New Democrat Strategy

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Good plan.

Apparently some democratic strategists feel that catering to the Dems base will only further isolate the party from mainstream America and make it harder to win elections. Duh...

Link

washingtonpost.com
Report Warns Democrats Not to Tilt Too Far Left

By Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 7, 2005; A07



The liberals' hope that Democrats can win back the presidency by drawing sharp ideological contrasts and energizing the partisan base is a fantasy that could cripple the party's efforts to return to power, according to a new study by two prominent Democratic analysts.

In the latest shot in a long-running war over the party's direction -- an argument turned more passionate after Democrat John F. Kerry's loss to President Bush last year -- two intellectuals who have been aligned with former president Bill Clinton warn that the only way back to victory is down the center.

Democrats must "admit that they cannot simply grow themselves out of their electoral dilemmas," wrote William A. Galston and Elaine C. Kamarck, in a report released yesterday. "The groups that were supposed to constitute the new Democratic majority in 2004 simply failed to materialize in sufficient number to overcome the right-center coalition of the Republican Party."

Since Kerry's defeat, some Democrats have urged that the party adopt a political strategy more like one pursued by Bush and his senior adviser, Karl Rove -- which emphasized robust turnout of the party base rather than relentless, Clinton-style tending to "swing voters."

But Galston and Kamarck, both of whom served in the Clinton White House, said there are simply not enough left-leaning voters to make this a workable strategy. In one of their more potentially controversial findings, the authors argue that the rising numbers and influence of well-educated, socially liberal voters in the Democratic Party are pulling the party further from most Americans.

So the Dems strategy in '06: Pretend to be a Republican with a (D) after your name and hope nobody notices. Good plan. Bwaaaaaaaaahahahahahahaha

 

[tec699]

Be like a Republican: A racist person, a person who is poor, a person who is ignorant. Why would I want to be like a Republican?


bwahahahaha...

 

[arsbanned]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
I'm not a complete idiot... Some parts are still on backorder.

Ummm, I think those "backordered parts" must have come in. :roll:

 

[Zebo]

I've always said the democrats should advocate zero taxation since all it is, is a mass wealth transfer from thier rich blue states to poor red ones. They make it too easy for Reds to focus on wedge issues because reds are fat and happy getting lions share of loot. If blues want thier welfare, schools, infrastructure, and seniors housed it should be a state issue. Wanna see Red turn to Blue in a New York second? Cut thier money spigot off from DC.

Ironically, the Republican Party's abandonment of conservatism has given way to liberalism long ago that Karl Marx would be proud of.. Biomedical research keeps moving forward, as do gay rights. The government is getting way bigger, not smaller under thier tooleidge. Connections, corruption and grift instead of merit and honesty rule the day for jobs and contratcs from the biggest union, the united states government.

 

[Jhhnn]

Meh. The one thing that the Third Way has right is that so-called "Conservatives" have successfully vilified the term "Liberal" for 30 years with their prepackaged thinktank rhetoric. Which all sounds fine, except that their actions reveal the deceptiveness at its very core....

Now that they control the govt, they haven't governed well, at all. Just because you have catchy slogans doesn't mean you can actually run things with them.

War on Terror actually means war on Iraq...

"Free, freedom and Liberty" actually means Gitmo and other indefinite detention w/o trial...

"Economic Growth" means only greater inequality, not broad prosperity...

"Taxcuts" and "Stimulus" only mean enormous debt...

"Energy policy" consists of massive giveaways to energy providers and huge cost increases to consumers...

"Bipartisanship" means the political equivalent of date rape, and then gloating over it...

"National security" consists of defense industry pork and giving more people than ever before reason to hate us...

Government, in general, is just a means to cronyism, graft and corruption not seen since the Taft Administration...

Sooner or later, even poorly educated and highly emotional people begin to see that their snakeoil infatuation isn't doing them any good, at all, and they'll run the provider out of town on a rail... It's Dems job to lead that awakening, and to govern productively in localities they control, to get the job done in ways that exemplify good government.

Repubs are in the process of destroying themselves in an orgy of greed, mock piety, and doublespeak- Dems mostly need to let them, as in the whole Schiavo imbroglio...

 

[Zebo]

Good post as usuall Jhhnn

I think you'll like this
http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2005/08/the_persecution.html

 

[Engineer]

The GOP copied the Dem's on socialist pork and spending like hell and then combined the GOP theme of lower taxes to win. Why not the Dem's up them on one....but not possible. Deficits will kick our ass eventually.

 

[Jhhnn]

"Deficits will kick our ass eventually."

Which is the whole point, anyway. Deficits and taxcuts for the wealthy enhance their position, and will eventually hobble the govt, and the will of the People. It's the most profound transfer of wealth and power ever undertaken, a very calculated attack on the fundamentals of egalitarian democracy.

We'll get all the Democracy we can pay for, which won't be much...

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: Zebo
I've always said the democrats should advocate zero taxation since all it is, is a mass wealth transfer from thier rich blue states to poor red ones. They make it too easy for Reds to focus on wedge issues because reds are fat and happy getting lions share of loot. If blues want thier welfare, schools, infrastructure, and seniors housed it should be a state issue. Wanna see Red turn to Blue in a New York second? Cut thier money spigot off from DC.

Ironically, the Republican Party's abandonment of conservatism has given way to liberalism long ago that Karl Marx would be proud of.. Biomedical research keeps moving forward, as do gay rights. The government is getting way bigger, not smaller under thier tooleidge. Connections, corruption and grift instead of merit and honesty rule the day for jobs and contratcs from the biggest union, the united states government.

They do that and there is no way they can promise all those entitlement programs.

 

[Strk]

So they're going to go back to reckless spending that can't be supported by the budget indefinitely?

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: Zebo
I've always said the democrats should advocate zero taxation since all it is, is a mass wealth transfer from thier rich blue states to poor red ones. They make it too easy for Reds to focus on wedge issues because reds are fat and happy getting lions share of loot. If blues want thier welfare, schools, infrastructure, and seniors housed it should be a state issue. Wanna see Red turn to Blue in a New York second? Cut thier money spigot off from DC.

Ironically, the Republican Party's abandonment of conservatism has given way to liberalism long ago that Karl Marx would be proud of.. Biomedical research keeps moving forward, as do gay rights. The government is getting way bigger, not smaller under thier tooleidge. Connections, corruption and grift instead of merit and honesty rule the day for jobs and contratcs from the biggest union, the united states government.

They do that and there is no way they can promise all those entitlement programs.

Sure they can , even more of them since they'll have more money available at the state level. Blue states are in the Red with the federal government, means more flows out than come back in which is less benefit they'd get if all the money stayed in state.

 

[slyedog]

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
Meh. The one thing that the Third Way has right is that so-called "Conservatives" have successfully vilified the term "Liberal" for 30 years with their prepackaged thinktank rhetoric. Which all sounds fine, except that their actions reveal the deceptiveness at its very core....

Now that they control the govt, they haven't governed well, at all. Just because you have catchy slogans doesn't mean you can actually run things with them.

War on Terror actually means war on Iraq...

"Free, freedom and Liberty" actually means Gitmo and other indefinite detention w/o trial...

"Economic Growth" means only greater inequality, not broad prosperity...

"Taxcuts" and "Stimulus" only mean enormous debt...

"Energy policy" consists of massive giveaways to energy providers and huge cost increases to consumers...

"Bipartisanship" means the political equivalent of date rape, and then gloating over it...

"National security" consists of defense industry pork and giving more people than ever before reason to hate us...

Government, in general, is just a means to cronyism, graft and corruption not seen since the Taft Administration...

Sooner or later, even poorly educated and highly emotional people begin to see that their snakeoil infatuation isn't doing them any good, at all, and they'll run the provider out of town on a rail... It's Dems job to lead that awakening, and to govern productively in localities they control, to get the job done in ways that exemplify good government.

Repubs are in the process of destroying themselves in an orgy of greed, mock piety, and doublespeak- Dems mostly need to let them, as in the whole Schiavo imbroglio...

you didnot tell us who in the demo party has the common sense to do this

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
Good plan.

Apparently some democratic strategists feel that catering to the Dems base will only further isolate the party from mainstream America and make it harder to win elections. Duh...

Link

washingtonpost.com
Report Warns Democrats Not to Tilt Too Far Left

By Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 7, 2005; A07



The liberals' hope that Democrats can win back the presidency by drawing sharp ideological contrasts and energizing the partisan base is a fantasy that could cripple the party's efforts to return to power, according to a new study by two prominent Democratic analysts.

In the latest shot in a long-running war over the party's direction -- an argument turned more passionate after Democrat John F. Kerry's loss to President Bush last year -- two intellectuals who have been aligned with former president Bill Clinton warn that the only way back to victory is down the center.

Democrats must "admit that they cannot simply grow themselves out of their electoral dilemmas," wrote William A. Galston and Elaine C. Kamarck, in a report released yesterday. "The groups that were supposed to constitute the new Democratic majority in 2004 simply failed to materialize in sufficient number to overcome the right-center coalition of the Republican Party."

Since Kerry's defeat, some Democrats have urged that the party adopt a political strategy more like one pursued by Bush and his senior adviser, Karl Rove -- which emphasized robust turnout of the party base rather than relentless, Clinton-style tending to "swing voters."

But Galston and Kamarck, both of whom served in the Clinton White House, said there are simply not enough left-leaning voters to make this a workable strategy. In one of their more potentially controversial findings, the authors argue that the rising numbers and influence of well-educated, socially liberal voters in the Democratic Party are pulling the party further from most Americans.

So the Dems strategy in '06: Pretend to be a Republican with a (D) after your name and hope nobody notices. Good plan. Bwaaaaaaaaahahahahahahaha

hasn't this been the democratic plan since clinton ra in 1992?

 

[Moonbeam]

Truth is unpopular. Popularity wins elections. If you have a brain you can figure out the rest.

 

[1EZduzit]

Originally posted by: slyedog

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
Meh. The one thing that the Third Way has right is that so-called "Conservatives" have successfully vilified the term "Liberal" for 30 years with their prepackaged thinktank rhetoric. Which all sounds fine, except that their actions reveal the deceptiveness at its very core....

Now that they control the govt, they haven't governed well, at all. Just because you have catchy slogans doesn't mean you can actually run things with them.

War on Terror actually means war on Iraq...

"Free, freedom and Liberty" actually means Gitmo and other indefinite detention w/o trial...

"Economic Growth" means only greater inequality, not broad prosperity...

"Taxcuts" and "Stimulus" only mean enormous debt...

"Energy policy" consists of massive giveaways to energy providers and huge cost increases to consumers...

"Bipartisanship" means the political equivalent of date rape, and then gloating over it...

"National security" consists of defense industry pork and giving more people than ever before reason to hate us...

Government, in general, is just a means to cronyism, graft and corruption not seen since the Taft Administration...

Sooner or later, even poorly educated and highly emotional people begin to see that their snakeoil infatuation isn't doing them any good, at all, and they'll run the provider out of town on a rail... It's Dems job to lead that awakening, and to govern productively in localities they control, to get the job done in ways that exemplify good government.

Repubs are in the process of destroying themselves in an orgy of greed, mock piety, and doublespeak- Dems mostly need to let them, as in the whole Schiavo imbroglio...

you didnot tell us who in the demo party has the common sense to do this

Apparently no one in the GOP has the common sense to do it, so what's to lose by trying the "competition"?? Actually all the bums who will be out for reelection should be thrown out. That would send DC the best signal possible.

 

[judasmachine]

those who are staunchly in their own camp left or right do not need convincing, only those in the middle. so the more moderate one can act w/o alienating the base is a shoe in.

i happen to sit pretty firmly in a leftist camp, but am not so stupid that i don't see the danger of fanaticism.

 

[Todd33]

Since Kerry's defeat, some Democrats have urged that the party adopt a political strategy more like one pursued by Bush and his senior adviser, Karl Rove -- which emphasized robust turnout of the party base rather than relentless, Clinton-style tending to "swing voters."

Kind of the opposite of what you said OP, maybe you should read your own article sometime.

 

[redhatlinux]

Newflash guys, the Democratic Party is over, finished kaput. Take a look at 'New Labor' in the UK. The old labor party was taken over by radicals, just like Howard Dean and it fell apart. New Labor came from the ashes and became a success. The center is where the people want to be, in most cases. My take on this entire issue is the Federalism, as practiced in the US is dead or should be killed. It has morphed into a system that is completely out of control. States have lost all of their rights. States pass their own laws and the Feds trump them with the likes of John Ashcroft. California pays way more in to the Feds than they get back, then they must bow before the feds to agree to conditions before they get their own money back, thats just BS.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: Todd33

Since Kerry's defeat, some Democrats have urged that the party adopt a political strategy more like one pursued by Bush and his senior adviser, Karl Rove -- which emphasized robust turnout of the party base rather than relentless, Clinton-style tending to "swing voters."

Kind of the opposite of what you said OP, maybe you should read your own article sometime.

How about if we post the entire relevant passage?

Since Kerry's defeat, some Democrats have urged that the party adopt a political strategy more like one pursued by Bush and his senior adviser, Karl Rove -- which emphasized robust turnout of the party base rather than relentless, Clinton-style tending to "swing voters."

But Galston and Kamarck, both of whom served in the Clinton White House, said there are simply not enough left-leaning voters to make this a workable strategy. In one of their more potentially controversial findings, the authors argue that the rising numbers and influence of well-educated, socially liberal voters in the Democratic Party are pulling the party further from most Americans.

Thanks for spinning.

 

[ITJunkie]

Originally posted by: redhatlinux
Newflash guys, the Democratic Party is over, finished kaput. Take a look at 'New Labor' in the UK. The old labor party was taken over by radicals, just like Howard Dean and it fell apart. New Labor came from the ashes and became a success. The center is where the people want to be, in most cases. My take on this entire issue is the Federalism, as practiced in the US is dead or should be killed. It has morphed into a system that is completely out of control. States have lost all of their rights. States pass their own laws and the Feds trump them with the likes of John Ashcroft. California pays way more in to the Feds than they get back, then they must bow before the feds to agree to conditions before they get their own money back, thats just BS.

I would agree with much of this. My take on this is our founding fathers never meant government to become what it is today but rather to be a back-drop to the states.

Unfortunately, I just don't see states standing up to take back what is rightfully theirs. Too many federal subsidies are at stake so it's a catch 22 for most states. IMHO...of course.

 

[Todd33]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy

Originally posted by: Todd33

Since Kerry's defeat, some Democrats have urged that the party adopt a political strategy more like one pursued by Bush and his senior adviser, Karl Rove -- which emphasized robust turnout of the party base rather than relentless, Clinton-style tending to "swing voters."

Kind of the opposite of what you said OP, maybe you should read your own article sometime.

How about if we post the entire relevant passage?

Since Kerry's defeat, some Democrats have urged that the party adopt a political strategy more like one pursued by Bush and his senior adviser, Karl Rove -- which emphasized robust turnout of the party base rather than relentless, Clinton-style tending to "swing voters."

But Galston and Kamarck, both of whom served in the Clinton White House, said there are simply not enough left-leaning voters to make this a workable strategy. In one of their more potentially controversial findings, the authors argue that the rising numbers and influence of well-educated, socially liberal voters in the Democratic Party are pulling the party further from most Americans.

Thanks for spinning.

I'm spinning? lol, the article has two opposite strategies, neither of which is the official one. It was two guys writing an opinion. You latch on to the part you like and post it like it was the DNC making a declaration. You are a typical P&N troll.

I have no intention to be like a Repug. I like my government corruption free, no cronies, no corp buying of the government, no tax cuts for rich while we spend in massive amount, no lying for war, etc. etc.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Two guys writing an opinion? LOL. Nice try at marginalization. It was two Democrats from Clinton's White House.

And your response highlights the entire problem with the Democratic party today and with their liberal contingent in particular. They love to hand out criticism freely but get hyper-defensive when they are criticized themselves, even by their own, who are making some suggestions on how to regain power, so they begin make crass mischaracterizations and calling people names.

This is NOT about being like Republicans. It's about attracting the moderates back to the fold that the silly radical liberal element of the Democrats have frightened away. And after reading your responses, it's very, very clear these two analysts are absolutely correct in their opinion.

 

[zendari]

Originally posted by: redhatlinux
Newflash guys, the Democratic Party is over, finished kaput. Take a look at 'New Labor' in the UK. The old labor party was taken over by radicals, just like Howard Dean and it fell apart. New Labor came from the ashes and became a success. The center is where the people want to be, in most cases. My take on this entire issue is the Federalism, as practiced in the US is dead or should be killed. It has morphed into a system that is completely out of control. States have lost all of their rights. States pass their own laws and the Feds trump them with the likes of John Ashcroft. California pays way more in to the Feds than they get back, then they must bow before the feds to agree to conditions before they get their own money back, thats just BS.

It's truly disgusting what government expansion of the 30s and 60s did to this country.

The Democratic party won't exist in 20 years if they continue to tapdance with Michael Moore, Moveon, and company. I predict the Republican party will splinter into a true conservative party and a RINO party.

 

[RightIsWrong]

I personally think that the Dems need to do just what the article is claiming.....but in a slightly different way. The Repub traits that they should be emulating are the ones that appeal to those that come out the most. Don't try to be like Kerry, Gore, Dukakis. Be more like Bush Jr. and Reagan. Clinton was smart enough to figure that out.

Come up with fancy little slogans and wrappers to frame issues. Try to appeal to people's two biggest concerns that continually vote the most.....their faith and their wallet. Let them know that it is ok to disagree with your POV on particular issues. But that, unlike the current crop of Repubs, you will listen to their concerns and won't force your beliefs onto them. Pretty simple recipe for victory IMO.

 

[Moonbeam]

Since the survival of our nation depends on liberal and progressive thinking, I think it's about time for Democrats to lead. Screw winning elections and tell the truth. We are screwed otherwise. But politics isn't about what is right for the country. It's about protecting my piece of the pie in the nightmare world we have created where every day the perception is the pie grows smaller. But remember. It's OK to be selfish. It makes the world go round like the water in a toilet.