The Democratic political strategy needed for the Democrats to take back the presidency from the Republicans is discussed. Both the Presidential Election of 2004 and the midterm election of 2006 are reviewed.
The midterm election of 2006 put the Democrats in control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. It was an overwhelming and surprising victory for the Democrats.
Four years ago, the Democratic Party had a major problem as the Election of 2004 approached. With George W. Bush, the man who has an ongoing conversation with God, in the White House and with Rush Limbaugh, as the unofficial, but very effective, Propaganda Minister, the country was faced with the threat of a de facto one-party system take over. Certainly, the Republicans were in complete control of the system.
The Republican "big boys" had taken some hurt early in the administration as the Dot.com stock market bubble burst. However, they were rapidly recovering as administration tax cuts were implemented and big contracts came out of Iraq.
The little guys - the basic constituency of the Democratic Party - were still taking it on the chin due to the lack of jobs, etc. Even the middle class, which is largely Republican, were continuing to hurt with the loss of jobs, many of which were lost through outsourcing.
The biggest problem for the Democratic Party in the election of 2004 was that they had lost their number one candidate, Al Gore, and had to train his replacement. The heir-apparent, but not well-known, Senator Kerry, was having to establish himself and wage a tough campaign against multiple opponents in the Democratic primaries.
Another problem for the Democrats in 2004 was that many of the American people appeared to have largely bought the phony arguments put forth by the Republican Party justifying the Iraq War. Additionally, Rush Limbaugh - the unofficial Republican propaganda minister - had been extremely effective attacking the Democrat Party on his talk radio show and a substantial number of the American people were influenced by him.
With all the problems discussed herein lying out in the open for all intelligent citizens to see, the 2004 election was obviously the time for "all good men, i.e., Democrats, to come to the aid of their country," e.g., and run for president. So what happened?: the "good men" begin to wilt just as the Democratic party and their country needed them.
Al Gore, the previously anointed candidate, had bowed out of politics. Former Senator Bradley was nowhere to be seen. One of the good street political fighters in the party - Senator Tom Daschile - had also bowed out ( he lost his Senate seat in the election of 2004 so maybe he is not the street fighter I thought). Hillary Clinton was waiting for 2008. The party of Harry Truman didn't seem to have quite the fight in it that it used to have.
The Democratic Party had to develop new candidates for the new political scene of 2004.
Fortunately for the Democrats, there are a few good men, e.g. Senator Kerry, Senator Edwards, Senator Joe Lieberman, Senator Gephardt, US Representative Kucinich, General Wesley Clark, the revolutionary figure of Governor Howard Dean, etc., who all came forward willing to become the newly anointed political leaders. It worked out pretty well, after all (well, not really. Senator Kerry was soundly beaten in the election of 2004 by President Bush.)
Former Vermont Governor and 2004 candidate for the Democratic nomination - Howard Dean - has been selected as the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. During the primaries of 2004, Presidential Candidate Governor Dean stated that he was from the "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party." Now he is getting his chance to breath new life into the Democratic Party political organization. So far, his efforts look good but it is still unknown how much of the recent Democratic success is due to Dean's efforts and how much is due to the continued presence of the proven incompetent, lame duck President, George W. Bush.
Recommendations for a Democratic political strategy to win it all back in future elections follows:
Democrats Must Have Goals and a Political Plan for Achieving Their Goals. If you don't know where you are going, you don't need a road map. The Republicans, i.e., conservatives, know where they want to go and they have a plan for getting there. And they have the money, organization, and the blood instinct to go for it. The Democrats have got to have a plan also.
The Democratic Party has got to stop being the "me too.......only just a little less of it," party. They can't survive being the "Bush-lite" party afraid of being criticized by talking heads like Rush Limbaugh.
Democrats Must Become Political Street Fighters. A basic problem of the Democratic Party is that it has become partially passivated. Six years of terrorism and war have taken their toll. If the Democratic Party says anything bad about the present administration during the time of war, they are called disloyal by the Republican talking heads, particular Rush Limbaugh and his many disciples. So, until recently, Democrats have kept pretty quiet and suffered in silence. Waiting for their time, they said.
The candidacies of former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich in 2004 helped end the Democratic silence. They were new and fresh candidates and they did not hesitate to attack Republicans using modern technology, e.g., the Internet, to get their points across. And finally, even Senator Kerry begun to open up with attacks on the administration. The Democrats were coming to life!
Unfortunately, Senator Kerry apparently felt he had to be a "nice guy" on the morning after the election. Despite reports of wholesale election fraud in Ohio and several other states, Kerry felt compelled to concede without challenging the fraud reports - even though the Democrats had ample funds to mount a challenge. For this surrender, Kerry probably lost whatever chance he had for ever again being the Democratic nominee for president.
The Democratic Party needs a fighter not a quitter!
Democrats Must Put the Republicans on the Defensive. Bill Clinton spent much of his administration defending his actions from a hostile media which pretended to be neutral. On the other hand, President Bush has gotten virtually a free ride (until recently) from the controlled media, so has been free to sic Rush Limbaugh and other conservative mouthpieces on the reticent Democratic Party.
In 2004, the Democrats finally realized that they had to make the election a two-dog fight. Once the Democrats started throwing a few rocks, the Republicans began to scream like bloody murder.
When the Republicans start squawking, that is a sign that they have been moved to the defensive. Louisiana Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu was able to do this in her reelection campaign in 2002 when practically the entire Bush administration rushed to Louisiana to attack her. They found they didn't like being put on the defensive by a street fighter like Senator Landrieu. They soon left Louisiana and rushed back to Washington, a little worse for the experience.
However, during the election of 2004, the Democrats were never able to keep the Republicans totally on the defensive and the Republicans were able to counter effectively. In short, the somewhat naive Senator Kerry was no match for the wily Republicans.
Democrats Must Hit Back at Rush Limbaugh. Democratic Party members shouldn't be afraid to hit back at Rush Limbaugh and the Bush Administration in future elections. Hasn't Limbaugh been doing this to the Democrats for the past 20 years. Limbaugh is the heart and soul of the Conservative movement and the Republican party. If the Democrats could get him on the defensive, it would foil his attacks. Why the Democrats didn't target Limbaugh in the 2004 election is beyond belief. He might have cracked under the pressure.
The Republican Party is very vulnerable to attacks by the Democrats because of the extensive political baggage carried by the Republicans. Remember:
a. Florida Election of 2000 and Ohio Election of 2004. Whether political dirty tricks were involved does not really matter. The perception among many is that such tricks were involved so it is almost a free issue for attacking the Republicans. Use of this issue actually doesn't have to be a direct attack. Just remind Democrats, "Remember what they did to us in Florida and Ohio. Don't let them get away with it again"
b. Conservative-packed Supreme Court. This phrase is always good for a punch line since there is so much truth to it. Another phrase that can be used is "The Republicans will be calling in their IOU's on Clarence Thomas." In addition to Clarence Thomas, the other conservative justices who participated in the Florida decision are: Justices Scalia, Rehnquist, O'Conner, and Kennedy.
c. "It's Bill Clinton's Fault." Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives have used this line so much in regards to problems that former President Bill Clinton obviously had nothing to do with that it has come to be a cliché for blaming someone else for your problems. For example, the conservative radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh have told their audiences so many times that Bill Clinton was responsible for 9/11, that some people actually believe that Clinton was president at the time (Bush had been president for over seven months).
If properly used, the term "Its Clinton's fault." can be made to make Republicans appear unwilling to accept responsibility.
Political Issues, 2008 discusses these and other political issues.
1. Election, 2008. There are many political issues in the country but the overriding issue is conservatism vs liberalism.
2. Republican Politics & Strategy The Republicans (conservatives) are riding high but the Democrats are beginning to wake up. Is the conservative political movement over?
The Democrats took a bad beating in the election of 2004, however, the Democratic Party was not destroyed and, if they will get their act together, they can emerge as strong as ever. To do so, however, they need to employ effective Democratic politics and a political strategy that will work.
Last Updated: 08/02/08
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