Death of Rovism?
First of all, YEAH! Finally, the nightmare of the past six years is coming to an end.
Analysis - how did the Dems win? This article in Slate below makes the point that the Dems didn't so much win as Bush gave it to them, from Katrina to Schiavo and of course Iraq.
But a big lesson being touted at least by the big papers is that the Dems won the center and the Rovian idea that you can win elections by focusing on your base to the exclusion of all else is over. Maybe the lesson is you can't ignore any part of the electorate forever, and oh yeah, you can't screw up really bad.
Happy Nights. - By Bruce Reed - Slate Magazine:
"Field marshals Rahm Emanuel and Chuck Schumer ignored the virtual industry of self-help nonsense that has paralyzed Democrats' chattering classes and went back to a simple, proven formula: From the suburbs to the heartland, elections are won in the center."
"Ever since watching Rove's success in 2002 and 2004, some on the left and in the blogosphere have been trying to persuade the Democratic Party to follow suit and develop our own smashmouth politics aimed less at persuasion and more at motivating our base. As Lamont discovered, that approach wins primaries—but as Joe Lieberman showed him, that's no match for pragmatic problem solving in a general election."
posted by Victor Laszlo @ 11/08/2006
3 comments
3 Comments:
I read both comments and spent a lot of time last night following the talking heads. Centrists win more often than base huggers. But centrists require more effort and compromise and that is why the Republicans avoid it. They want to be able to have their cake and eat it too (which when you think of it makes complete sense. I mean who wants the cake but doesn't want to eat it?) What I really mean is that they would prefer to have it all their way no matter what. Should we gloat? yes, but quietly. But more importantly we are now front and center, in the spotlight, at the show, the big cheese, the big mahoff. We have to deliver on the ethics, thoughtful planning and influence for inside the country AND find a way to get this administration to work with us on foreign policy, which will be near impossible. But hey, Rummie is gone, so you know, we got that going for us. "Ya did a nice job Rummie. Now stop taking the nosferatu cocktail and go back to your crypt." YEAHH
Yes but the common wisdom before this election was that the best thing to do was to drive hard to the base because this gets out the vote and wins the election. I think one of the dangers of doing it is that not only does it ignore the centrists, but it really angers the base of the other side and gets them all riled up to get rid of you (as it did to us.)
The GOP knives are out. Ha! Maybe you heard or saw the boy-emperor stick the presidential letter opener deep into Heir Rove's ample back during Bush's press conference. This morning's excellent news is that Ken Mehlman has been thrown under the bus. Is Karl next, or is he busy throwing daggers in other directions. Stay tuned!
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