Prescient 2006 column: Blogs Attack From Left as Democrats Reach for Center

[madfloridian]

Last edited Sat Feb 14, 2015, 03:57 PM - Edit history (1)

And they are still doing it. The bloggers still tend to hit from the left, the Democrats are still trending right.

Also a Democratic party spokesperson had a very "pragmatic" point of view about such bloggers then in 2006.

"The bloggers and online donors represent an important resource for the party, but they are not representative of the majority you need to win elections," said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic lobbyist who advised Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. "The trick will be to harness their energy and their money without looking like you are a captive of the activist left."

I have quoted that before and probably will again. It's just so indicative of the present as well. Use them and then pay them no attention.

More from Jim VandeHei on the perceived rising power of the bloggers.

Democrats are getting an early glimpse of an intraparty rift that could complicate efforts to win back the White House: fiery liberals raising their voices on Web sites and in interest groups vs. elected officials trying to appeal to a much broader audience.

...... The blogs-vs.-establishment fight represents the latest version of a familiar Democratic dispute. It boils down to how much national candidates should compromise on what are considered core Democratic values -- such as abortion rights, gun control and opposition to conservative judges -- to win national elections.

Many Democrats say the only way to win nationally is for the party to become stronger on the economy and promote a centrist image on cultural values, as Kaine did in Virginia and as Bill Clinton did in two successful presidential campaigns.

Well, I think 2010 and 2014 gave us part of the answer to this question posed by Jim VandeHei:

The question Democrats will debate over the next few years is whether the prevailing views of liberal activists on the war, the role of religion in politics and budget policies will help or hinder efforts to recapture the presidency and Congress.

On edit: Someone should have told me I forgot to include the link to the column.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. In order to govern you must garner a plurality or majority of voters...

In order to govern you must garner a plurality or majority of voters without whom you will not have the opportunity to govern. A reasonably intelligent and prudent person will fashion his or her policies to garner a plurality or majority of voters without a wholesale sacrifice of his or her core principles.

That's just bowing to reality.

[djean111]

2. And then, once elected, fuck the principles, because there is always re-election to work towards.

I don't think principles play much of a part in "governing" any more, really.
I also think that the time for using the Left and then fucking the Left over once elected is not going to work much longer.
Come what may.
And if your elected one is so Centrist that there is no real feeling that the elected one would even appoint anyone NOT Centrist to the SCOTUS, then even that bogeyman is getting a bit tattered.
That is also bowing to reality.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. If you are a candidate...

If you are a candidate and you can't convince a plurality or majority of voters to give you their vote you can't win. It doesn't matter if you are Ted Cruz or Bernie Sanders.

Oh, and since Whizzer White who was John Kennedy's buddy and turned out to be a conservative jurist, Democrats have done a pretty good job of putting left of center jurists on the Supreme Court as well as the lower costs.

[KG]

3. the 2-party system is killing this country

[Agnosticsherbet]

4. It is the nature of our politics that if one party shifts in a direction the other party follows.

Republicans move to the right has led many center and center right voters and politicians who do not feel at home in the Republican Party anymore to become Democrats.

At one time, these people would have been called Rockefeller Republicans, socially liberal, fiscally conservative. In the 60's they would be the Republicans who joined together with Democrats (and opposed Southern Democrats) to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

When Medicare was created in 1965:

Summary of Party Affiliation on Medicare Vote

SENATE YEA NAY NOT VOTING

Democrats 57 7 4

Republicans 13 17 2

HOUSE YEA NAY NOT VOTING

Democrats 237 48 8

Republicans 70 68 2

Now for the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Vote totals[edit]

Totals are in "Yea–Nay" format:
The original House version: 290–130 (69–31%).
Cloture in the Senate: 71–29 (71–29%).
The Senate version: 73–27 (73–27%).
The Senate version, as voted on by the House: 289–126 (70–30%).

By party[edit]

The original House version:[20]
Democratic Party: 152–96 (61–39%)
Republican Party: 138–34 (80–20%)

Cloture in the Senate:[21]
Democratic Party: 44–23 (66–34%)
Republican Party: 27–6 (82–18%)

The Senate version:[20]
Democratic Party: 46–21 (69–31%)
Republican Party: 27–6 (82–18%)

The Senate version, voted on by the House:[20]
Democratic Party: 153–91 (63–37%)
Republican Party: 136–35 (80–20%)

What this little snapshot of history shows is that the parties at the time were not nearly as polarized and partisan as they are today. For the Civil Rights Act, a higher percentage of Republicans voted for it than Democrats.

Republicans who became Democrats because the Republican Party left them behind may not agree with us on economic policy, but they are not the modern Republican Party.

If those acts came up for a vote today how many sitting Republicans would actually vote for them. I bet that not a single Republican serving today would vote for them.

[msongs]

6. measures espousing liberal values won big in 2014, yet campaigning dems run from those values nt

[Dragonfli]

7. The Conservatives that have infiltrated the party just don't get that we do not want their austerity

and supply side economics or we would Register as Republicans rather than as Democrats. If Politicians want our votes they will someday have to learn that we are:



Besides Reagan clones in Dem costumes.

[Scuba]

8. +1,000