I don't have a mind for symbolic logic, but if you ask me, what we just saw, by the Bush campaign, was coup by logical fallacy. Fear mongering. Smears. Halos.
Left on the sidelines, once again, we end up screaming unfair, unfair, while the Republicans, who violate the rules at every turn, race the ball down the field.
Do we want to emulate their tactics? No. Can we capture moderates if we just learn to love guns, reference God more, and reject gays?
No.
First, we have to look at what we thought were the rules, and how that has changed.
Then we need to recapture the realm of values, but we need do it on our own terms, not theirs.
And thirdly we need to engage the media. That is the one place we need to follow the Republicans and take up the thirty year plan. You have to be able to broadcast your ideas.
It's very difficult to beat an incumbent president.
If there is one reason why John Kerry failed to do so, given Bush's execrable record, it's because the mainstream media has turned rightward. It treated Bush with kid gloves and consistently downplayed the challenger. Kerry talked about issues, Bush responded with personal attacks. The media treated those as equal. They are not. Kerry was cut into sound bites and boxed in with punditry.
If you doubt it, look at the debates. After the public got a chance to hear him, Kerry's stock shot up. Moderates, made uneasy by the flip flop and swift boat charges, were reassured. He continued to gain in the polls every day up till election day.
So how did Bush win?
First of all Americans feel uneasy turning against a President, especially in the midst of a war.
Secondly, the personal attacks left a mark. Failing with flip flop, the Bush campaign droned home with the weak-on-terror rant. Charges that are patently absurd or false, still have to be forcefully answered.
When Kerry spoke directly to the public, it worked. So too, did the personal testimony ads. Mothers who'd lost their sons. Educators. Ordinary people. Message that were simple, eloquent, powerful.
What do we do now?
First of all we need to make it clear to our elected Congress people that Bush has no mandate.
We need to tell Republicans as well as Democrats that we are here, we're not going away, and our vote counts.
We need to be strong, vocal, and make sure that our side has backbone. All this cringing, whinging, and tear jerking, is hardly likely to endear us to the American public.
We lost, but we aren't losers.
No Surrender
O.K. Get Back to Work
Here's a few things we can do.
Demand that the Democratic Party elevate good candidates in visible positions instead of simply following through with seniority or politics as usual.
Cultivate African American and young voters.
Here is am encouraging article about a Minnesota suburb, Edina. It's a promising signpost to things yet to come, if we pull ourselves together.
Kerry carries Edina, and Pigs Fly
Another intriquing sign is this one, about fault lines in the victory party.
"The President did not fare well in the election with moderates and independents. These voters may be further turned off if the GOP panders to the religious right." Deliver Unto Us
Action alert. According to New Yorker writer Seymour Hersh in a Q & A in the Washington Post:
"The Minority Leader should be Chris Dodd, who's bright, articulate and attractive, but Harry Reid of Nevada, no shining public light, will get it."
We can do something about that.
Write your Democratic Senator and tell them to draft Dodd. Tell them this is no time to play politics as usual, and the best candidate should get the job, not the one who's lobbied the hardest. And while you're at it, tell them.
Bush has no mandate.
Bush has no mandate.
Bush has no mandate.