Dems search for new approach (Democrats have a bad case of the blues after seeing so much red.)

CNN ^ | Friday, November 5, 2004 Posted: 12:54 PM EST (1754 GMT) | AP

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- After losing back-to-back presidential elections, Democratic leaders are trying to figure out how to make the party more relevant to mainstream Americans and keep it from slipping into perpetual minority-party status.

And the task is daunting, many Democratic consultants and leaders agree.

Republicans have cut deeply into formerly Democratic areas in rural America, the Sunbelt, and among Hispanics, the nation's fastest-growing minority group. They have made gains on "family values" issues, winning over social conservatives who previously voted Democratic on economic issues, while keeping their advantage on national defense. (Small inroads make difference for Bush)

"We were on a tough playing field," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, suggesting Republicans had made inroads among socially conservative former Democrats by emphasizing "wedge issues" like gay marriage and abortion. (Democrats debate what went wrong)

Ballot measures in 11 states to ban gay marriage also helped boost turnout for Republicans.

Democrats also have no strong leader to pull the party out of the wilderness.

[waterman478]

They are such idiots....a complete lack on introspection. I guarantee you their conclusion will not be to change course towards the center, but to move further left.

[NoClones]

"Democratic leaders are trying to figure out how to make the party more relevant to mainstream Americans..."

A start would be to kick the kooks and commies out of the dem party.

[MarxSux]

They could start by listening to Zell Miller.

Nah, ain't gonna happen.

[Outland]

The DEMs will change their approach alright.. look for more future RINOs in an effort to undermine the Republican party.

All that libs can do is lie, so the only change in their approach would be to change the lies.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Right....they are all listening to Nancy Pelosi......not a smart move....

[talleyman]

Replay: "We just didn't get our message across..."

[Mr. Silverback]

Here's a tip for them:

Oh, and picking a guy who's not a traitor might be helpful next time.

In all seriousness, if the President had performed as well in debate 1 as in debate 3, the popular vot would has=ve been more like 55-45. These people just can't understand how out of touch they are, because they surround themselves with people who think the exact same way.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Democrats also have no strong leader to pull the party out of the wilderness.

CNN is not mentioning Hillary..... what is with that?

[Owl558]

I love it! They will conclude that they weren't socialist enough and lurch hard to the left.

And they call us idiots!

The fact is, democrats do not represent working people any more. They represent the hard left elite hollywood rich types who insulate themselves from the very policies they want to impose on everyone else. They represent international socialist activists who insist that everyone lick their oh so superior boots. They represent religious bigots who hate the fact that we bow to GOD above rather than their secular religion. They represent the interests of any OTHER country that is anti-American along with the corrupt, 3rd world UN.

Regular people have more common sense than that. You do not get elected spewing hate. They have no plan, offer no solutions that do not steal workers hard-earned money. They think everyone owes them a handout.

[eagle11]

MESSAGE to DEMOCRATS: You guys were finished when you starting writing the terrorists' talking points.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Oh, and picking a guy who's not a traitor might be helpful next time.

Right!

The Swiftboat Vets really got that message across....they were outstanding.

[xzins]

The effect of the Estrada filibuster has come to roost. That was an opening salvo that created doubt in the back of the minds of Hispanics about the disrespect the democrats had toward them. Then Hispanics learned that catholics need not apply. Then they saw their traditional family values cast into the muck and trodden underfoot...all by liberal democrats.

Meanwhile Pres. Bush was trying to appoint Estrada, speaking about the reality of breadwinners in Mexico simply wanting to care for their families, affirming traditional values.....

Is there any wonder that Hispanics began to see the liberal's leadership for the white, aristocratic elitists that they really are?

[happydogdesign]

[Mr. Silverback]

I've written on this subject recently.

[pillbox_girl]

The best way I found to convince a lot of my wanna-vote-dem friends to vote for Bush was the Second Ammendment. I know a LOT of gun owners who don't really give a fig about abortion, gays, the environment, or any of that stuff, but do support the Second Ammendment. The picture of Kerry holding up a gift gun that he himself tried to ban was worth at least a dozen votes for Bush (pity Oregon has it's head too far up its arse for 12 votes to matter much).

It's probably a good thing for the GOP that I haven't seen any mention among the media of the Dems officialy dropping (and making amends for) their gun control agenda. Instead, all they've been talking about are "values" etc. They still think they can just keep quiet on their gun grabbing and America will be fooled.

[najida]

If this keeps up, there will be no blue states in 2008.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Just saw this:

Media Stars Refuse to Concede Election; Denigrate Evangelicals; Deny Bush a “Mandate”

They are just like the Insurgents in Fallujah!!!!!

[StJacques]

I have been struck by the takes of many prominent Democrats that I have been watching on the various news channel talk segments in the aftermath of the election. They all recognize that something is very wrong for their party and the way it relates to voters, but so few of them seem to understand that the American people truly do reject the ideas and values of the Democratic Party, and they instead seem inclined to spin the loss as a problem of communication. Bill Richardson, Jerry Brown, and Dick Gephardt all seemed to make this point, saying something to the effect that "we're going to have to find a way to speak to mainstream America," but at the same time insisting that they need to preserve their core beliefs. After the beating they just took at the polls, they still don't get it.

The one Democrat who, surprisingly in my opinion, seemed to differ was Congressman Harold Ford of Tennessee. I watched Ford state in very plain terms that many of his fellow Democrats have made alliances with groups who espouse a value system that is both alien to his background and to that of most Americans. He chided those in his party who easily dismissed President Bush's use of core values as a principal thrust of his message as not appreciating how important a part these values play in the lives of people all across this country, and especially in the South and West. And he added that the Democratic Party would have to "move in the direction of values" rather than just search for a new way to communicate with mainstream Americans if it wants to change the current dynamic of American politics.

We will have to wait and see whether Democrats merely search for a new way of communicating with American voters or actually seek to change their ideas. I tend to expect the former because I see too few Democratic leaders speaking in the way Congressman Ford does. But that is what we must watch.

[Mr. Silverback]

What's up with that? Well, first, it might be that they want Hillary to emerge as "the chosen one" to lead them after a period of agonizing soul searching. Or...dare I say it...they may have realized that the folks who rejected Kerry in a landslide aren't really looking for another social-liberal extremeist serving as a Senator in a northeast state, especially one who will have only a bit more than one term in office by 2008.