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Feb. 8, 2005 From Richard Nixon’s loss in 1960 by Al Gore margins to President Bush’s victory in 2004, the Republican Party has been perfecting their ground game. Democrats, satiated for a time by their eight years of President Bill Clinton, were more than happy to let this go on – after all, they may be organizing, but what power could they have with a Democrat in the White House? Now, four years later, the Democratic Party is slowly waking up to how well the Republican game has been received. The Republican machine is ten times as sophisticated and efficient as anything Democrats have, and the results have been stunning. One only needs to look at the vast political landscape of the United States to see how well Republicans have done – a majority in the Congress, the White House, and a sweep on the state level only routed in the West and most of the Northeast. While Democrats staggered from the sucker punches of 2000 and 2002, Republicans just kept on doing what they did best: strategizing. Their machine is deceptively complex in its simplicity, but it has Democrats stuttering and foundering. “Where is our machine?” Some Democrats wonder. “Where is our Karl Rove, our grand strategy?” Only recently, with the rise of Howard Dean and his grassroots nationwide and Senators Harry Reid and Dick Durbin in the Senate, does a strong counter-machine seem to be growing. Reid was the subject of much worry following the defeat of then-Minority Leader Tom Daschle. His conservative politics and salt-of-the-earth demeanor had many Democrats wondering which side he would bat for more often. However, as a strong Nevada moderate, Reid showed his clout and cunning through his delivery of the Democratic response to the State of the Union. Reid learned something special about the Republican ground game: keep it simple. Make a voter takes sides, divide and conquer, make it a fight between good and evil, black and white. What American would vote against an act called Patriot? What rural Congressman would oppose the repeal of the Death Tax after President Bush’s appeal to farmers? Do you support killing babies, or do you believe in life? Do you believe in the sanctity of marriage? In his case study of far-right Conservatism, What’s the Matter With Kansas?, Thomas Frank explains that these issues were not even on the register in 1980’s Kansas – or the Midwest – now a hotbed of the anti-abortion movement. The blitzkrieg that Republicans managed to pull has been amazing, fast, and unrelenting, and now its success is unquestionable. It is hard for moderates, Democrat or Republican, to not have some form or respect for the capabilities of the Republican Party to dig back into the grassroots. Now, what are the Democrats to do? Not much until they can shake off the shock of 2000 and 2004 and focus on the future as a unified party. Moderate or not, the unlikely alliance of Howard Dean and Harry Reid seems to be grabbing those reins. Reid has the right idea in the Senate – questioning the Republican party is fine so long as Democrats get back to what made them once so successful: pushing their own legislation, offering choices to the people, and appealing directly to the voters in the plainest language possible. Reid seems to follow the slogan of “Don’t hate – legislate.” A mixture of confusion, bitterness, backbiting and backtracking led the Democrats to stunning losses in 2002 and 2004, when they were cast as a non-party, a party that failed the litmus of patriotism and professionalism. Not all of it is true, but not all of it is false. Now Reid and Dean, the political odd couple, are rallying an effective opposition that has pushed the case against Social Security privatization and gotten people listening. The solution for Democrats will be to build their machine from the salvaged parts of the now clunking and clanking Republican juggernaut. 2006 depends on their success. ------------ About the author: Max Burns is a 17-year-old Democrat with moderate, centrist ideals. He blames John Kerry's 2004 loss on John Kerry, and is authoring a pamphlet on how to refine the Democratic Party for Victory in 2008 and beyond. For more information, check out The New Democrat. Read the fantasy-fiction novel "Alcardia". Email: DeMBurns@gmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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