Combat yes! Consensus no!

Gary Andres' column in the Wash Times today looks at the current trend of Democrat strategies and shakes his head. Instead of harnessing Liberal enthusiasm to champion its own legislative agenda, the party has resorted to simply trying to tear down that of the Republicans. Message to Dems: Voters don't like that!

Republicans and conservatives sometimes sentimentally yearn for the good old days, wondering why Democrats don't play by the old rules. No such luck. Some of the loudest and most influential voices in the Democratic Party -- such as Simon Rosenberg of the New Democratic Network, and blogger Markos Moulitsas from the Daily Kos -- care more about creating acrimony than alternatives. These activists dominate party voters, volunteers and contributors, and their message to Democratic congressional leaders is clear -- combat yes, consensus no.

As Howard Fineman wrote in Newsweek recently, Mr. Rosenberg and his new Democratic allies argue success lies "not (in) ideological purity but combativeness." The "left" wants Democratic lawmakers to erect barriers blocking the party's move to the center and to hamper cooperation; congressional leaders have clearly heard the request and already started construction -- a political public-works project that won't stop anytime soon.

Someday about five to ten years from now, somebody is going to write a book about the continuing decline of the Democrats and an appropriate title would be something along the lines of "The Un-making Of A Political Party".

Then again, maybe a better title would be "The Democratic Party: Stuck On Stupid".

Posted by: Gary at 07:20 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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