Joan Vennochi, a liberal columnist at the Boston Globe, writes:
IT IS TIME for Democrats to stop moaning about John Roberts and John Bolton and start doing something productive — such as figuring out how to win elections. Even though Democrats continue to resist the outcome, George W. Bush won the 2004 presidential contest. His reelection triggered a time-honored cliche: To the victor, go the spoils. Bush selected a Supreme Court nominee and an ambassador to the United Nations who reflect his philosophy. Any Democratic president would do the same….Democrats continue to fight the last campaign, while Republicans are planning for the next two. While the Democrats are busy bashing Bush — a second-term president who is not running for anything — the Republicans are working on their strategy for victory in 2006 and 2008. Ken Mehlman, the Republican National Committee chairman, continues the GOP outreach to Latino and African-American voters. Dividing up the Democratic base and conquering even a small piece of it helps Republicans in future elections and hurts Democrats….Sniping about Bush’s vacations and workout schedule is not a long-range strategy for Democratic success. Winning on election day is what it takes to derail nominees like Bolton and Roberts. [Emphasis added] (Source)
My reaction to such articles is mixed. While I enjoy public in-fighting among Democrats, sometimes the results yield practical and good advice. I suspect if politicians actually listened to and followed the advice of people like Vennochi, they’ll really start winning elections.
And we can’t have that. 
Semi-related Update: Cool
{ 62 comments }
He’s not the first democrat to preach “pull your head out of your ’six’ so we can start winning elections.” Dems haven’t listened to previous pleas, so why should we expect them to listen to this one?
There is hope LB. This is not the first time this advice has been given so we can always count on many of the Dems continuing on the same whining path and accomplishing nothing.
Lornkanaga and I are thinking alike
Excuse me, but the Democrats DID win the last few elections. They won many seats and the Presidency. They are just not calling them Democrats.
Pandering to Latinos and Blacks will NOT win votes for Republicans.
Conservative Latinos and Blacks do NOT want “special treatment” – like open borders and affirmative action.
Republican “outreach” may be in the wrong direction.
La Shawn, Thanks for pointing out that wise advice is being given to Democrats. The Democratic leadership isn’t listening.
Being anti-God, anti-American, anti-military, anti-life, anti-business, pro-terrorist and pro-anything-goes marriages [or non-marriages] might be popular with some people but not popular enough to win elections.
Evon, you forgot anti-gun and anti-individual.
As long as the Dems are controlled by the likes of Howie Dean, Teddy Kennedy, Chuckie Schumer, Babs Boxer and Hillary Whatzhername, with the assistance of such luminaries as Jimmy Carter and Michael Moore, any sane advice will be ignored.
La Shawn, FDR said “We have nothing to fear except fear itself”. Today’s Dems only speak fear! They scared me into becoming a Republican!
“Democrats” and “Stop Whining” in the same sentence? That’s not possible. I think that’s their #1 plank in their platform, isn’t it?
Do you want Sen. Ted Kennedy in charge of the U.S. Constitution?
Judge John Roberts, Jr., was nominated for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court by President Bush – an appropriate and constitutional action by the President. But, because Judge Roberts is a conservative Christian who is pro-life, Sen. Kennedy is getting ready to attempt to get Judge Roberts appointment overturned – a case that is likely to end up at the Supreme Court of the United States.
I say lets not let Sen. Kennedy take charge of the Constitution and usurp the President’s authority. Sen. Kennedy must never be given veto power over a Presidential appointment. Stand with the American Center for Law and Justice as it stands up to Sen. Kennedy to ensure that this flawed and unconstitutional strategy fails. Please join me and many other Americans in signing their petition to support The Honorable John Roberts, Jr.
Please checkout their petition:
https://www.aclj.org/Petition/default.aspx?SC=3034&AC=6425
If we were dealing with grown-ups, I’d be worried that they would take the advice seriously. But then again, dealing with grown-ups would involve people like Monihan, Scoop Jackson, Sam Nunn etc.
I think the current crop has bought into the gangsta in-your-face attitude lock, stock & barrel and are having too much fun playing the Kindergarden Brat-pack role. Meanwhile, we’ll just keep increasing the peace by marginalizing them to the Dunce Stool in yonder corner.
As for Roberts, I think Bush should just recess appoint him. The Dems have had more than enough time already to clear him thru committee and give him the up/down. My concern is they will sandbag just enuff to ensure he doesn’t get on when SCOTUS starts.
As for La Shawn’s notion that Democrats winning elections – “We can’t have that.” – There are numerous “Republicans” who are no different from Deomcrats who are moving the party to the left. Really, it seems like both parties are moving left. The Democrats are moving to the extreme left of the looney birds, and the Republicans have nearly completed their move to left of center led by the RINOs like McCain, Voinovich and the President.
And, did anyone see O’Reilly’s talking points memo last night? He addressed the coming demise of George Soros’ America Coming Together and reminded us that, “…honest liberal thought is vital to a strong democracy. I’d be worried if there’s nothing left but the right.”
Indeed. Some good can occasionally come from a Democrat victory, such as the JFK tax cut. We really do need two parties in touch with reality.
I do think that the advice is good, but I doubt the DNC would take it. The fact that they have Howard Dean in the position he’s in tells me a lot about how much they must want to win elections – which is to say, they must not be interested in winning at all.
On that same note, talking about winning elections makes me wonder what, if anything, conservatives have actually won over these last few elections where Republicans have made big gains. “Moderate” conservatism seems to be what’s getting Republicans elected rather than conservative conservatism and looked at it from that perspective, true conservatives haven’t really won much of anything these past few elections.
I would truly love to see a genuinely *conservative* candidate win an election not based on him or her moving to the center, but on their conservative ideals. It’d be such a refreshing change.
Now that’s refreshing!!!
Sister Toldjah, I have another take. True conservative principles are indeed winning elections, but the liars who campaign on those issues turn into RINOs or liberals once elected.
Make no bones about it. TRUE conservatism does indeed win elections.
Interesting article. My rants may be getting some attention as evidenced by this article on foxnews.com:
Democracy Demands Ousting the Incumbent Class
Thursday, August 04, 2005
By Patrick Basham
I would say the democrats are doing a good job with ‘08–Hillary Clinton has been revving up that PR machine and getting a lot of coverage via her “triangulation” strategy.
Raymond, Thanks.
Sister Toldjah wrote, “I do think that the advice is good, but I doubt the DNC would take it.”
I agree. Working here deep in the belly of the beast (the state of CA), I see the mentality unabridged at times of Democrats. The vitriol and hate expressed toward Dr. Rice, Pres. Bush, Arnold and others is amazing. The leaders these people will elect will always be ones who appeal to their mindset in some fashion.
Our job as conservatives is to try to convince the old school Democrats (you know the ones who’ve voted Democrat since FDR and Kennedy) what their leadership is now actually voting for and saying (many of these types or really apolitical and don’t research – they just vote every election cycle – and the anti-Republicanism seeps through from the boob tube).
I mean, many are really unaware of what bills are coming out of the Democrat controlled CA state legislature but would be apalled if they knew.
Democrats are in a really weak position generally. The weakness on Republicans side is shallow and can be fixed with a new president who isn’t so liberal and compromising on all of the issues.
Why are Democrats weak generally? My opinion is that because whereas before they had control of the information channels. From college through death once a liberal you’d always be a liberal probably. On every issue you thought Republicans were backwards and evil and just having a conversation with a liberal on one topic wouldn’t change that liberals mind. It’d require a re-education boot camp. Now. Colleges are being challenged by conservatives and new information is out there besides what ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN says.
On every topic Democrats are in a weak position. They are either in attack or lie or crisis mode.
The people see the attacks for what they are after so many.
The people don’t give liberals much credibility after so many lies (now they’ve taken on the strategy of pushing that lie stuff onto one person – Bush)
The people don’t believe the crisises anymore. For example: The world ambient temperature has risen 0.1 degree in over 100 years despite all of the computer models and scientific predictions.
“I would truly love to see a genuinely *conservative* candidate win an election not based on him or her moving to the center, but on their conservative ideals. It’d be such a refreshing change.”
AMEN!!! Wouldn’t it be something to have someone who sticks by their convictions and beliefs irregardless of what others think or say? What a concept…knowing exactly where someone is coming from… we can only wish
LaShawn,
The current Deomocat party is far from Harry Truman, Scoop Jackson, or Pat Monihan. If liberals borrow money from fund that feeds children in certain area, do we not have faith they will pay it back asap! There are a lot of educated middle-class and up people that once were Deomocrats, but now looking around. If Mehlman and RNC does not know how to communicate with them, he did not listen to me, since I gave him this post. I am sure LaShawn is not afraid of giving him a Christian, conservative, black woman’s point of view. Email him and mention LaShawn, or someone else in the DC area!
James M. Barber
@ Frank Zavisca — I don’t think it’s so much “pandering to Latinos and Blacks” as it is trying to point out the common ground the conservative party members have with the aforementioned predominantly Christian groups. Many have voted straight Democrat ticket since the time of their grandparents, simply because that’s what’s done, without examining ALL issues.
I am a firm believer that the real job of winning elections is done one person at a time, and over a multitude of topics.
While some Democrats may be trying to get the rest of the party to think rationally, some of us on the other side of the aisle are doing the same thing…
I may have a convert or two. In the area where I live, a lot of the locals have voted straight Democrat ticket for as long as they can recall. One of my friends, a fourth-generation Democrat has begun to express her dissatisfaction with the responses she has received from our elected so-called representatives in D.C. (can you blame her? One of them is Durbin!). I’ve persuaded her to talk to our nearest state legislator (a Republican), and if he helps her (he’s done so before), she says she will endorse him & the party, next election. Wish us luck!
Rebekah #25, I agree with your take. Making sure that others hear our message (which is a good message) so that they can figure out if they like our principles isn’t pandering. Pandering would be to change our principles.
There are some republicans who do this but then…. they didn’t have the conservative principles….
By the way, I’ve converted a few “African-Americans” also. They’ve since found a lot of flack for believing they way they NOW think.
I was a convert myself. I was liberal and converted in 1991. Fell swoop. I researched by going 3 times a weak for a full year to the library. I researched economics, environment, budget #’s over the last 50 years, etc. I circumvented ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN and now I’m not brainwashed.
La Shawn, I think the reason that Democrats won’t take Joan Vennochi’s advice is that they are obsessed with finding a “silver bullet” that will finish Republicans (politically speaking).
I think than many Democrats are unhappy with campaigning, since in a free and fair election it is possible for them to lose. Many Democrats feel that their positions on Social Security, taxes, civil rights, Iraq, etc. are self-evident. They are enraged (yes, enraged – see Dr. Dean) that they have to answer to a sometimes skeptical electorate. This is obvious in the comments of some liberals who post on your site.
Hence, the Democrats’ search for the “mother of all political scandals” that will obliterate the GOP forever. Or maybe campaign finance “reform” to make sure only their side is funded in an election. How about counting chads, dimples, pimples and every stray mark on a ballot until their side wins? And always a lapdog media that never seriously examines liberal positions. Convincing voters does not fit into this scheme.
Thus, I don’t see the Democratic Party following Vennochi’s advice anytime soon. That would require respect (and tolerance) for the opinions and ideas of others, and I see no evidence of that.
Mwalimu, While the focus on the leadership is important and you wrote about them beautifully, it’s important to understand how they got to this leadership role and stay there. Because of the liberal rank-and-file that votes for them.
Not saying the liberal rank-and-file are evil. Just saying that they believe Republicans are evil as I posted about earlier in this thread due to their lack of understanding of conservative or Republican stands on issues.
The dems have their (ommitted)s in a crack. They have to champion two different planks to stay viable:
1. They have to throw out lots of “Bush lied / selected, not elected / Halliburton!” red meat to keep the whacko big-time donors like Soros and Hollyweird happy so the checks keep coming in. Look at their contribution figures; they are way behind the GOP. The fact that Dean keeps shrieking populist rhetoric about how ‘evil’ corporations are taking advantage of working Americans AND polluting the environment doesn’t help matters any.
2. They have to promise all sorts of government goodies such as programs, subsidies, etc. to every one of their constituency groups, which has the blatant appearance of pandering. Further, after years of blaming Republicans for busting the budget and running up huge deficits, the dems have to try to explain to the voters how they’re going to fund all their plans without raising taxes. Hard to do.
Neither screaming about the evil Bush or promising more government programs plays well with the average American, who would much rather hear ideas for the future rather than gripes about the past and who lost faith in ’60s-era big government over the past two decades. Unfortunately, the dems can’t back away from their standard platform; frankly, I think that many of them (like Dean) are so out of touch that they don’t WANT to back away. They seem to think that if they find the right ’scandal’ to hang around the Bush administration or come up with they right government program, the American people will rise up and eject the usurping GOP from Washington and we can all get back to the the natural order of things, i.e. dem majorities in the Congress and a dem in the Oval Office.
A terrifying thought!
LaShawn,
You guys won’t be happy until the resurrected body of Strom Thurmond is elected President for ‘life’. How far back do you conservatives want to take the country before you are satisfied that U.S.A. is where it ought to be and can then be preserved in amber forever?
And what is “liberal” about the views of John McCain?
“You guys won’t be happy” — HUH?
“You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? Then who the *** else are you talkin’ to? You talkin’ to me? Well, I’m the only one here. Who do the **** do you think you’re talking to? Oh, yeah? Ok.” — Travis Bickle
Meade,
It’s nice to know that you know what’s in our minds. You have ESP or you’re clever.
Moving this country forward or backwards is all opinion. We want to move this country forward into an era of security, peace and prosperity while the Democrats want to move this country backwards towards more crime, less security and giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
Great debate huh. Should we continue this way?
On John McCain you can go to
http://www.issues2000.org/Senate/John_McCain.htm
for his stand…which has the following:
Affirmative action OK for specific programs, but no quotas. (Jul 1998)
Voted YES on setting aside 10% of highway funds for minorities & women.
Voted NO on Bush Administration Energy Policy. (Jul 2003)
Voted YES on removing consideration of drilling ANWR from budget bill. (Mar 2003)
Give everyone in the world an opportunity to come to America. (Oct 2004)scroll down the page to get to this one
No more ballot initiatives against immigration. (Mar 1999)
The GOP should be inclusive. (Feb 2000) in that statement is an accusation made by liberals
Voted NO on $350 billion in tax breaks over 11 years. (May 2003)
Voted NO on increasing tax deductions for college tuition. (May 2001)
Voted NO on across-the-board spending cut. (Oct 1999)
Of course he votes the right way sometimes too. But he is to the “left” of center overall.
McCain is left, right, center, left-center, right-center, up, down, backwards, inside-out and upside-down, depending upon the phase of the moon and the relative positions of Mars and Jupiter. Either that, or his wild policy swings are totally random.
Of course he votes the right way sometimes too. But he is to the “left†of center overall.
So i guess Bush didn’t get your vote last year either. Or was it one of those “hold your nose while pulling the lever” deals?
Just curious, Meade – do you have a contribution for this discussion, or are you just here to stir the pot?
Rebeard:
Here because i like to sample views from all parts of the political and social spectrum. Don’t believe in in the infallibility of any human (especially politicians).
LaShawn ticks me off sometimes, but always raises interesting topics. Don’t want to be just a lurker.
I prostrate myself before you. – Admin
You’re in good company here, then, because no one here believes in infallible politicians either.
Redbeard:
Thanks for the welcome.
Meade,
Your logic is severly flawed. If it was McCain against Kerry I would’ve voted for McCain. You think that you know what we think and you DON’T.
You can continue down that path or learn.
While I only agree with Bush 70% of the time it’s not a “hold the nose” approach.
Do you agree with the candidate you vote for 100% of the time? Not worth responding to much more here.
Meade, when it comes to politics in our form of government, one CANNOT ‘opt’ out of voting — vote, don’t vote, any which way, you’ve still made your voice heard.
That said, there’s no way a true conservative would have pulled the lever for sKerry, altho some may rationally boycott either as a form of protest.
Kudos to Rush for being so on the spot with their Freewill song:
“There are those who think that life has nothing left to chance,
A host of holy horrors to direct our aimless dance.
A planet of playthings,
We dance on the strings
Of powers we cannot perceive
“The stars aren’t aligned,
Or the gods are malign…”
Blame is better to give than receive. [hmmm, where have I heard these refrains before?]
Chorus
]
You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill; [Talk about progressives
I will choose a path that’s clear
I will choose freewill.
There are those who think that they were dealt a losing hand,
The cards were stacked against them; they weren’t born in Lotusland.
All preordained
A prisoner in chains
A victim of venomous fate.
Kicked in the face,
You can’t pray for a place
In heaven’s unearthly estate.
Chorus
Each of us
A cell of awareness
Imperfect and incomplete.
Genetic blends
With uncertain ends
On a fortune hunt that’s far too fleet.
Chorus“
#15 James E.- that is a great point O’Reilly brought up about being worried if there was only “the right.” That’s what I worry about the most with the demise of the Democratic party – who would the Republicans have to compete with in the arena of ideas if the Dem party essentially becomes irrelevant (which I think is happening)?
#18 Raymond: I see what you’re saying to a point, but it seems to me like not many Republican candidates today are running on a fiscally and socially conservative platform. I don’t hear a lot of talk about wasteful spending, how abortion is wrong – period, how we need to come up with a strong immigration policy, etc. Consider this: the headliners (so to speak) at the RNC were mostly moderates like Guiliani, Pataki, Schwarzeneger (sp?), and McCain. Those guys make no bones about the fact that they are moderates. The speakers I saw who were most conservative at the RNC were on during timeslots that were one or two hours before the networks picked up coverage.
I think you and I agree more than you may think we do – I just don’t see a lot of campaigning for genuine conservative values anymore.
#22 Baklava: You make some great points, and I don’t see much in there that I disagree with
If conservatives run as conservatives with principle and stop trying to please every dadgum body, they would win.
I agree James E that we need the left wackos to keep reminding us about what we stand for. But watching CspanII with Maxine Waters in Inglewood (I assume in a church) with all the anti-war activists cheering her on, I know we will always have ways of getting the left side. We can always listen to Pacifica or NPR. One lady at the rally said we need to support our fellow women in Iraq since the constitution was not looking good for women. My brain just about exploded then when the rally when thinking that the rally was to get us out of Iraq and abandon all the people of Iraq including women. Then I switched to Cspan I and Newt was talking calmly to America’s future leaders and asking them help him spread democracy to the world.
#44. You should get an award for just being able to look at Maxine Waters without turning to stone.
Could Judge Roberts be another Souter or worse….a Governor McGreevey?
“Let us be realistic about the U.N. It has served our purposes from time to time; and it is worth keeping alive for future service. But it is not worth the sacrifice of American troops, American freedom of action, or American national interests.â€
– John Bolton, from the 1997 Cato Institute Tract Delusions of Grandeur.
Being in the opposition is a tough job. Especially if you’ve lost both houses of Congress and the Presidency. Whining is about the best you can do when you don’t control chairmanships and don’t have the voting power to steer policy.
What strikes me as strange is the idea that the problem is one of tactics. America has already tried the Democrat agenda – some of it stuck around (civil rights, women’s rights, affirmative action, social security), some of it has been rejected (welfare, lenient prison sentencing, national security policy).
IMHO, the Dems are in roughly the same position politically as the Republican party back in the 1930s: the animating zeitgeist largely at odds with the winds of public sentiment. It took several generations for the Republican party to recover political power.
Not long ago, Dems ruled both houses and the true believers on the right didn’t cave in. Why should liberals feel any different about their positions than Repubs? If they truly believe they are right, they should press on.
How long was Israel in bondage in Egypt? But they kept believing that it’s not might that makes right, and eventually they would be saved and see the promised land etc.
Dems had a majority of state governorships and state legislatures also.
Meade #49: “Not long ago, Dems ruled both houses and the true believers on the right didn’t cave in.”
That must be why America has been so rock solidly conservative for the last 40 years, I guess, eh?
Sis:
See Baklava comment.
Both houses of congress and a majority of state offices. It’s the truth.
I was taking issue with your comment that “the right didn’t cave in” not with who had control of Congress.
Went over my head until now too.
If you’re saying that the majority is always right, i’d have to disagree with you again. Are you talking about the raw numbers of their level of faith?
Sorry … I should have noted in some way that I was being sarcastic
No, I’m not saying the majority is always right – I’m saying that the right *did* and *has* caved. Remember all that talk of abolishing federal boondoggles like the NEA, etc? They’re still around, aren’t they?
PBS still funded.
The 1979 opened Dept of Ed gets regular large increases in funding.
New federal spending for stem cell research.
Indeed, Baklava. It’s really depressing, once you get to thinking about it.
I think I need to go pull up some Reagan speeches to read on the Internet. It’s Friday and I shouldn’t be frowning
If there is a system in America where black voters aren’t supressed and disenfranchised and where every vote can be physically recounted by hand, there would be no issues about Democrats losing elections, IMHO.
–Cobra
Cobra, you’re right cause they would have to accept the facts that they flat out lost. But as long as there is unreasonable doubt, they will continue to try and press the disadvantage. In order to win, they will continue to try and supress and disnfranchise the non-democrat voters.
But the truths of their antics are catching up to them accross the land – Wisconsin, Washington, Ohio, Florida, Tennesse, Missouri, Illinois etc, etc and convictions are being meted out even as we speak. Talk about a cancer from within. We’ll see what happens next year.
Comments on this entry are closed.