Former NYC mayor Ed Koch writes: “Democrats can win, but not by bashing Bush”
The party should now clarify its positions and its platform should be intelligent and reasonable.Ha ha ha! Well, it could happen.
Follow-up – From the liberal American Prospect: “What the Democrats still don’t have is a philosophy, a big idea that unites their proposals and converts them from a hodgepodge of narrow and specific fixes into a vision for society. Indeed, the party and the constellation of interests around it don’t even think in philosophical terms and haven’t for quite some time. There’s a reason for this: They’ve all been trained to believe -- by the media, by their pollsters -- that their philosophy is an electoral loser. Like the dogs in the famous “learned helplessness” psychological experiments of the 1960s -- the dogs were administered electrical shocks from which they could escape, but from which, after a while, they didn’t even try to, instead crouching in the corner in resignation and fear -- the Democrats have given up attempting big ideas.”
4 comments:
Ed Koch has endorsed a series of Republican candidates for the last 15 years, in part because it's one of his few avenues for getting attention, and in part because he was never hard left anyway.
Quoting Ed Koch on what the Democrats need to do is kind of like quoting Arlen Specter on the GOP's master plan. Only not nearly as credible.
As I've written many times, this is not just the opinion of Ed Koch. Many, many Democrats (including their highly paid consultants of James Carville and Stanley Greenberg) have begged the Democrats to find a message. But if the Dems want to go into the 2006 cycle with "We'll do better, but we can't tell you how", more power to them.
But the Republican Congress has helped Bush botch smaller government (huge expan$$$ion), strong defense (Iraq, ports), moral values (Katrina) and effective leadership (all of the above). Their standard winning formula is in shambles.
Exactly how big a punch do you think that GOP "big idea" philosophy is going to pack in '06, after a run of systematic incompetence unparallelled in Presidential history? Michael Dukakis would kick GWB's butt now. Bill Clinton would be coronated.
Republicans had better pray to God (who's clearly stopped listening to GWB) that we pull Osama out of a cave, and clenching a tax cut between his teeth.
Dear Mr. 43-35% - I hope you'll continue to visit after November. The place just wouldn't be the same without you here. We can discuss the continuing (although narrower) control of Congress by the GOP and the new Supreme Court justice replacing John Stevens.
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