Bush victorious.
George W Bush wins re-election. (*)
When will liberals look in the mirror? The American people do not disagree with our basic values. They disagree with the approach.
It’s time for a rethink.
As for the Democratic Party, the ship sails perilous close to extinction of its credibility. Look for lifeboats.
November 5th, 2004 at 15:49
As a Republican, I can tell you not to despair. I remember a time when it seemed like the GOP was extinct– indeed, in much worse shape.
The two biggest problems I see with the Democrats are that 1)there have been no new ideas in a few generations. For example, education. There is a consensus that public education is in bad shape; terrible in minority areas. The only new ideas on the topic are Republican– vouchers, charter schools, ramped up expectaions/ testing etc. Democrats have simply said no, no ,no ,no. Eventually, though, even die-hard Democrats will have to see that more of the same is not good, and they will turn to try something new.
This has been happening on a host of issues– welfare reform/workfare is a perfect example. We saw it in NY too, with Rudy cleaning up the streets. Each election cycle, a few more Reagan Democrats turn into Republicans.
The second problem is that while most mainstream Republicans wince at our extreme right (The John Birchers and the televangelists) Democrats embrace and chuckle at and, indeed, exalt, their nuts (the Michael Moore’s, the Whoopie Goldbergs, the Al Sharptons). Regular people, people who don’t obsess about politics listen to this stuff, and say, nah, I don’t think so.
Happy Days might not be here again for a while for the Dems, but with a little restraint and some brain power, you guys will be back. If not, the Republican Party will grow so broad that it will split, with its moderate wing joining the Democrats and balancing things back (much as what happened when the Democratic Party after decades of dominance, lost its conservative wing to the epublicans.
Sorry for the loooong comment– i enjoy your site very much!
November 5th, 2004 at 18:03
I think what the Democrats need to work on is tolerance of other view points. I have never seen so much pride in a party before. Pride is bad because it usually blinds you to your faults and to your enemies strength. When Bush ran for governor they underestimated who he was and Bush beat them. When he ran for President they underestimated who he was, convinced that they were superior with “idealogy” and enlightment. When he ran for re-election they were convinced that the Republicans and Bush had made so many obvious mistakes that they were doomed towards failure. I think what the Democrats need to do is swallow their cockiness and anaylize the big picture. If not, it will be the Green Party dominating the liberal scene. Selah!
October 8th, 2005 at 09:36
Please check the pages on…