October 21, 2005

E: Democrats

Imagine the manager of the Astros or White Sox delivering this pep talk as the World Series kicks off this weekend:

"Guys, I'm proud of you for getting this far and I've got a fantastic game plan thats gonna win us this World Series. We're gonna take that field and were gonna hope -- and I mean really hope -- that the other team makes a bunch of errors! Are you with me?!"

It's hard to believe that the players would rally around this anti-Lombardian battle cry. The very spirit of competition requires a strategy more bold than hoping an opponent simply screws everything up. Yet, this appears to be the exact strategy employed by Democrats these days. The party of FDR and JFK and LBJ, a party that once dreamt big ideas and pursued them, has been reduced to a cadre of eggshell-walkers and finger-crossers.

While Republicans populate think tanks and cook up big ideas to push their conservative agenda, Democrats read books like Whats the Matter with Kansas? and Dont Think of an Elephant -- excellent accounts of the marketing aspect of politics -- and tell themselves that it is simply presentation that is their problem.

Although Republicans are undeniably winning in P.R., a marketing advantage does not automatically translate to electoral success. How many big budget movies with million-dollar marketing campaigns flop and how many less marketed, but higher-quality films do well? Compare the fates of Troy (flop) and Sideways (Oscar nominee) and youll see that better marketing is far from determinative.

It is not superior marketing that has lead to the recent Republican domination, but the fact that Republican marketing is the only thing filling the current void in American leadership. Any leadership void will be filled by something. Instead of stepping up and filling it with progressive ideas and strong leaders, Democrats have watched the current void be filled by White House propaganda. The results --control of zero of the three branches of government -- speak for themselves.

Sadly, Republicans have been making error after error recently, convincing many Democrats that the wait-and-hope strategy is finally paying off. Such belief is self-delusional. The recent failures and scandals in Republican leadership confirm nothing except the well-known fact that a party left unchecked by effective opposition can undo itself by abusing its power.

This Administration has been failing for five years now and they have yet to pay any price for it because Democrats are spending too much time waiting for the next error and too little time actively offering an alternative. Why should the current Republican struggle be any different? The most recent Democratic presidential candidate was nominated not because he had the best ideas or because he could connect with the American people, but because he was thought to be "electable." We know how that turned out -- electability alone, it seems, does not make one very electable. Still, hopefuls for 2006 and 2008 continue racing to the right to attain that very same badge of electability.

These days the most successful Democratic opposition is coming from a Republican. Senator John McCain recently pushed an anti-torture clause into a defense spending bill in the face of a threatened White House veto, rallying the support of Senators from both sides of the aisle. McCain, himself a veteran of the bullying marketing of the current Republican machine, is unburdened by wariness of electability. Instead, he has repeatedly identified problems and acted to solve them. In the process he has made himself quite electable.

As I sit to watch the Astros and White Sox battle it out over the next week, I will be hoping to see sharp, error-free baseball. I want to see each team give its best effort, pushing its opponent to the brink and fighting back when pushed. The World Series should not be decided by which team makes more errors. Neither should the leadership of our communities and our country.

Come on Democrats. Play ball!

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