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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2005-06-13

Back To Work. . .er, Blog

Been a bit remiss of late in the posting department. Between teaching at Vacation Bible School, having two contracts come due, and both girls having their dance recital last week (two nights plus a dress rehearsal), last week was pretty much wiped out for me. So, to both of you who check in on this site regularly: sorry.

So I'll re-enter the fray by bringing your attention to this op-ed in the Rocky Mountain News this morning. As reluctant as I am to point out the obvious deficiencies in our political opposition's approach, this article is well worth the read. It starts thus:

Recent national polling figures tell us support for Republicans nationwide is dropping. This is no surprise considering the volatile price of energy, ongoing economic jitters and the continued carnage in Iraq.

What is surprising, however, is that not only are Democrats not benefiting from this apparent decline in GOP popularity, but also their numbers are dropping as fast, if not faster.

And concludes thus:

This lack of an overarching narrative must appear to voters as though Democrats are just supporting certain issues and programs to win votes; that there is no overarching philosophy or belief system underpinning their positions except the desire for more government programs to appease select constituencies. . .

Until the Democratic Party and its affiliated institutional constituencies sit down to figure out a complete recipe for chicken soup, Democrats should not expect to benefit much from the GOP's sagging poll numbers.

I was thinking about this earlier today, as I contemplated continuing an earlier post about "what I would do if I ran the Democratic Party", and it struck me that the Democrats actually have some internal contradictions that may make it impossible for them to ever be viable nationally. Particularly what I was thinking about was the incompatible reliance on environmental groups and labor unions--how can a party reconcile the call for lower emissions and higher fuel efficiency with the need to keep the automakers' union fully employed? And this is just one of many internal contradictions that seem obvious and rife within the ranks of the Democratic Party.

What is, at this point, clear, is that the Democrats seem content to run against the GOP. That even means, where necessary, simply falling back on stall tactics to appear relevant.

What is, at this point, UNclear, is whether or not the GOP will be able to find a way to capitalize on this oppositional incoherence. A few relatively insignificant accomplishments in Congress may mean something nationally; the apparent willingness to roll over on core issues may be very damaging locally.
Posted by: Michael / 6/13/2005 01:38:00 AM

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