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

To: Dale Baker who wrote (12824)	2/20/2006 3:27:37 PM
From: epicure	Respond to of 541761

I think if one side (and I'd prefer it to be the democrats) took up the issues of the budget, and the war, and the deficit, and our loss of jobs, and put together a realistic package- that many people in the country would embrace it. Of course I'm not sure lobbyists, who seem to own most of our congresscritters, will allow any of the really meaningful changes to occur- and I think it is only meaningful changes that will get people energized. I think Americans would really be interested in knowing that social security (for example) was safe- really safe- and that they would accept some limitations on the program to keep it secure. You'd probably have to work with the AARP on this one, but surely they'd rather have a secure program, than a crash of the one we have (or maybe I misjudge their timeline- maybe they really don't care about the future, maybe no one does.) Anyway, I'd like to think there aren't third rails in politics- I'd like to think that we just haven't addressed the public's concerns in a way that catches fire...yet.

To: Dale Baker who wrote (12824)	2/20/2006 3:35:47 PM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 541761

My problem with your formulation, Dale, is that it's too global for me. Let me take another cut, however brief at it. I think, on the cultural issues, much more than 50% are with the Dems. That is they either support choice, reducing discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual preference, think forcing intelligent design into school curriculums is backward, and so on. Or they simply like things much the way they are and don't wish to make a large deal of it. Granted there is a group, unfortunately, growing, that feels strongly the other way. I think, at best, that's 30% of the electorate. Doesn't mean that 70% of the electorate would vote Dem; just that their position on these issues only hurts them with 30% of the population. Perhaps less. On the economic issues, the success of the Rep party in making "tax cuts" the defining issue of taxation, rather than which segment of the population gets them, means they tend to do better here. On the other economic issues, the Dems seem to me to be in a position of strength--social security, balanced budgets, trade deficits, you name it. But, finally, on the issues argument, I don't see the Dems still able to convince the country on the national security argument. Their biggest problem. All this boils down to, in my mind, that, at least from the Dem side, presidential elections are less about position on issues (save, again the national security one) and much more about "leadership". Those, in far too many words, are more of the reasons why the "Dem failures" paradigm so let's drag them to the right, simply fails for me.