February 17, 2005

FORGET THE SOUTH OR FORGET MATTERING:

Code Blue: Dr. Dean must revive a very sick and unresponsive patient (MARC COOPER, 2/18/05, LA Weekly)

What’s the Democrats’ domestic alternative? Maybe you can articulate it, because they sure can’t. The Democrats can’t quite bring themselves to run a true deficit hawk even though such a posture would have enormous public appeal. Instead, the Dems seem to settle for mere ankle biting — quibbling on an ad hoc basis with this or that Republican initiative. And I do mean initiative, as the GOP seems to have achieved rather permanent ball control. Even the old Rooseveltian idea of a far-reaching federal government seems to have been appropriated by the Republicans — albeit in a bastardized version.

The Democrats’ response? So far, it’s been to elect Howard Dean as DNC chairman. Doctor Dean’s unpredictable straightforwardness can be refreshing. And liberals, who make up about one-third of the Democrats and less than 15 percent of the electorate, can savor a moment of vindication (keeping in mind, I trust, that something like three-quarters of Democrats rejected Dean during last year’s primary voting). It’s certainly some fun to watch the Democratic establishment unsuccessfully resist Dean’s push. No question he was hardly the first choice of many.

But beyond the feel-good vibe the Doctor ushers in, I have to admit that I don’t see what difference at all Dean’s ascension will make. The Democrats, more than a new chairman, need a compelling vision and an attractive program that can not only galvanize the base and win over the undecideds, but also inspire and motivate millions of new voters.

Dean has promised that his first priority is to take the Democratic cause back into the South and other Republican red regions that his party has as much as abandoned. That’s a good first step, as Democrats have once and for all to face the uncomfortable fact that their decline stems from desertion by the white working class.

But, we have to ask, just what is that Democratic cause that Dean hopes to export southward?


The attempt to compete in the South will just make the Democrats a "me-too" party. Not only will they run the risk of a third party arising to their Left but when the GOP adopted me-tooism, in the wake of the New Deal, it meant they could elect a left-of-center Republican president once in awhile but only at the cost of aiding and abetting the long Leftward drift of the nation, which lasted until the Reagan presidency. It seems unlikely the Left will settle for periodically putting a Cintonesque face on republican policy.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 17, 2005 5:39 PM
Comments

While it is true that the Democrats need a new figure who revitalizes the party (which periodically happens whether its Jefferson, Jackson, and FDR or Lincoln, TR, and Reagan), it is unlikely to fall into the trap OJ describes.

Clinton is not discredited with the rank and file as losers Dewey and Rockefeller were, nor like Nixon.

The Left (the true Left, not mainstream liberals) are unlikely to take over the party because they will lose. After 1-2 failed campaigns, they WILL be discredited.

Until that revitalizing figure emerges however, it is unknown what will define early 21st Century American liberalism.

Posted by: Chris Durnell at February 17, 2005 6:26 PM

What I find funny is that he points out the republicans taking over the FDR style government while not mentioning that the only initiatives that Clinton can claim as his are the ones he stole from Newt Gingrich. Both are guilty of taking from the others. The difference is that the republicans can make a case for what they are doing with their followers and the dems can't. Whatever they try to push will alienate some part of the base because there is really no common ground with their base. That is what they need to do. They have to define what it is that makes them democrats and all on the same page. Until they do they will lose part of their vote through not voting or voting for the republican candidate. Reagan stole a lot of their base with his Reagan democrats who got tired of Jimmy Carter and the liberals and the dems have not figured out how to get them back to stay.

Posted by: dick at February 17, 2005 7:38 PM

The Democrats need to address economic issues in a direct and serious manner, something they have not done since Hubert Humphrey. Their bedrock constituencies demand that they take unpopular positions on cultural issues and that they be wishy-washy at best on defense matters. So the only battlefield left is the economy.

Someone who actively defended Great Society type programs and who advocated broadening medical care and reducing education costs for middle and working class Americans while attacking 'corporate welfare' might have a real shot of winning votes in the Red States. There is a lot of hardship out there and the Democrats have refused to address that hardship in a coherent fashion. Some used-car dealer from Arkansas talking about 'feeling your pain' ain't gonna cut it.

Posted by: Bart at February 18, 2005 9:48 AM
« ORDER OF THE PHOENICIAN: | Main | WHICH EXPLAINS HIS NAME... (via Rick Turley): »