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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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 Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:33 am Post subject: Why the Democrats can't help themselves, can't govern |
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Why the Democrats can't govern
Here's the conclusion. I recommend the whole thing.
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Democrats have locked themselves into a self-fulfilling prophecy. When their party controls all of Washington, things tend to go south quickly. The president's popularity plunges, and soon his copartisans in Congress find themselves scrambling to keep from losing their own seats in the political undertow. It happened to Carter in 1978 and 1980, and again to Clinton in 1994.
And, so, they hedge their bets by carving out an independent identity. It doesn't matter that Obama is popular now, or that a majority of Americans (according to a recent Pew poll) reject the criticism that he's "trying to do too much." If Obama defies history and retains his popularity, they'll retain their seats anyway. They have to worry about the scenario where Obama turns into an albatross.
But, of course, the more Democrats defect, the more the president is defined as an extreme liberal, and the more ineffectual he seems as his agenda crashes upon the shoals. Ultimately, the moderates find there is no escape. Republicans in Congress grasped the futility of beggar-thy-neighbor survivalism, and they stood behind Bush in 2005 and 2006, even as his popularity fell to Nixonian levels. The hard truth for Democrats is that Obama's popularity is bound to fall. The economy will not turn around overnight, and the voters' memory of disastrous GOP rule will grow dimmer and dimmer with time. The one factor within the Democrats' control is whether their constituents see Obama as a strong leader taking action, like Roosevelt or Kennedy, or a floundering weakling, like Carter or first-term Clinton.
It seems impossible to believe that this party, with the challenges before the country so great and the opportunity to address them so rare, would once again follow the path to self-immolation. Yet, somehow, the Democrats can't help themselves. |
Lack of party discipline leads to inefficacy. Inefficacy leads to a loss at the polls. The Democrats have to turn this around, starting in the Senate. |
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Don Gately
Joined: 20 Mar 2006
Location: In a basement taking a severe beating
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| Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 1:41 pm Post subject: |
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| The president's popularity plunges, and soon his copartisans in Congress find themselves scrambling to keep from losing their own seats in the political undertow. It happened to Carter in 1978 and 1980, and again to Clinton in 1994. |
And Bush in '08. |
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harlowethrombey
Joined: 17 Mar 2009
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 3:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Yeah, just search replace the words 'Democrat' with 'Republican' and you can post the same article twice. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 3:49 pm Post subject: |
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I don't really buy it.
Senators and Representatives are supposed to represent the interests in their district, whether those be the wheat belt farmers, the oil patch drillers, the auto industry or the hi tech businesses of Silicon Valley. By represent, I mean their job is to get the best deal possible for their constituents in the rough and tumble of negotiating a majority vote on any given bill.
The old saw is: the president proposes and Congress disposes. That is the system. Obama has been remarkably successful so far in getting what he has proposed. One of the best things so far is the newly re-asserted power of Congress. Under the last administration, Congress was little more than a rubber stamp (during the time when the GOP was the majority). Currently, the legislative and executive branches seem to be functioning in a more traditional way, with some balance, but with Obama holding the upper hand.
Further, there is no such thing as a national political party in the US. The two parties are coalitions of state parties, with varying interests reflecting the diversity of the states. The Democrats went out of their way under Gov. Dean to recruit candidates who were more conservative than run of the mill Democrats to give the party a broader appeal in more conservative voting districts. This means the party has to negotiate and compromise between the varying factions before they arrive at a 'party' bill with a voting majority.
So far, the Democratic Party is functioning like a healthy political party. |
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