Pliablemoose
Lifer
Ed Kilgore, policy director of the Democratic Leadership Council: "We've got a problem that's a little deeper than the failure to get inaugurated, We had tons of money. We had the best organization anybody's ever seen. ... And we had a vulnerable incumbent with a lousy record who deliberately abandoned the political center and who didn't really try to unite the country. So we had a lot of opportunity and still fell short."
"The meta point is this," he said. "Millions and millions of Americans think that cultural threats to themselves and their families and their communities are a really big deal. ... It is a trust issue to these voters, they don't much trust politicians to begin with and they want to know they live in same moral universe. Once you convince them of that.... They want to know you take them seriously."
"I think Democrats suffer from a very strong perception that they don't," he said. "A lot of these voters think they're fighting a cultural battle ever single day for their own children. And if we ignore that or don't act like we take it very seriously or try to tell them that a prescription drug benefit is more important, it really makes them mad. And you know what, it probably should."
Bill Carrick, a seasoned Democratic strategist and adviser to former presidential candidate Richard A. Gephardt: "It's pretty stark when you look at that sea of red on the map," "It's very disheartening for Democrats to have not been competitive in the South and the Great Plains states and the Mountain West."
"Anybody that thinks these problems are of Sen. [John F.] Kerry's creation or exclusive to him," Carrick added, "is either naive or delusional or both. These are party-wide problems."
U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Swissvale: "Republicans in Congress forced legislation to the floor on gay marriage and on the words 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance, and allowed the assault weapons ban to lapse just before the election."
"There we had it two weeks before the election: God, guns and gays,"
Gov. Ed Rendell said he believes many of the discussions in the coming weeks may also focus around repackaging the moral values message -- broadening it beyond abortion and gay marriage -- to other pressing issues.
Christopher Dodd, D-Connecticut,: "We Democrats better think long and hard about what happened ... and how our party is going to connect with the hopes and aspirations of the people," "We have lost the ability to connect with people's value systems and we're going to have to work to get that back."
Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader: "We have lost just about everything that we can lose."
Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-North Dakota: "I think that the Democratic party nationally is perceived as being out of step with mainstream values,""I want our party to do a better job of speaking to matters of faith and family."
Al From of the Democratic Leadership Council: "We've got to close the cultural gap."
Rep. Robert Matsui, D-Calif., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: "I don't think there's any question that we did not get the wind, the uplift that we had expected in this campaign,"
Hmmm...
"The meta point is this," he said. "Millions and millions of Americans think that cultural threats to themselves and their families and their communities are a really big deal. ... It is a trust issue to these voters, they don't much trust politicians to begin with and they want to know they live in same moral universe. Once you convince them of that.... They want to know you take them seriously."
"I think Democrats suffer from a very strong perception that they don't," he said. "A lot of these voters think they're fighting a cultural battle ever single day for their own children. And if we ignore that or don't act like we take it very seriously or try to tell them that a prescription drug benefit is more important, it really makes them mad. And you know what, it probably should."
Bill Carrick, a seasoned Democratic strategist and adviser to former presidential candidate Richard A. Gephardt: "It's pretty stark when you look at that sea of red on the map," "It's very disheartening for Democrats to have not been competitive in the South and the Great Plains states and the Mountain West."
"Anybody that thinks these problems are of Sen. [John F.] Kerry's creation or exclusive to him," Carrick added, "is either naive or delusional or both. These are party-wide problems."
U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Swissvale: "Republicans in Congress forced legislation to the floor on gay marriage and on the words 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance, and allowed the assault weapons ban to lapse just before the election."
"There we had it two weeks before the election: God, guns and gays,"
Gov. Ed Rendell said he believes many of the discussions in the coming weeks may also focus around repackaging the moral values message -- broadening it beyond abortion and gay marriage -- to other pressing issues.
Christopher Dodd, D-Connecticut,: "We Democrats better think long and hard about what happened ... and how our party is going to connect with the hopes and aspirations of the people," "We have lost the ability to connect with people's value systems and we're going to have to work to get that back."
Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader: "We have lost just about everything that we can lose."
Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-North Dakota: "I think that the Democratic party nationally is perceived as being out of step with mainstream values,""I want our party to do a better job of speaking to matters of faith and family."
Al From of the Democratic Leadership Council: "We've got to close the cultural gap."
Rep. Robert Matsui, D-Calif., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: "I don't think there's any question that we did not get the wind, the uplift that we had expected in this campaign,"
Hmmm...
