I’ve been wondering about this lately. It used to be the CW that while Presidential elections were supposedly won by appealing to a wide swath of the electorate, off-year elections like 2006 were supposedly won by firing up the base.
This isn’t something the blogsphere just cooked up; as a matter of fact, I haven’t seen anyone mention this old chestnut there. But this was the CW long before there was a blogsphere.
So is this still the route to victory in a year like 2006? Why or why not? And if so, when are the Dems going to start doing stuff to fire up their base, so they can win in the fall?
Dems strategy: fire up the radical base without alienating the wimpy middle and simultaneously appealing to the right on NatSec issues. Oughtn’t to work, but it might, considering the degree of contempt brewing in the electorate for the Man Who Fell Up.
The Pubbie’s will most likely try another social crisis issue. Atheist penguins illegally immigrating, the Dems plan to force Eagle Scouts into gay marriages, something like that.
To be a progressive democrat means to place your faith in the people, however battered that faith may become. If the people lead, the leaders will follow. Lets just pray that Lincoln was right on that “fool the people” thingy.
A few months ago, I got a mass email from Howard Dean (I think), unveiling the fancy new Democratic plan for taking back Congress. Finally! I thought. A plan! I’ll get to see the issues on which Democrats will run!
No such luck: the sixteen-page plan contained about two sentences of issues, and those sentences both derided the Republicans’ issues. The remainder of the plan talked about how they were going to do grassroots campaigning.
It infuriated and disgusted me. This ain’t a football game–I’m not automatically a fan of the home team. I want to see what I’ll be voting for, not just hear the coach’s gameplan! It seems to me that Democrats have been treating politics like a sports game for too long, not focusing on issues, not standing for anything, and have sufered grievously for it.
But maybe you’re right. Maybe that’s exactly what they need to do for a midterm election.
Daniel
Really? It seems to be an article of faith among liberals that “the people” are idiots for liking Bush. See What’s Wrong with Kansas. Liberal Democrats have nothing but contempt for the common man since the common man refuses to listen to their exalted wisdom about whom he should support for public office.
You are also assuming “the common man refuses to listen.” In light of “black-box voting” technology currently in use, this is not necessarily a well-founded assumption.
Perhaps, but I saw a lot of “why is the rest of America so stupid?” discussions after the 2004 election.
No, I’m just saying that this is what liberals assume. I actually think the common man did listen and he rejected the liberal platform. The common man knows that high taxes, more regulation, and higher government spending is bad for him. He also knows the way to get ahead is through a job, not a government program. Liberals, however, cannot fathom that anyone would refuse to accept their enlightened opinions, and instead say that they merely have a communications problem.
Or, if not a communications problem, then liberals think they really did win, but the elections were all stolen.
Whatever. Keep fixating on these myths and you’ll keep losing elections.
I am mere raising the very real possibility that some were. In a two-party system, and one in which the electorate is as closely split as it is now, you don’t need to steal every election – just those you might not win otherwise, and just enough of those to get voting majority.
CW?
continuous wave? Civil War? clockwise?
Can you define your acronyms?
Democrats should be concentrating on the issues that Republicans have given up: balanced budget, less intrusive government, against pork barrel funding, against government corruption. The generic smaller, leaner government reform package. That’s what got the Republicans’ current upswing started in the 90s, but they’ve conveniently forgotten.
Whether you want to call that playing to the base or the center, someone else can decide.
I’m curious: do you have any evidence for that assumption, or is that just a wild guess? 'Cause the GOP are setting the bar pretty high in this area; it’s difficult to imagine any party having less fiscal restraint than the current GOP.
I think firing up anyone - base or no - does have two components: one is standing up and saying, “NO” to the stuff the other guys are doing that you think is wrong, and the other part is saying what you’d do if you won.
The Dems seem to spend most of their time shying from a fight - any fight. And that’s the way to un-fire the base, IMHO. I’d like to see the Dems take a stand on anything. They’ve only taken two stands since the last election - Social Security (and boy howdy, was that a close one), and the ports issue, where they had plenty of GOP company, so it wasn’t like it took much courage. From bankruptcy ‘reform’ to Feingold’s censure resolution, the Dems seem to be more scared of their own shadows than anything else.
At any rate, I share your disgust. I got a letter from Hillary today, asking for money to elect Dem Senators. She said we had a choice between standing up and fighting, or rolling over and capitulating to the GOP majority. I’ve missed the part where she’s stood up and fought them.
I am a progressive Republican (where is the Bull-Moose party when we need it? ) As much as I am disgusted with the movement of my party to the Ultra-Right, it’s still better than the people the Democrats put up.
Slick Willie? Remember the self-serving hour-long speech he gave at the the DNC when introducing the real nominee 4 years before he ran? I knew he was an immoral bastard back before he became President. I’m not going to get into a should he have been impeached (yes) or convicted (no) discussion - but let’s just say that when I found out he was getting blow jobs from interns and committing perjury to grand juries, my only response was, “I took this long?!”
Al Gore? At least he invented the internet. The intellectual type that comes across as “I’m better than you.” that Americans love to hate. Might have been a decent President if we never had a crisis, but thank God he was not in the Oval Office during the Columbia Disaster and 9/11. At least some sandpipers would have had nice beaches to run on.
John Kerry? Tax everyone and give it to everyone else (I think). Actually, I’m not sure what his politics were beyond “Republicans are evil.”, “Republicans will overturn Roe v. Wade.”, “Republicans will make poor people eat their children as a low-cost alternative to turkey at Thanksgiving.”, etc. It especially bothered me that he was the Demos’ second choice once they realized Howard Dean was utterly insane.
By the way, listen to Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation”. The line “You just sit and wait around. YYYYOOOWWWWW!” It’s the same damn howl!!
But the reality is that voting for President anymore is like deciding whether or not you want to be poked in the left eye or the right one.
Because so far they seem to have neither. Hell, The democrats can’t even get behind a resolution to censure Bush for things they generally agree he’s done wrong.
In the last election, I didn’t vote for Bush or Kerry. I didn’t like Bush, but Kerry gave me no reason to vote FOR him. I keep hearing that he had a plan, but it usally had something to do with directing us to his website. Fine and good, but could we at least have the bullet points in your speech? Could you at least tell us what you would do to fix Iraq?
Give me some plan, any plan to judge. Democrats, stop being fucking pussies and show us that you can do more then criticize, that you can lead!
It’s not an assumption, it’s a fact. Look at the amendments they offer during consideration of the budget resolutions and appropriations bills. Look at their opposition to budget reconcilation bills that trim a tiny portion of future growth from entitlement programs. Look at their statements when the President releases his budget about how we need more spending for programs x, y, and z (even when these programs are proposed to be increased by the President).
Anyone who thinks the Democrats are the party of fiscal responsibility needs to have his or her head examined.
) As much as I am disgusted with the movement of my party to the Ultra-Right, it’s still better than the people the Democrats put up.