WHAT DO THE DEMOCRATS STAND FOR ON PRINCIPLE?
What the Democrats didn't get was a Big Victory Lap (BVL) on healthcare.
The relief rally in the approval ratings, as a senate "deal" seemed imminent, I think is fully indicative, so I avoid saying that the policy itself was wholly misguided. Too much back-and-forth, high profile nonsense, carping and - dare we say it - gridlock, apparently feeds the anxiety machine that is already being furiously fanned by mindless ressentiment by Tea Baggers.
The Democrats are having a hard time getting people out to the polls, perhaps becuase, like conservatives who more abjectly lost their mojo, they haven't articulated well enough what it is that they stand for on principle.
Part of that is the normal process of getting things through the legislature, give-and-take, bribe-and-be-bribed, backwash-and-be-backwashed. Part of it is a leadership issue, though. Leaders don't even have to be principled, but they do have to appear to be or to make copious efforts to bridge any gaps they open up, right?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Liberalism Re-Launch, Year 2
