Posted on 12/27/2007 7:38:10 AM PST by SmithL
Once their candidate for president has been chosen, the Democrats will confront two opposing forms of reality that will play a role in their success or failure next November. One evokes their hope of capturing the White House and maintaining control of Congress. The other is a sober warning of a deep-rooted problem they will encounter that could thwart their far-ranging plans.
The good news for the Democrats is that the center in American politics has shifted moderately to the left – or (put another way) away from the right and toward a discrediting of the Bush-Cheney era. As The Washington Post's E.J. Dionne Jr. has observed, "The political 'center' of today is not where it was even five years ago."
Beginning with a 13-point party-identification advantage (50 percent to 37 percent), the Democrats are building a new center-left coalition: women at all levels of education and income, Hispanics who now favor the Democrats by 57 percent to 23 percent, more than half of Americans between the ages of 17 and 29, college-educated professionals, and – especially important – the independents (about 33 percent of actual voters) who are also now moving to the Democrats. But independents are not part of the Democratic base.
As John B. Judis and Roy Teixeria stressed in their book, "The Emerging Majority," these voters tend to "overlap with some Democratic constituencies, but are more center than left and therefore set limits on the politics of a Democratic majority."
Add the public's low regard for the Republicans and one can understand why the Democrats see victory in 2008 as the opportunity they have been waiting for to anchor their new majority in the promise of sweeping change.
Should they win, however, they will face the often overlooked reality that people's faith in government...severely undermined
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
This is nonsense. If it were true, only 13% of the voters would be independents.
According to Ras, the RAT advantage is down to less than 5 percentage points. Something like 35-30, with the percentage of independents growing all the time.
Only thing I can figure out is that this guy is including "leaners" in his calculations. A leaner is not a RAT or a Republican. A leaner is an independent.
That's a pretty big "IF" don't you think? While there is 11 months to the election. If Apkistn gets over-run by Al Quiada, I would think the Bush-Cheney era will have been largely affirmed in the eyes of these "independents".
This is the one that may bite the Dems in the butt. I have a several members of my family that live in very blue areas (SF, Madison, WI, Philly) they don't dare openly admit their affiliation. Especially if they want to continue to work.
bump to read a leftist whacko’s Dem orgasms later
The Party of Cut-n-Run will first blame Bush, and then call for a surrender in the war with terror.
Should they win, however, they will face the often overlooked reality that people’s faith in government...severely undermined
Just had to fix that last line...
What's the other half? Knowing?
I think that disillusionment with the governmenet might have begun long before Pres.Bush.During Clinton’s terms, I was rooting against my own country, I was so disgusted with him.
Pres.Bush has lowered taxes, destoyed two enemies, kept us safe(which is the main purpose of gov’t),and been a dignified occupant of the White House.I do not believe this article for a minute.
Doing.
And considering how well the Dims pushed through their agenda in congress, I’d say we have nothing to worry about.
“The good news for the Democrats is that the center in American politics has shifted moderately to the left – or (put another way) away from the right and toward a discrediting of the Bush-Cheney era.”
Translation:
The center has shifted away from spending like drunken sailors toward spending like drunken sailors? Apologies to drunken sailors everywhere.
“The good news for the Democrats is that the center in American politics has shifted moderately to the left”
As RINOs pollute and infest the GOP, so goes the whole hog to the Left.
The hardline Socialists on the Left in the DNC have scared the base but it is still a WIN for the Left because they have shifted the focus to the Left.
We hear about “right wing extremists” who are the core of the GOP but we never hear about “left wing extremists” who are the drive (protest and press) behind the DNC.
The disapproval Bush faces for his stance on illegal immigration will not be offset by electing Democrats to office.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
The center of the political class has remained to the left.
The center of the American electorate is more to the right. The reason that the Demoncrats won in 2006 is that those on the right were disgusted that the Republican party had been governing as though they were Demoncrats for the previous 6 years.
Give us another Ronald Reagan and Class of 1994 to vote for and let's see how long the Demoncrats maintain their power.
If foreign policy comes back to the forefront, many voters will realize that not one of the Dem socialist pacifists could protect America. That puts Rudy and John back into the mix. Also, domestically, tax cuts are still popular. Dems will never do that. Also, some voters realize that SCOTUS picks are also important. The GOP has a far better record on those picks over the last 60 years.
Yes, I totally agree. Bush should have taken more aggressive action to make this country a hard place for illegal immigrants to work and live. He should have taken action to reduce law suits against drug makers and doctors instead of a government handout to be abused by the medical industry and trial lawyers. The Democrats would likely have tried to do worse. I accuse Bush of trying to appease Democrats. That translates to selling out responsible, working US citizens.
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