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What Is To Be Done? (Musings) Email Print

By sdf
11/14/2005 02:11:26 AM EST

So the 2005 elections highlighted what the polls, and our intuitions, have been telling us:  that there has been a dramatic shift in the political winds over the past year, and that what we have been saying about Bush and the Republicans is beginning to resonate with a wider audience.

Of course, more than a few of us immediately thought to ourselves, "Just our luck that, well, our luck has finally changed and we're stuck in an off year."  And we know that, despite the implosion currently taking place among the Busheviki and their congressional allies, a year is forever in politics ...

So everyone has suggestions for the Democrats, most of which involve some kind of bullet plan.  While I in the main agree with the idea that some sort of branding/framing (whatever you want to call it) may be necessary, I always get more than a little irritated at these calls for the Democrats to "tell people what they stand for."  (Even Jon Stewart does it sometimes, which seems to me a rare case of his parroting the SCLM conventional wisdom on this.)

First of all, the Democrats do tell people what they stand for, but only C-SPAN junkies really get to hear what they say.  This is partially the fault of the DNC and Democratic congressional leaders for not mastering the art of propaganda as well as the GOP has, but then again we don't have the Wurlitzer working for us like they do.  I don't doubt that some better branding/framing (whatever you want to call it) for 2006 might help get the message across better, but the braying about nobody knowing what Democrats stand for seems to me a canard.

Second, in a situation where the population is at last waking up to the massive failures of the other side, and the other side is in power, part of the self-definition must be a contraposition.  It's quite simple really.

They manipulated intelligence in order to start a war, we are more trustworthy.

They have mishandled everything from pre-9/11 intelligence, to the war itself, to Katrina relief, we are more competent.

Top Republicans in the House, Senate, and White House have been indicted or may be facing indictment, we are not corrupt like they are.

Yes, this is not the only thing Dems need to say, but it's a pretty good start in the circumstances.  Granted that we have no idea what the next year will bring, we can only start with what we have now.

But perhaps the good readers of the Cortex have other thoughts they would like to add on What Is To Be Done?

-- Stu


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< Open Thread: The Fall of the House of Bush | Deadline Approaching, Where's The Damn Report? >
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What Is To Be Done? (Musings) | 8 comments (8 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
C-SPAN (none / 0)
is great for those of us who participate. However, most of the folks around me still get there 30 minutes worth from the 3 large networks. Whether you call it branding or talking points or hook lines, it amounts to the same thing. They have to be short, to the point and repeated over and over. As for content, we have stood for the same things all along. Human rights, environmental protection, Social Security, Civil Rights and Veterans care, to name a few. Reduce to hook lines. Repeat.

For examples of how this works see Clinton Administration (8 years), and Bushco (4 years).

Part of being to the Left is having people oriented ideas and strong moral principles. But, if no one hears about them it's just the sound of one hand clapping.

In my opinion.

Common Sense is not Common

by RustyBrown on 11/14/2005 09:46:42 AM EST

Your point is inarguable (none / 0)
We have to position ourselves as the "not GOP."

What I hope is that we can do it in such a way that we can at the same time put forward positive progressive proposals.

Example: We are against the Iraq war ("not GOP") and want to end it because it's a drain of lives and finances that would be better spent:

Providing health insurance for all Americans

Improving our educational system

Researching and developing alternative energies so that we never again are at the mercy of another country's inner turmoil (and thus will not have to wage war to keep our own economy going).

Etc.

Every crticism of the GOP should be accompanied by s ahort, easy-to-grasp progressive alternative.

by SusanG on 11/14/2005 10:02:18 AM EST

Agreed Susan (none / 0)
Ironically, You can bet that any Republican candidate will be thinking along similar lines -- as the "not-Bush-GOP" They'll have to. I know McCain is.

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 11/14/2005 10:25:27 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Agreed, Susan (none / 0)
Very well put.

-- Stu

by sdf on 11/14/2005 10:32:54 AM EST

[ Parent ]
It is certainly a fear of mine (none / 0)
That the repugs are able to somehow pull themselves out of these multiple messes and somehow reverse public sentiment by the 2006 election cycle.

They always seem to pull something our of their ass just prior to an election. I can only wonder what it might be this time.

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 11/14/2005 10:03:30 AM EST

I'm actually not all that worried (none / 0)
"Believers" who have been betrayed are often more bitter than people who didn't believe in the first place. There's a sense of betrayal once you realize you've been "had" that simply isn't there in the rest of us who knew Bush was incomptent and untrustworthy from the get-go.

I can't see any scenario in which the war gets any better in the next two years, except for total withdrawal, which Bush is going to refuse to do until there's only man (or woman) left standing.

The war is going to drag him down, even if the only investigations we can get going as a minority party are lukewarm and not covered well.

by SusanG on 11/14/2005 10:19:18 AM EST

[ Parent ]
At some point... (none / 0)
before the 2006 elections, Dems are going to have to put some things on the table, but I think your three items here (compentence, trust, transparency) should be part of the big picture message.

I would like to see Dems putting a few bold ideas out there soon. Rahm Emanuel fired off a few things like college for everyone and energy independence within 10 years. Something getting us towards universal healthcare, too.

Not a littany, but just a few things to let people know we're working.

Dissent Protects Democracy

by cscs on 11/14/2005 04:13:25 PM EST

Do you all remember Clinton at a townhall meeting? (none / 0)
It was during the 92 election campaign and word had gotten out that GHWB had just seen his first barcode in a supermarket in Orlando.

Many people realized how out of touch he was with the majority of Americans who are very familiar with grocery stores.

Shortly after, Clinton was doing a townhall meeting and a woman asked him if he knew the price of a pair of jeans. Clinton not only knew the price, but managed to explain how they "fit" into the economy, and from there to the problems of budget deficits.

By the time he was done, everyone in the room understood economics, some for the first time. I think it was one of the reasons that people stuck with him during the impeachment. There was consensus that higher taxes if combined with a 0 deficit, was a good thing.

The rest is history. We need a Clinton type who can explain the jeans, education, whatever.

My 2 cents. Great discussion.

All it takes to fly is to hurl yourself at the ground... and miss. (Douglas Adams)

by scoophound on 11/15/2005 08:30:13 AM EST

What Is To Be Done? (Musings) | 8 comments (8 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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