The Democrats Brought It On Themselves

Well, that didn't take long.   Blue Dog Democrat Evan Bayh of Indiana, who retired this year and gave his senate seat to a Republican, has decided that the Democrats lost because they aren't enough like the Republicans.   He says if the Democrats would just move to the right (where he is) and take more conservative positions like the Republicans have, then the American people would flock back into the polls to vote for them.

Frankly, that's a stupid position.   The country already has one conservative political party.   Why on earth would it need another?   Texas Democrats have already tried this approach  -- time and time again.   All it has done is insure a long string of defeats.   Why should voters support conservatives who call themselves Democrats when they have the real thing in the Republican Party?   It seems to me that it would make a lot more sense to offer voters a real choice -- something different than the Republicans can offer.

Perhaps Bayh didn't notice but a lot of his conservative Blue Dog buddies in the Democratic Party got beaten last Tuesday (at least 23 of the Blue Dog Caucus suffered defeat).   If the public is looking for Democrats to be conservative, then why did these Blue Dogs lose?   The people need Democrats to offer something different -- not a pale imitation of the Republicans.

The Democrats lost because the people don't see them as a viable alternative with coherent beliefs and a willingness to defend those beliefs vociferously.   Voters know what Republicans believe in, and they know they will fight for those beliefs (even if they have to do it unfairly). What do Democrats believe?   Does anyone know?   I'm not sure I know anymore.

Whenever a Democrat introduces a bill, you can be sure that a number of other Democrats will oppose it.   And if a sufficient majority is finally assembled, then they will probably give in and weaken the bill when Republicans complain and threaten to filibuster.   How are Americans supposed to respect and vote for a party that can't agree on it's beliefs and won't fight to the bitter end for those beliefs?

The Democrats need to get together and develop some policies and ideas they can ALL get behind, and then they need to learn how to play political hardball to defend those policies.   If they can do this, they will find they have a lot of support.   If they don't, then 2012 will be a repeat of 2010 -- an unmitigated disaster.   A couple of other bloggers have put this very well.

Here's what txwordpounder at Prairie Fire Journal says:

"The Democratic Party is a waffling spineless bunch of opportunists who literally stand for nothing. They are too busy trying to appease conservatives and play both sides of the fence. With Democrats, you never know whether you'll get progressivism or Republican-light.

On the other hand, while Republicans and Teabaggers advocate a vile right-wing ideology that I personally find repugnant, they have the balls to stand up for what they believe in. You can bet they'll push their agenda without regard for bi-partisanship. That's why they're in and the Democrats are out."

And then P.Z. Myers at Pharyngula chipped in with this:

"Democrats are uninspiring, boring, and unfocused. They can't deliver a strong message that makes a case for why we should continue to vote for them, and I know in my case that when I went into the election booth, I was simply making an anti-Rethuglican vote; with the exception of a few local candidates, I was not excited about any of the Democrats here.

What really makes me despair, though, is that I can guess exactly how the Democrats will respond to this drubbing. Instead of refocusing on the liberal and progressive values that ought to be their main message, they're going to turtle up. They do it every time. Instead of trying to distinguish themselves from the loonies on the right, they'll all move closer to what they'll call 'moderate', but is actually more of a conservative right-wing position. And the next election will be even worse."

They are exactly right.   Votes must be earned, and they cannot be earned with spineless waffling or intra-party squabbling over policies.   The Democrats must decide who they are and then act on that, and hopefully they can then offer the country a real choice -- a progressive choice that offers a better future for America.