Michael Barone has a good synopsis of some areas within The Politics of Polarization report. The report will be used by the usual suspects at the DLC to promote Hilary's candidacy for '08. The essence of the report is that the tactics currently employed by the Soros financed Kossack Krowd are unlikely to prove successful in either the near or far distant future and that only a candidate who cunningly hides her Alinskyite beliefs behind a facade of proclaimed middle class, middle brow, centrist, flag waving has a chance at fooling enough of the electorate to gain readmittance to the White House.
The authors of the report, Wlliam Galston and Elaine Kamarck performed a similiar service for Mrs. Clinton's husband some years ago and the tactics suggested then resulted in 42% and 49% pluralities, sufficient to allow Mrs. Clinton's husband to peddle Presidential pardons until Jan. 20, 2001. They authors know American politics very well and their report is receiving widespread attention throughout the Democratic Party. Mr. Barone focuses on the reports enunciation of four common myths that Democrats cling to in the forlorn hope that upon some magical day and by some magical means they will come true. While I agree with Galston and Kamarck's conclusion that the four assertions are indeed myths that will have be discarded if the Democrats are to (perish the thought) ever regain power in any branch of government I believe that there are other factors that are just as, if not more, important that mitigate against such an outcome. I'll go into those factors in a future post. For now, if you have an interest in politics, I would suggest reading the excellent Barone piece as well as the Galston and Kamarck report. They are both very worthy of discussion.
5 comments:
The report states: "there are three conservatives for every two liberals".
Hmmm. Would never know that reading the newspapers or watching the television.
Rick,
Any ideas on who the Kossacks will want to back?
Hillary's only hope is that the conservatives split and do her the same damn favor they did her husband.
I know people who would crawl through broken glass to vote against this sighing triangulating fraud but if Kristol and Krauthammer and Will do not shut the hell up she just might be the next Commander in Chief.
perish the thought.
Knuck,
Thanks for pointing out the lack of a link link to the actual report. I've added it to the post. Wrt the utility of the liberal v. conservative self labeling - considering that this data comes from exit polling there is a higher probability that the people involved can articulate a rationale for the self-description. I would agree with you completely if the data came from a VAP poll. VAP polls generate numbers that are lower for either side and higher for the center.
There are other critical data in that report that are glossed over a bit - the fact that Republicans have reached parity with Dems at 37% is possibly the worst news a Democrat could hear. The reason being is that it is a continuation of a trend going back some thirty years which extrapolates to long term Republican dominance. I'll be doing a post dealing with a contrast between the Pew longitudinal data generated in early '04 and the exit poll data in the near future.
Truepeers,
I've no idea whatsoever. This report is a paean to the pol who can send different messages to different groups in a convincing manner. Mrs. Clinton might be considered such a pol were she not so ham handed and obviously devious. She also lacks the Arkansas county courthouse charm of her dear husband. Her husband might even have been able to pull off the "I was for it before I was against" trick that Kerry tried. There is no one of such a low and cunning nature among the current crop of candidates but I'm sure there are unheard of skillful prevaricators who will be lured from their lairs by this report.
The Kossacks are being told that they are noisy teenagers who should shut up and sit down while the adults conduct serious business. That's the whole thrust of this report. Whether they do or not is immaterial, as is whoever their favorite for the nomination might be. Republicans dream of the Kossacks getting their way with the Democratic party.
"I wandered far away from your intended topic but..."
No, you are actually heading right into the topic. When you say "I didn't join the Republican Party, the Republican Party joined me." you have encapsulated the fact that the Republican party has shifted left while the Democratic party has shifted farther left (and faster, too). Both liberal and conservative have become useless (as you noted) as meaningful descriptors. What is interesting is that as the actual meaning has been lost, the negative aspect is disappearing and more people are becoming willing to self describe. More interesting is the fact that there has been no such shift in the numbers willing to self describe as liberal - that ought to be a teeny tiny hint to the Kossacks and to those funding their idiocies.
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