As Republicans battle via the Harriet Miers nomination to define the kind of party they are, the Democrats are seemingly going through an identity crisis as well. Democrats are often blasted by GOPers (and some independents) as a party that seemingly knows more what it doesn’t want, versus what it specifically wants. So this post by Oxblog’s David Adesnik should be of special interest to people of all parties.
It needs to be read in full and we don’t want to spoil it by taking it out of context so we’ll just offer you a tiny taste here:
WHAT DEMOCRATS BELIEVE: Earlier this week I participated in a sort of focus group for Democratic activists designed to clarify the party’s core beliefs. Not that I am a Democratic activist, but I took part because the participants in the focus group consisted specifically of moderate/DLC types committed to restoring the party’s credibility on national security issues.
Liberal commentators, including OxBlog favorites such as Kevin Drum and Matt Yglesias, often observe that Democrats, unlike Republicans, don’t have a simple set of core beliefs that can be summarized in an “elevator pitch”, i.e. a 30 second speech that you could give to someone while riding in an elevator.
So (you’ll find out how) they tried to find out specifically…what are the beliefs? Note the answers that emerge — and the dilemma Adesnik rases. This post needs to be read in full by anyone of any party (or not of any party) interested in politics.