Another election observation
Nov. 4th, 2004 02:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forsythNow, there's a lot of triumphalism among Republican types, saying how the Democratic party is "doomed for oblivion" and suchlike, and reccomending that "they jettison the far left and move to the center".
Uh. There's only one little problem with that, the same problem with many of the current Republican party's ideas. It's just not true.
In the election, Bush won among self-described conservatives.
Kerry, on the other hand, won with self-described liberals and moderates.
The problem isn't the Democratic party was "too far to the left", Kerry lost because Bush somehow mobilized a lot more conservatives, and fooled enough other people into thinking he was competent to run the "War on Terror" to pull out a bare, squeaking majority.
What the Democratic party needs to do is even more of what was done this year, stop letting the Republicans define things and stand for what they believe in. FOR something, not just "not as bad as the Republicans". Which Kerry and others started to hit on, but not soon enough, or often enough, or hard enough. Torture is not an American value. Rounding people up and deporting them on flimsy pretexts isn't an American value. 75% of Bush's voters didn't know what he actually stood for. It's a matter of making it clear what you stand for, and making it clear what the other guy stands for.
Uh. There's only one little problem with that, the same problem with many of the current Republican party's ideas. It's just not true.
In the election, Bush won among self-described conservatives.
Kerry, on the other hand, won with self-described liberals and moderates.
The problem isn't the Democratic party was "too far to the left", Kerry lost because Bush somehow mobilized a lot more conservatives, and fooled enough other people into thinking he was competent to run the "War on Terror" to pull out a bare, squeaking majority.
What the Democratic party needs to do is even more of what was done this year, stop letting the Republicans define things and stand for what they believe in. FOR something, not just "not as bad as the Republicans". Which Kerry and others started to hit on, but not soon enough, or often enough, or hard enough. Torture is not an American value. Rounding people up and deporting them on flimsy pretexts isn't an American value. 75% of Bush's voters didn't know what he actually stood for. It's a matter of making it clear what you stand for, and making it clear what the other guy stands for.
