Democrats losing the War of Ideas
By noemail@noemail.org (Adam C)
RedState.org
Lexington, the ghost name for a writer at the Economist, pens a stinging article about the Democrats hope for winning big in 2006. Here are a couple of the choice quotes that hit home:
Can anyone name a single exciting Democratic idea for
dealing with poverty? Or crime? Or reforming the public
sector? Or winning the Kulturkampf with Islamic
extremism? In fact, can anyone name a single exciting
Democratic idea, full stop? The Democrats have squandered
their years in opposition railing against the Republicans
rather than recharging their intellectual batteries. They
may be winning a few political battles of late, largely
because of Republican incompetence. But they are losing
the vision wars.
Ouch. But more importantly than losing the war of ideas, they are in-fighting at least as much as the Republicans. And even more importantly, the lefties are winning the internal war.
the Democrats are split down the middle on everything
from Iraq to gay marriage. Centrists believe in working
with business, protecting family values and fighting
terrorism. We believe that the September 11th attacks
changed America for ever, says the Democratic Leadership
Council (DLC), and defeating terrorism is the supreme
military and moral mission of our time. Liberal activists
believe the opposite: that corporations are bad, family
values are hogwash, and the war on terror a delusion.
Worse still, the wrong side is getting the upper hand. A
new generation of angry young activists have used their
mastery of the internet to tilt the party to the left.
Groups such as Moveon.org (which claims 3.3m members) and
blogs such as the Daily Kos (which has thousands of
partisans venting daily) now colour the whole tone of the
political debate on the left.
The teenage scribblers of the left seem to be turning the
Democrats into a deranged version of Pavlov's dog
reacting to every stimulus from Professor Rove's
laboratory rather than thinking ahead.
So looking at the Democrats' lack of new ideals, their new found love for the Michael Moore wing, and their rejection of religion, patriotism, and centrism, what is the bottom line?
The teenage scribblers are wedded to a suicidal strategy:
they think that their party's best chance of winning lies
not in emulating Mr Clinton and moving to the centre but
in emulating their nemesis, Mr Bush, and motivating their
base. This ignores the most salient fact about American
politics: there are three conservatives for every two
liberals. The Democrats cannot win without carrying about
60% of moderates.
http://www.redstate.org/story/2005/10/10/163158/95
economist.com
