DLC Strategy...it's not too far from what we think actually

[seattleclarkie]

To those of you who think of the DLC as an organization that wants to engage in intra-party warfare, and that perennially advises Democrats to "move to the right," I suggest you give today's New Dem Daily a thorough and dispassionate read. We do not think this is a good time for a "struggle for the soul" of the Democratic Party; the unity we achieved in this campaign is a precious asset that it would be stupid to throw away, and moreover, we are all complicit in the mistakes our party keeps making.

Moreover, and I will say this personally, you won't get any argument from New Democrats that the Dean/MoveOn legacy of this campaign--the ability to build passionate grassroots organizations, and to raise money from small donors--should be thrown away, either. But in the end, the problem we had this year was not a shortage of money, volunteers, organization, excitement, or candidate charisma: it was a shortage of message. An electorate poised to fire Bush and his Republican allies was never convinced it understood exactly what Democrats would do with the power they sought, and that was the killer.

And there's another point on which Democrats of every ideological tendency ought to be able to agree. We're the "out party" now. Republicans control every nook and cranny of the federal government they still pretend they are fighting. Why on earth can't Democrats finally take advantage of hostility to Washington, supplementing anti-corporate populism with anti-government populism? Polls consistenly show that more than a third of Americans don't know who controls Congress. But how often did you hear any Democrats--not just Kerry, but congressional Democratic candidates as well--remind voters of that fact, or pledge to reform all the patent abuses of power in Washington, from corporate welfare to strong-arm partisanship to fiscal profilgacy? Why are we defending government programs, and demonizing every dishonest Republican claim to reform them, when Washington is being run by Republicans like a country club? Beats me.


http://www.newdonkey.com/2004/11/reflect-and-reform-dont-recriminate.html

-Ed Kilgore, Policy Director at the DLC

[montana500]

1. this guy needs to rethink everything

++it was a shortage of message. An electorate poised to fire Bush and his Republican allies was never convinced it understood exactly what Democrats would do with the power they sought, and that was the killer. ++


There is nothing wrong with the dem party, it just needs minor tweaking. We just had one of the most liberal candidates we could possibly have, and we almost won!

All these leaders keep freaking out about our message. Sure some minor things can be tweaked, but the problem isn't really the message. The problem is we dont have the entire radio dial to spew our talking points the minute they come out of our mouths or from our emails.

Our message IS NOT REINFORCED by any kind of media AT ALL. We are shut out of most radio stations even in the largest cities. The DLC and others need to figure out a way to purchase a powerful rural radiostation in key swing states.

Until this happens our presidential elections will always be fought on in the states we have to have to win. We will always be playing defense with the electoral vote instead of having the luxury of going on offens ein red territory.

Until we can provide a VOICE to real working americans everyday , we will always have trouble with the message regardless of content.

[ibegurpard]

2. It's not just radio

It's everything. We don't have a built-in network or community that can compare to the fundamentalist churches. Tweaking the "message" is putting a band-aid on festering gash.

[seattleclarkie]

3. I disagree.

You're right in the sense that there is nothing wrong with the heart and soul of the Democratic Party. We have the right ideas - we have popular ideas.

We have the wrong packaging. We absolutely suck at marketing. Our brand has been defined by our competitor, and you can't win if someone else is marketing you.