I am coming down with what feels like influenza, so please don’t expect much in the way of analysis here. I just want to start a conversation about the following quote:
“We’re in this for the long haul,” Rep. Kurt Schrader (Ore.), co-chairman of the Blue Dogs, said in an interview, predicting that the Democrats could regain the majority only if they are once again competitive in those rural and Southern districts. “We’re the way the Democrats are going to get back into the majority.”
It’s instructive to read the history of the Blue Dog Coalition. One of the co-founders, Nathan Deal, is now the Republican governor of Georgia. You might remember another founding member, Billy Tauzin, who used to be assistant majority whip of the House Democrats before switching parties, chairing a committee that oversaw the healthcare industry, and quitting to run PhRMA.
It’s actually not all that easy to pinpoint the ideological purpose for the Blue Dog Coalition. We can certainly understand that there are areas of the country where a traditional liberal can’t compete because of controversies about social issues like gay and reproductive rights. But, my impression has been that the Blue Dogs have distinguished themselves less as social conservatives than as deficit scolds. My friend Patrick Murphy joined the Blue Dogs when he was elected to Congress and then made a name for himself pushing through the end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
I agree with Rep. Kurt Schrader that the Democrats need to win back seats in these traditional Blue Dog districts, but I don’t see them doing it with more votes to remove bankruptcy protections or more talk about slashing government debt.
I honestly think that Elizabeth Warren has the message that these Blue Dogs need to win over the voters. What she doesn’t have is the money they need to run in poor, rural districts. Times have changed. We don’t need a revival of the old Blue Dog Coalition. We need a populism that is funded well enough to compete with the mining and ranching operations that dominate these districts.
That used to be unions, but maybe it has to be small donors getting organized online.
You do realize the DCCC doesn’t want more Elizabeth Warren-types right?
I was at an organizational meeting this past Saturday for Michelle Nunn. Interesting diverse cross section of folks there. One gentleman, however, opined that Ms. Nunn was not an Elizabeth Warren type and that was good in his opinion. He and a few others think that she’s her father’s daughter and will have preservation of the nearby AFB in her home county at the top of her list.
Also, too, self-same Nathan Deal was on TV today and wondered aloud to reporters what ” taxes Jason Carter wanted to raise”. I do so despise the type of Southern politician that Deal represents. Carter probably doesn’t have a snowball’s chance of winning, but at least he makes good progressive sense. Will send him a few bucks.
I hear Moral Mondays are headed your way. Might make things a bit more interesting.
One gentleman, however, opined that Ms. Nunn was not an Elizabeth Warren type and that was good in his opinion. He and a few others think that she’s her father’s daughter and will have preservation of the nearby AFB in her home county at the top of her list.
Sounds like that gentleman has no clue what Elizabeth Warren stands for. I bet that same gentleman would be shocked as well by what Bernie Sanders does for his state(if they’re going to build the F-35 boondoggle then Sanders wants some of them based in VT, as one example).
What is it that you need that funding to do? What categories of expenses would it have to cover.
There are 3080 counties in the US. Suppose you intended somehow to cover all of those counties quickly, with locally known and respected staff, and with a minimum of overhead expenses. How much funding would you need? And what would be the profile of the people you would want to recruit? To do this seriously, I would say pilot it in Cimmaron Co. OK, Rich Co UT, Cullman Co AL, Effingham Co IL, Modoc Co CA, Wyoming Co NY, Fulton Co PA, Blaine Co NE, Piscataquis Co ME, Wood Co TX, Randall Co TX, Cassia Co ID, Pickens Co SC, Doddridge Co WV, Clay Co KY, and Pontotoc Co, MS.
What is the organization that gets put in place and sweeps out of the reddest areas? The biggest difficulty in dealing with rural areas is trust; distrust of any outsiders is strong and for a history of very good reasons.
What the big money handles for the saturation media coverage is done at the media market area level and seeks to drive a narrative. Personal networks can provide tools for deconstructing those sorts of narratives if the people are clear about how the political advertisers are trying to manipulate them.
There is no reason that church communities couldn’t be used for networking in this context without pushing the sectarian buttons like the GOP does.
As the unions did, it depends on dignity, honor, and making clear that you are not condescending or manipulating people to get their support. And coming to clear consensus in the community of what needs to be done.
If engaged in the political fight enough, local resources can go a long way without many outside resources.
People call me an Obot, but I actually do have a lot of criticisms of the President and I am more than happy to discuss them at the proper time and place.
Like here, and now. I was horrified when he shut down the fifty state strategy, in his role as leader of the national Democratic coalition, and replaced it with his personal political machine. That may have stood him, personally, in good stead during the ’08 and ’12 national campaigns but it has been a disaster for the party as a whole and for the congressional and state level elections that we needed to win to put force behind possession of the White House. As is well known, the President’s parliamentary authority is much weaker than is assumed by the stupid and the weak minded.
It’s always first, last and always about what’s good for Obama, never the country or the Party.
The populist message has to be sent and accepted more broadly. Sure. Without it the country won’t really change as it did under FDR.
But without racist isolationist know nothing’s winning the house and defending the senate might be tough. At least that is the tough central question
The Reagan revolution challenged a implied consensus of the 1970s that bigotry was not allowable and that change was inevitable. Until the implied default consensus of white rural society returns to that, policy is in the doldrums. And the decay of social functions continues.
In the 1970s it did not require the racist isolationist know-nothings winning for Democrats, and even in the 1990s most Blue Dogs were far from being racist and isolationist know-nothings. But they evolved as their districts evolved under the impact of conservative organizing and especially the rise of talk radio.
The task is to create the default mindset that if Louis Goehmert is still in the House, he will have to act like a sane human being who participates in compromise and checks his craziness in order to be re-elected.
Changing the political culture nationwide is key to changing the policy. And the Democratic establishment has shown that it will always take the easy way out, which does indeed make PVI destiny.
Changing the political culture changes the PVI.
We are not required to tolerate racism or know-nothing attitudes. Those are in part what has to be dealt with.
Off topic but I think you are getting what I had last week. (I’m in NYC and it’s going around.) I had a flu shot so I don’t think it was the flu, but a severe cold with slight fever and a lot more ache and disorientation than the usual cold. Can I give you some advice? Stop everything and go to bed for three days if you possibly can. Catch up on your light reading. I was able to and, surprisingly, the cold was virtually gone by the fourth day. Good luck and hope you feel better.