Josh Marshall explores reasons behind the mid-term narrative on Talking Points Memo. [icopyright one button toolbar]

We’re hearing that President Obama was poor at messaging and keeping his voters involved and invested, that Dems aren’t tough or combative enough or didn’t stick together enough. All of these are true to some degree. But it doesn’t explain why they are true or why the Democrats don’t seem to be able to do the same sort of thing.

 

I think there are two answers, the first of which is more relevant at the moment. That is that it is much easier to break the government and reap the benefits of doing so if you are not the party of government. This is obvious when you put it this way. But it’s worth considering what a central reality this is.

 

The second point is that the Democratic party has a different structure from the Republican party. Both are coalitions. Big national parties have to be. But the Democratic party is a more disparate coalition. The base of the GOP has long been more coherent. And that makes the primary-ing mania that helps keep the GOP so unified on Capitol Hill possible.

 

None of this is meant as a counsel of despair. I think the Democratic party’s future is bright. More importantly I think its central goals remain in the ascendant. But addressing the shortcomings I noted above must happen by treating these realities as the starting point of the discussion, accepting them. They cannot be ignored.

Cross-posted from The Sensible Center

http://thesensiblecentercom.blogspot.com/2014/11/josh-marshall-on-why.html