The Democratic Party - Where's The Love?
I found it quite irritating when I began vocally airing my opinions against George W Bush that those on the Right automatically clumped me in the same camp with the Dems and all the Left. Up until the point where Bush ran against Gore, I have never voted for a Democrat. Why did I vote for Gore instead of Bush?
I didn't have much faith in the Independents who were running. Bush failed the test for me when he was asked who were the leaders of Mexico and Canada and could not answer it nor showed any intellectual curiosity in the answer. The only saving grace for Gore was he had experience as a Vice President and perhaps would try and do the right thing.
What failed Gore is what also failed Kerry. It is the issue that has sunk the Democratic Party while the Republicans have taken over. It is something that goes far beyond just the politicians themselves, but also the typical Democratic voter. That thing is lack of definition.
Since the late 70s and the development of the Christian Coalition through people like Falwell and others with a strong faith were looking for a political party that would reflect their values. They found it in a Conservative Republican party that was more about the business of running a country than the Liberal Democrats that were more about the social issues which many bordered on things these groups found offensive.
As the Evangelicals were growing in numbers and becoming more vocal, it was a natural thing for the Republican Party to embrace the so-called family values of a group of people who are organized and faithful voters. To ignore such a demographic would be political suicide, so the Republicans went hand in hand with the Religious Right and the label became synonymous to the point where the media painted those in the Republican Party as real Christians and those not in that party as something worse.
Of course, the rational thinking person knows that not all in the Republican Party embrace those same Christian values and a lot of Democrats do embrace Christian values. The difference is the Republican Party allowed this group to define a purpose for what they intended to do which could rally more people behind a safe, secure vision of America that was nonthreatening to the majority of its supporters.
How did this backfire on the Democrats? While the Right was defining its purpose, the Left became a free-for-all, one size fits all agenda for every single social concern that not all within its own party could support. Then when they felt some turn away, they retracted full support over these issues hoping to get some members back into the fold while angering those they promised to help in the first place. A half-hearted campaign to try and please everyone does not work.
The Republicans took to certain issues and values and stuck with it. The Democrats tried to please everyone and in effect pleased few. You cannot be everything to everybody.
Here is one instance of the failure of the Left. If the Democrats truly were for Gay Rights, it could have done more to rally behind the cause instead of half-heartedly trying to cater to the homosexual communities. By even acknowledging they were going after this demographic, they distanced themselves from the stronger Christians in their own party who feel it is sinful and should not be accepted in society. When voters were starting to push away because of the gay issue, the politicians decided to only sort of allow gay rights only where it is convienent. They would never go on record as fully pushing for gay marriage or adoption rights because it would scare off too many people, but because they failed to take a positive stand one way or another, the Republicans saw this fatal flaw and backed them into a corner over this issue.
Here is another issue, corporate welfare and pork projects. While the Dems are famous for tax and spend, they were quick to point the finger at Republicans who were spending a lot of the tax money in giving kickbacks to rich corporate sponsors who backed their campaign and projects which only benefitted their states. Instead of taking a firm stand against this injustice, they participated in it and passively let future investigations of this wasteful spending slide. It could have been an opportunity to stand for something, but instead it was an easier out to just let things go on as usual and perhaps participate in it themselves.
And the issue that really got me steamed over the Democrats who seem to stand for nothing - they allowed the Patriot Act to be passed not only once, but twice. The first time around, they allowed themselves to be rushed through in passing it without reading what it was. The second time, they only half-heartedly thought about it, made an irritated protest and agreed to it.
Could we rely on the Democrats on the free trade arena? No. Knowing that NAFTA and CAFTA both would mean transferring jobs out of the country to give low paying jobs to people in other countries which amounts to exploiting the poor and betraying their own citizens by leaving them jobless, they did not put up much of a fight, just a hissy-fit with a few Democrats before passing it.
There is no standard definition of what it means to be a Democrat. The one size fits all party needs to pull in its reins if it wants to have a serious chance of winning. Despite the foul ups of the Republican Party as of the last few years, they still have a better chance of winning again because they have a united definition of what it means to be a Republican. This is something the Democrats do not have. Showing token support for a lot of different causes is not the same as boldly standing for something. This is why the Democrats will continue to fail. This is why they need to get together and decide where do they go from here.
The Official Site Of Callen Damornen
I didn't have much faith in the Independents who were running. Bush failed the test for me when he was asked who were the leaders of Mexico and Canada and could not answer it nor showed any intellectual curiosity in the answer. The only saving grace for Gore was he had experience as a Vice President and perhaps would try and do the right thing.
What failed Gore is what also failed Kerry. It is the issue that has sunk the Democratic Party while the Republicans have taken over. It is something that goes far beyond just the politicians themselves, but also the typical Democratic voter. That thing is lack of definition.
Since the late 70s and the development of the Christian Coalition through people like Falwell and others with a strong faith were looking for a political party that would reflect their values. They found it in a Conservative Republican party that was more about the business of running a country than the Liberal Democrats that were more about the social issues which many bordered on things these groups found offensive.
As the Evangelicals were growing in numbers and becoming more vocal, it was a natural thing for the Republican Party to embrace the so-called family values of a group of people who are organized and faithful voters. To ignore such a demographic would be political suicide, so the Republicans went hand in hand with the Religious Right and the label became synonymous to the point where the media painted those in the Republican Party as real Christians and those not in that party as something worse.
Of course, the rational thinking person knows that not all in the Republican Party embrace those same Christian values and a lot of Democrats do embrace Christian values. The difference is the Republican Party allowed this group to define a purpose for what they intended to do which could rally more people behind a safe, secure vision of America that was nonthreatening to the majority of its supporters.
How did this backfire on the Democrats? While the Right was defining its purpose, the Left became a free-for-all, one size fits all agenda for every single social concern that not all within its own party could support. Then when they felt some turn away, they retracted full support over these issues hoping to get some members back into the fold while angering those they promised to help in the first place. A half-hearted campaign to try and please everyone does not work.
The Republicans took to certain issues and values and stuck with it. The Democrats tried to please everyone and in effect pleased few. You cannot be everything to everybody.
Here is one instance of the failure of the Left. If the Democrats truly were for Gay Rights, it could have done more to rally behind the cause instead of half-heartedly trying to cater to the homosexual communities. By even acknowledging they were going after this demographic, they distanced themselves from the stronger Christians in their own party who feel it is sinful and should not be accepted in society. When voters were starting to push away because of the gay issue, the politicians decided to only sort of allow gay rights only where it is convienent. They would never go on record as fully pushing for gay marriage or adoption rights because it would scare off too many people, but because they failed to take a positive stand one way or another, the Republicans saw this fatal flaw and backed them into a corner over this issue.
Here is another issue, corporate welfare and pork projects. While the Dems are famous for tax and spend, they were quick to point the finger at Republicans who were spending a lot of the tax money in giving kickbacks to rich corporate sponsors who backed their campaign and projects which only benefitted their states. Instead of taking a firm stand against this injustice, they participated in it and passively let future investigations of this wasteful spending slide. It could have been an opportunity to stand for something, but instead it was an easier out to just let things go on as usual and perhaps participate in it themselves.
And the issue that really got me steamed over the Democrats who seem to stand for nothing - they allowed the Patriot Act to be passed not only once, but twice. The first time around, they allowed themselves to be rushed through in passing it without reading what it was. The second time, they only half-heartedly thought about it, made an irritated protest and agreed to it.
Could we rely on the Democrats on the free trade arena? No. Knowing that NAFTA and CAFTA both would mean transferring jobs out of the country to give low paying jobs to people in other countries which amounts to exploiting the poor and betraying their own citizens by leaving them jobless, they did not put up much of a fight, just a hissy-fit with a few Democrats before passing it.
There is no standard definition of what it means to be a Democrat. The one size fits all party needs to pull in its reins if it wants to have a serious chance of winning. Despite the foul ups of the Republican Party as of the last few years, they still have a better chance of winning again because they have a united definition of what it means to be a Republican. This is something the Democrats do not have. Showing token support for a lot of different causes is not the same as boldly standing for something. This is why the Democrats will continue to fail. This is why they need to get together and decide where do they go from here.
The Official Site Of Callen Damornen
posted by Callen Damornen at 12:55:00 pm
2 Comments:
I agree with the majority of what you said here. I do think that the Democrats have a problem being elected. It's more than what you said, however. It's not just because their ideas can't be defined or condensed into a coherent message. It's because the ideas we know about are unpopular with the majority of voters.
Even if Democrats had all been unified in their embrace of gay marriage, more gun laws, the Patriot Act, and by denouncing corporate welfare, it wouldn't have been enough for Kerry.
As you said, the special interest groups for each side control them to some degree. For the Democrats, most of their support comes from groups that many Americans don't support or agree with. That's why they don't get enough votes.
I think that the Democrats need not only a message that's unified, but also a centrist one that will appeal to a majority of voters next time. But I am not sure they are willing to move to the center. We shall see what happens next election.
You have really hit on some huge points. I dont know what I am anymore. Haven't liked Bush even as Tx Gov. Didn' care for Kerry. Are we afraid of the Christian groups that fondle Bush? I remember when Dems were known as big spenders. But, for all his faults, how did Clinton manage to balance the budget? Fat lost of good it did...
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