Which of part of the Democratic party has a better understanding of the current political environment?
Written by admin on March 5, 2010 – 4:28 am -You can read the article but it seems like there are two radically different schools of thought on how the Democratic party should approach 2010:
One view says that it’s obvious that a majority of Americans are rejecting the “progressive” agenda and that Democrats should work more towards the middle so as not to lose independent voters in 2010. (A CRITICAL component in Obama’s win)
The other view says that not pushing for as much legislation as possible would anger the “base” and hurt Democrats significantly in 2010. (Similar to 1994 when the base didn’t show up)
What do you think?? (Obama seems to be favoring the 2nd)
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/31053_Page2.html
William Daley, commerce secretary in the Clinton administration, brother of the Chicago mayor and long an influential voice for moderation in the party, went public last week with what is on the minds of other centrist Democrats in an opinion piece in the Washington Post.
Sounding the alarm after the party-switch of Rep. Parker Griffith of Alabama, Daley laid out a stark choice. “Either we plot a more moderate, centrist course or risk electoral disaster not just in the upcoming midterms but in many elections to come.”
Democrats ought to “acknowledge that the agenda of the party’s most liberal supporters has not won the support of a majority of Americans — and, based on that recognition, to steer a more moderate course on the key issues of the day, from health care to the economy to the environment to Afghanistan,” Daley argued………….What lifted Democrats last year among their base, independents and those previously disengaged from politics, Rosenthal argued, were Obama’s promises: expanding health care, a new approach to energy, spending more on education and especially a promise to revive the economy that would help those of modest means.
“He gave a worried and anxious America hope and a plan that called for restoring America’s middle class,” wrote Rosenthal.
Obama coalition voters still want “change,” according to Rosenthal, who writes that the way to boost Democratic fortunes is to deliver — not to follow the path of moderation that the party so often trod in the ’90s.
“They don’t want their elected officials to go back to the days of legislating ‘small things’ (school uniforms come to mind),” Rosenthal argued. “To win them back — to engage them at all in 2010 — Democrats need to pass real health care reform, then move aggressively on a jobs, jobs, jobs (it cannot be said enough) program with strong workers’ rights.”
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