources. hey, then maybe they will want to stay in their own country.

the problem is dems won't take a stand on any of those issues. some of them they agree with the republicans. when i started my blog, I considered myself voting for democrats. now, i vote against republicans.

maybe it is our winner take all system? i wish we had more third parties. Up in Canada (i am a Canadian citizen as well, so i follow some of their politics) they have the option to vote for the New Democrats, if the liberals start acting like idiots. like the last election for example, people made a big deal out of a conservative win. what really happened is people stopped voting for the liberals just to keep the conservatives out of power. they voted for the New democrats and they gained a lot of seats in parliment.

Feingold is showing some spine and giving me hope. i hope to God he runs for pres.

Anonymous said...

We are figuring it out.

But, there is a real disconnect between the Democratic leadership, who should be representing the left in this country, and leftists.

Even with something like Feingold's censure, many Democrats feel that he's rocking the boat.

Meanwhile, a majority of the American people say they would support impeachment if Bush did indeed break the law and order illegal wiretaps on American citizens.

Then there is also the disconnect between the Democratic leadership and the Netroots and Grassroots.

Finding political power in Washington means finding leaders who will faithfully represent us.

Rhino-itall said...

Ben, are you smoking crack or what? The left OWNS the main stream media. Radio and Fox news reach a fraction of the people that abc, nbc, cbs reach, not to mention the Clinton News Network, and of course msnbc etc.
The Right has talk radio locked down because EVERYTHING else is so liberal! The times was beating the war drum? well they've been beating the president LIKE a drum since before his first term.
I wasn't going to get involved in this discussion, because it doesn't really concern me, but i had to comment on this one part.
Oh and i listened to some of your stuff, not bad.

Yukkione said...

Dems need to agree to be fiscally responsible. That needs to be the cornerstone of any nationally recognizable platform. They need to talk about intelligent national security priorities such as port security, border security, and pre flight cargo baggage screening. They need to talk about the health care crisis and how it affect employers ability to keep more people employed and be competitive with other countries. Sticking to the basics will go along way with middle america.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Ben and hope his cd does well ...I think that if the media are critical of a joke administration then they are REFRESHINGLY doing their jobs. The liberal media argument is outdated, and as I have said very often your perception is also due to the fact that you have a distorted sense of "liberal media" from the onset.

The Aurora has tea and crumpets for liberals today. Thats just generous bloggery. Thanks Rhino.

Yukkione said...

General Electric, Clear Channel, Rupert Murdock, Fox. Look at all those lefty communist media owners!

Rhino-itall said...

lefty and lily, you guys are just not realistic. I put up quotes not to long ago from members of the media themselves who admit the bias. I'm not talking about fox news people, i'm talking about commies like jonathan alter (newsweek) and i'm not talking about 20 years ago, these were recent quotes.
see it or don't see it, but it's a fact.

Anonymous said...

You guys sound like Democrats and Republicans are two different parties. :D

Rhino-itall said...

good point. Larry Elder says Republican Democrat, not a dimes worth of difference.
We need a third party, maybe the Reaganite party! i like the sound of that.

Rhino-itall said...

by the way guys, getting rid of that word verification was a good move, that shit is a pain in the ass!

Anonymous said...

I have your list, do you want me to post it Rhino? As you know we have argued this before so I hesitate to do it unless you really feel the need. What the media themselves say is less telling to me than who the owners are and their public disclosures of big bucks to right wing causes. Thats what I look at. Who they ANSWER to. Now some media outlets let their little token liberals have their fun... but what about the research that has been done on actual analysis of how many minutes on each side's issues? Would you dispute that?

Also- they criticize whoever is in the White House. Because for these recent years they talked about Bush, you conclude they are liberal? They were no less critical of Clinton, you are basing the fact that they presently cover a Republican administration to bolster your argument that they are liberal when actually they are not.

Further, do you see coverage of lefty ISSUES?

They cover a lot of Brad and Angelina too- which just makes them shitty.

Anonymous said...

On word verification-
We aim to please- Reagaphilic bastards too.

Too many complaints. I myself could never read the damn things.

Rhino-itall said...

lily i have seen the studies, and they overwhelmingly prove my point.

lefty's are not tokens, they are the establishment in the media, it's the conservatives who are the tokens. To say it's who they ANSWER TO doesn't hold water either. If that was the case, half these news people wouldn't have a job!

I honestly don't think we need to go over this again, but the bottom line is the people doing the news believe it's biased, believe THEY are biased. If you think you know better what's in their brain than they do, i can't really argue with that.

i see lefty issues every day. don't you?

Rhino-itall said...

ok lily, now it's started at my blog. people are asking me if you're hot, and if we're "hanging out"
My answers were Yes, and only in lily's dreams.

Anonymous said...

Go to hell Rhino.

I'll turn word verification back on.

Man, I hate you.

Anonymous said...

Hey! I get rino's arguement, because reporters are liberals, that must mean that they have a bias! What we really have is a corporate media, the bottom line is all it answers to and if a liberal slant on a story can get viewers to stay tuned through commercials, that's the angle they play. But a corporate sponsor can have a story killed if it places them in an unflattering light. I also wonder how many print sources are "liberal'. I know the Cooterville Press is as right wing as the John Birch Society, that's why I don't buy it.I wonder if Richard Mellon Scaife funded all the studies rino speaks of?

Rhino-itall said...

actually ron, they aren't just admitting that they're liberal, they're admitting a liberal media bias. The studies are what they are, i can show you mine, you can show me yours. either way the people that do the reporting, edit the news, pick the stories to cover etc. are mostly all libs.

lily, don't fight it, you're just making it harder.

Rhino-itall said...

i meant more difficult for yourself.

Anonymous said...

It should be enough for the Dems to simply say we're not incompetent. If the electorate takes nothing else form these last 5 years...they should recognize that never has there been a more incompetent administration or congress in modern times. Yes Reagan barely knew where he was most of the time, but Jr. can hardly find his ass with both hands.

Anonymous said...

Talk of third party development is time wasted. People in the USA like things simple, " I'll vote for him, and you'll vote for her". Take the democratic party back, as it is already established. Dem's may have a shot in 2008 at the executive office, as most in this country feel we need something better.
I think the real solution would be getting the ball rolling on electoral college reform. One vote one voice would serve the people better then the current way. I understand the old "need" for the college, but it is by no means needed anymore.
Oh by the way, I miss the word verification, it was as close to academia that I get these days.

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