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Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.
"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures."
-- Daniel Webster
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Thursday, November 14, 2002 :::
Now that Pelosi has been elected leader of the House Democrats, I'm going to give her some advice on how to get back in the majority: switch parties.
Seriously, though, the two obvious strategies for the Democrats to try to re-take the House are running toward the center and running to the left. Neither will work.
If they follow the first option, they'll lose their base, and won't gain any ground. Without a base, nobody will be enthusiastic about their campaigns, and nobody will be pushing their message. And the swing voters will still need a reason to vote for them rather than their opponents.
If they follow the second option, they'll lose the middle. Their base will be more excited, but the swing voters will be turned off. This may work in the long-run, the way Barry Goldwater attracted people who worked to eventually build a winning coalition, but if the Democrats don't want forty years in the desert, they need a different way.
The way for the Democrats to re-take the House is to change the debate. This is largely option number one with a twist. Republicans are trusted over Democrats right now primarily on national security issues. The Democrats need to neutralize this advantage, but then push the issues that both excite their base and please the suburban voters. For example, the public still trusts Democrats with the environment. If they can bring back environmentalism as a salient issue, the base will be excited and the public will support them.
::: posted by Steven at 12:40 PM
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