Posted by: McQ on Wednesday, June 14, 2006 Being an inveterate political junkie I remain fascinated by the internal goings on within the major political parties. I cannot, in some cases, imagine how groups that have such problems governing their own relatively small organization can ever hope to govern a nation. And that applies to both sides. But today, we look inside the Democrats via The Hill. Bouyed by polls which say the "generic Democrat" is a walk-away favorite, you'd think there would be peace and harmony within the party organization as they plan and execute a strategy which will surely translate from generic to specific Democrats winning in November. You'd think. But even a generic Democrat needs a message, right? And the Dems still don't have one. Or at least not one they agree upon. Oh they know they have a problem. They're just not agreed on what it is and how to handle it. But they understand the possible repercussions if they don't get something settled and settled rather quickly: “What we have to do is define ourselves so that Republicans do not define us. This is a define-or-be-defined business that we’re in, so you can’t leave it out in the open,” [House Minority Leader] Pelosi said.Bingo. So Pelosi is pushing and pushing hard for something, anything with which they can define themselves before the Republicans do it for them. So she's suggested three themes for brand differentiation: She outlined three areas where Democrats would seek to differentiate themselves from Republicans: integrity, civility and accountability. If Democrats were to take control of the House in November, their first actions would focus on promoting those values, she said.The Hill reminds us these three themes are somewhat similar to what Democrats ran on in 2004 when they lost some seats. Of the 6 core values presented, accountability was one and it included "civility in debate" as a subsection of that value. Apparently, given the uncivility of much of the debate since '04, that's only a value if they are in power. Pelosi also wants to quit talking about Republicans and start talking about Democrats. She says: “Now it’s time to talk about us. Enough of the Republicans. It’s time for us to talk about what are the priorities we’d like to see addressed, if we have the opportunity,” Pelosi said in an interview with The Hill on Wednesday.She's right. But she's also fighting a another movement within her own party: Pelosi has been seen as favoring an early message, while Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who head up the campaign committees for House and Senate Democrats, have argued for focusing on Republican misdeeds.So we'll have Pelosi pushing a "here's what Democrats want to accomplish message" pretty much alone while the two heads of the campaign committees for Congress push a "here's how bad the Republicans are" message. That won't confuse anyone. Right now the apparent "plan" for the Democrats which will soon be unveiled is as follows: The Democratic program will consist of bread-and-butter priorities: increasing the minimum wage, cutting costs of prescription drugs, reducing interest rates on student loans, rolling back subsidies for oil companies, and pay-as-you-go budgeting, according to party officials.Small bite, easily understood actions. But will they appeal enough to voters to throw an incumbent Republican out? Maybe. But then, it all comes down to organization and voter turnout doesn't it? And that is where another problem crops up. Howard Dean and the DNC strategy vs. Rahm Emanuel, chair of the House Campaign Committee and how to spend the party's money. Dean favors a 50 state strategy. Emanuel favors targeted races where Democrats have at least a chance to win. Apparently never the twain shall meet: Some Democrats are concerned that when they do finalize their message and it comes time to broadcast it to voters they may not have the requisite money at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to counter the growing war chest of the Republican National Committee (RNC).You bet they're legitimate. And they better be addressed pronto if the Democrats hope to make any headway in November. Last but not least, we need to address what can only be termed a political pipe dream. If we should be so lucky as to actually see a Speaker Pelosi (I'm sorry folks, it would be the gift that keeps on giving in pure blogging terms), she's sure she could enable bi-partisan cooperation if just given the chance: But perhaps more important, Pelosi is vowing to run the House — a body of Congress marked by intense partisanship for decades — in a bipartisan fashion.What Pelosi is promising is if she gets to lead the House is that unlike now, Republican bills will be as welcome as those initiated by Democrats. Just when you think Pelosi might have been bitten by the political reality bug, she goes and says something like that. Heh ... |
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