Democratic Prospects
LiberalOasis has a very smart post up about how (not) to be a political base.
He's absolutely right, especially this:
Kerry may have the toughest job of all, keeping a majority coalition together over something besides Dubya.
But as we tussle with fellow Dems, we will need to be careful not to repeat the mistakes of the GOP base.
It will behoove all of us to remember in the end, it's not about one faction of the party triumphing over another.
Because when one faction is a loser, that faction could take its marbles and go home. And there goes the majority coalition.
Instead, from the liberal perspective, it's about convincing the so-called moderates of the party that liberal ideals and views are also political pragmatic.
This is a necessary step for us.
Even though there are enough liberals who have financially backed the Kerry campaign to show that we cannot be ignored, there aren't enough self-described liberals in the country to have earned the right to call the shots.
We cannot sit back and just expect Kerry to do what we want.
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A healthy party needs a smart and savvy base -- one that provides money volunteers and energy, one that doesn't alienate the center but defines it -- for long-term success.
Whereas a demoralized base kept at arms length by the Establishment may provide some short term wins, but cannot sustain in the long-term.
Similarly, a myopic base, as the right-wingers are showing themselves to be, can give away substantive gains and destroy trust within its party.
Along with spreading the good word that liberalism is not, as advertised, another word for deviant, I propose that a good first step would be to seriously propose and build a long term strategy to do away with the electoral college once and for all. It is fundamentally undemocratic and it hurts liberals, always has.
Billmon also has an interesting post up today about class warfare.
Even in the white-collar world of my day job, I'm surprised by the venom some of my fellow drones I now direct at our ridiculously over-paid corporate lords and masters. The last few years have been a real squeeze (at least by middle-class standards) in our office - no raises, shitty bonuses - and some of the guys who used to say they voted Republican (because "they keep the taxes down," or "the Democrats will take away my guns") aren't talking that way now.
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But saying the Republicans can't win a class war isn't the same thing as saying the Democrats can't lose one. Populist messages delivered by angry voices rarely work with the political center. They scare more than they incite. Finding the right emotional pitch - optimistic, eloquent, passionate but not belligerent - is the key. FDR understood this instinctively; so did Hubert Humphrey. So did Paul Wellstone. Most Democratic politicians are too scared - or too compromised - to even try.
Personally, I'm all for it as long as it doesn't require that we shitcan certain principles like minority rights as so often happens in American forays into populism.
Both of these posts are food for thought about how to win and how to govern. But, I've got a different question for anyone who cares to weigh in.
The polls continue to show a close race. I hope it isn't and that we will all be breathing much easier come October. But, I'm afraid that a close election will again benefit those who hold the electoral apparatus in their grasp and that means most likely the Republicans. I've lately been entertaining the horrible prospect of what in hell to do if we lose.
Any thoughts?