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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dale Baker who wrote (12770)	2/20/2006 10:14:44 AM
From: KonKilo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541582

But the Dems took 48% of the popular vote in 2004, and outpoll the Republicans today by large margins. I think the Dem's core values resonate with most of the American people. Poll after poll show that even GOPers will identify with Dem values when presented with them in a non-partisan way. But the Dems have done a poor job responding to the GOPs political machine; ie the Mighty Wurlitzer, the Swift Boaters, the black box voting,etc. The GOP political machine is modern and terribly efficient, masters at myth, image and storyline framing, while the Dems are still using the equivalent of spears and arrows. And worst of all, the Dem leadership doesn't even seem to realize that they are hopelessly out-gunned.

To: Dale Baker who wrote (12770)	2/20/2006 10:29:06 AM
From: JohnM	Respond to of 541582

To some unmeasurable extent, I think the Dems suffer from the standard out of power problems. Unlike the in power party which has the presidency as the focal point of all messaging, the out of power party only has many aspirant spokespersons, each scrambling to get a mike and dominate it. And, even worse, the Dems lack a first among equals, the loser of the last presidential election. In this case, Kerry campaigned so demonstrably badly that he gets no respect. All of that is structural. Has little to do with the message or cohesion. Hard to get cohesion when there is no enforcer. But beyond that, there is definitely still a problem. Sometimes the out of power party is blessed with some strong congressional leaders who can enforce something of a message and, best of all, might be good public spokesperson. In recent years, among the Dems, I think George Mitchell performed that role better than any other, against George the father. But, even then, he was majority leader; not a minority leader. Finally, I don't think a rightward swing on cultural issues--abortion choice, gay rights, etc.--will help. The Dems simply need to do better on the national security issues. And since GWB has done so badly--Iraq, homeland security, lost the international leadership role, etc., it's definitely a doable. I see gains for the Dems in house and senate seats in 06 but not enough to gain control of either. And then a ticket of Bloomberg and Obama in 08. ;-)