Constructive criticism: Dems should stop playing by GOP rules

[Armstead]

Our side is not up against a mirror image of our best instincts. We're up against a cadre of very tough, very smart and totally pragmatic manipulators. They've skunked us before, and they're about to skunk us again, unless the Kerry campaign wakes up and smells the coffee.

We don't have to be as mean spirited as the GOP, or dredge up dirt. But we can be a lot stronger in our message and criticisms of Bush and his policies and the behavoir of the GOP.

Democrats have consistently fallen for a basic trap set by the GOP. Our side allows the GOP to set the rules. This ties our hands, because the GOP consistently breaks the same rules they set. When will the Democrats ever learn? We've fallen for this in the past, and we're falling for it again.

The GOP and their accomplises in the media told the Democratic Party to put on a set of handcuffs, and avoid "Bush bashing."

The GOP can bash Kerry until the cows come home, and they make it seem acceptable through sheer brazeness. Or they do it so smoothly that no fingerprints can be found. Or, when caught, they frame the subject on their own terms.(i.e. Swiftboats and 527's).

But as soon as Democrats and others say anything critical about Bush or his policies, the GOP whines about "haters" and "bashing our president." Or the GOP sets up conditions for "acceptable" forms of criticism.

This double-standard is not because the GOP leadership are crybabies or hypocrites. It's completely fabricated as a strategy. And it is brilliant. Their base buys into it, the media acts as enforcer and megaphone. And, most important, the perception of "swing voters" is affected just enough to make a fatal difference for us.

And, alas, we buy into it too. The Wellstone funeral was a perfect example. It was an inspiring and ultimately very positive event that (briefly) helped to resurrect the firey spirit of populist liberalism. But the GOP quickly tarnished that by claiming it violated some obscure rule of political etiquette and taste. And the Democratic leadership played into their hands by APOLOGIZING for it.

They skunked us again this year regarding the convention. They set out the meme about warning the Democrats not to get into "Bush bashing" at the convention, and we took the bait. Pulled our punches. Some speches were brilliant (i.e. Clinton and Obama), but for the most part there was no red meat served.

Then, after setting this as the frame, the GOP is thowing out tons of Grade A Prime Steak at their convention. They're using so-called moderates to give it a veneer of respectability. But make no mistake, they are going for the jugular on Kerry.

They also do it to us in deeper terms of philosophy. They've managed to make us apologetic for being liberals. They've made a set of totally legitimate, mainstream and logical principles and policies into something Democrats are afraid of advocating and defending ....Meanwhile, the GOP is proudly conservative, while we waffle and wiggle away from what we are.

Our side doesn't have to be as mean-spirited and devious as the GOP. But we do have to be strong and clear and set our own terms for these things. We can't keep letting the GOP and corporate media intimidate us from standing by our own beliefs and telling the truth.

[hadrons]

1. it's corporate $$$$ ....

the corporate donors to the Dems don't like it when they go negative, that's why they don't

[Armstead]

2. They'll give money regardless

We shouldn't pander to the corporate elite. It's clear that they would prefer to see Republicans in power. But they aren't stupid. They know they have to butter both sides of their bread, in case the Democrats do win. So money will come anyway. And Democrats could follow the Howard Dean route, and raise it from real people instead.

[Southern Patriot]

8. What a cop-out. Do you have any evidence to back up this

statement?

I've seen similar statements recently on here and it's starting to piss me off. "We CAN'T win because the Big Bad Media Corporations are against us."

Coporations are the ultimate pragmatists. They poured millions into the DNC because they wanted to hedge their bets.

They don't care whether we "go negative." They just want to have access in case Kerry wins.

Why do you think that the Big Bad Corporations want Dems to be namby-pamby but are just fine with the Repubs playing street-wise hardball?

[hadrons]

9. keeping the Dems "namby-pamby" keeps them in line ....

its not just about access, but control ... remember all those people who complaint about the Dem-lite? Do you think corporations mind that?

[DebinTx]

3. Very well said!

I totally agree with everything you've said. It's time that democrats started standing up for themselves and for their party. There is nothing wrong with being a democrat, we've let them denigrate us for way too long.

As for bashing Bush, hell yes! I loathe the ground the man walks on and he deserves every bit of it and so do his smarmy minions.

[Armstead]

4. We denigrate ourselves too much too

Too often Dems agree with talking points they know are wrong. Part of that is a tendency to be intellectually honest, but we've got to stop being too eager to please. Paradoxically, the more we do that, the less we actually do please people.

[snippy]

5. The republican party has implemented a long term strategy.

Republicans are approaching dominance as the result of a far reaching strategy developed and implemented over a long period of time. The first element of this strategy was to recruit and train, with nationally solicited funds, republican candidates for local elections with the idea that these candidates would later run for the state legislature and then Congress. This was the original purpose of GOPAC.

But GOPAC evolved from just a recruitment and training organization to a propaganda machine. The purpose of the propaganda was to make sure that the republican party defined the democratic party in the minds of as many voters as possible. That became a second element of the republican strategy. In the last 10 years or so democratic candidates and the democratic party have allowed that to occur.

Since Newt Gingrich took over GOPAC, the republican strategy has included trying to marginalize the democratic party by painting it as extremist in its liberalism. This is why a republican candidate for any office higher than dogcatcher is trained to use the famous GOPAC words when referring to a democratic opponent or the democratic party. It is also why the republican party spends millions of dollars every year and employs hundreds of people solely to make the democratic party appear too liberal for most independent voters.

Another element to the republican strategy was to focus on redistricting. The RNC spent tens of millions of dollars on state legislature elections in the late 1990's and especially the 2000 election. According to the RNC, the reason this was done was so that republicans would control more of the redistricting done after the 2000 census. Although the obvious goal of redistricting was to create more republican districts, another element of this strategy came to light just after the recent Texas redistricting.

The Texas redistricting continued implementing the republican strategy of defining the democratic party as too liberal. In effect it combined the redistricting strategy with the definition strategy. The redistricting did not seek to eliminate the most liberal democrats in the Texas Congressional delegation. Rather it sought to eliminate the more conservative to moderate democrats and guarantee the re-election of the most liberal.

This is part of a strategy described by Tom DeLay to make the democratic party the party of blacks, feminists, homosexuals, and extremist liberal groups like ELF. This strategy also targets racists and bigots to vote republican. DeLay has said that when he is done there won't be a white democrat left in Texas. This redistricting strategy will be followed in other states whenever the republicans get the opportunity, even if that does not occur until after the 2010 census.

The republican strategy to become the dominant party has been well thought out and developed, and well implemented on a national scale. It has been depressingly effective in my opinion. It irritates me that the democratic party apparently has no strategy to counter it.

[Southern Patriot]

11. Exactly. Only it started before GOPAC with William Simon,

Irving Kristol and others in the 1970's. Read Michael Lind's "Up from Conservatism."

[Armstead]

13. If only the Democrats had figured this out a lot sooner....

It was patently obvious this has been going on since 1980 (and before). At some point the Democrats should have taken a ride on the clue train.

[snippy]

15. I can not tell whether the democrats have figured it out yet. n/t

[Armstead]

16. That's largely what the primaries were about

It was a contest between those who challenged the Democratic "conventional wisdom" and those who still buy into it.

Guess which side appears to have won. :eyes:

[CWebster]

6. Meanwhile

the Democrats marginalize their base...

And where would they be if Michael Moore (one of those anti-war progressives despised by the Dem party power elite) didn't do their work for them?

[Armstead]

14. True

Heck, what should be the Democratic base is inherently much larger than the Republican one.

[Democat]

7. It's like Democrats keep falling for the same trick over and over again

It almost seems like some people in the party would prefer to "take the high road" and lose because it's easier than actually standing up for what we believe in and fighting to win.

Regardless of whether or not Kerry wins this time, the next generation of elected Democrats is going to have to be a lot tougher and more aggressive if we are going to be able to stand up to the Republicans in the long run.

The Republican party is not going to get more friendly, it's time we realized that and planned accordingly.

[CWebster]

10. But it isn't really taking the high road

the high road is calling these bastards out. The future of the country is at stake.

It is ultimately the most patriotic action one can take.

[Southern Patriot]

12. This is probably one of the best posts that I've read on DU.

Boy, if the Dem leadership and base could only understand and take it to heart.

My hat is off to you, Armstead. You have really nailed our problems. Unfortunately the remedy will first require recognizing them and then years of hard work on a lot of fronts.

Getting Kerry elected could give us some breathing room, though.

[BillZBubb]

17. Nice post.

You've hit on a number of our self-inflicted problems.

[Gregorian]

18. When will we take the money out of campaigning?

When we do that, we'll even the playing field. As I read what you so beautifully wrote, I couldn't help but realize that the campaigns are nothing less than enormous commercials for a very large audience of tv consumers, called the American voters. It has been reduced to that. They have a huge advantage- it's as though the Republicans own and operate the tv networks, and the Democrats have the college newspaper. When we begin to play as honest and even as we can, and we should, considering this is not an ad, but an election, then we will see voters who vote with intelligence and clarity.

[Crunchy Frog]

19. One of the best posts

that I've seen on here in a long time. Hope you don't mind that I nominated it for the Homepage.:thumbsup: