The NY Times today profiled the adjustments being made by the Democratic leaders.
…The promise may not outlast their political honeymoon, but Democratic Congressional leaders say they are committed to governing from the center, and not just on bread-and-butter issues like raising the minimum wage or increasing aid for education. They also hope to bring that philosophy to bear on some of the most divisive social issues in politics, like abortion.
…The mantra, for many Democrats, is the search for common ground. On gay rights, lawmakers and advocates said the most likely legislation in the new Congress would focus on hate crimes and employment discrimination, issues expected to be much less polarizing than the debate over same-sex marriage that was front and center in the Republican Congress.
…But the Democrats’ moves toward consensus-building on issues that often resist consensus reflect their effort to adjust to a new political reality. Their majority is slimmer than it was the last time they were in power, especially in the Senate. The country, some pollsters say, has grown more conservative on abortion and other social issues.
And conservatives, by controlling which legislation came to the floor, succeeded in defining the debate over social issues for more than a decade, through votes on same-sex marriage and the procedure opponents call partial-birth abortion, in ways that highlighted the political limits of liberalism.
…another element of the Democrats’ common ground strategy, keeping the debate focused on issues of greatest concern to the voters in the middle. “Our first focus is on the meat and potatoes issues that affect all Americans,â€? Mr. Schumer said.
Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who advises Congressional leaders, said, “Most swing voters think that these social issues are issues that both sides love to have fights over, but that they don’t really have a stake in.�
In fact, Democrats, like Republicans, have long had to fight the notion that they are in thrall to the advocacy groups because of these hot-button issues. Republicans clearly took a dip in the polls after their intervention in the right-to-die case of Terri Schiavo, and many strategists say their intense pursuit of a ban on same-sex marriage and other conservative causes ultimately backfired, making them seem out of touch.
Meanwhile The Hill featured an article on the House Republican Campaign Chairman Rep Tom Cole:
Cole envisions 2008 being more of an issues-based election — one not dominated by a few select issues as 2006 was by ethics and the Iraq war, but a return to the core principles of the two parties. That’s a battle he thinks he can win, because while Democrats have 61 Bush districts, Republicans have only seven Kerry districts.
In fact, Cole ventured that Iraq wouldn’t be nearly as big an issue in 2008. This represents a sea change for the party, which in each of the last two cycles touted the war effort and brought resolutions forcing Democratic critics to go on the record.
I don’t believe that the GOP has much credibility among independent thinkers as the party of fiscal restraint and limited government and competent foreign policy. They had the rare opportunity of controlling the political agenda and they defaulted on almost all of the things we have come to hope they would do to simplify government, reduce regulation, reduce subsidy and favoritism, minimize government intrusion into our personal lives, and make us feel more secure. I will be fascinated to see what the GOP evolves into and tries to sell to the public. My hope is that they read the game board that same way as the Democrats and recruit moderate candidates who can credibly court the growing political middle ground. I want two robust parties competing for the pragmatic center.
Born 1950, Married, Living in Austin Texas, Semi
Retired Small Business owner and investor. My political interest
evolved out of his business experience that the best decisions come out of an objective gathering of information and a pragmatic consideration of costs and benefits. I am interested in promoting Centrist candidates and Policies. My posts are mostly about people and policies that I believe are part of the solution rather the problem.