Resisting the siren call of the cheating right in 2014
by David Atkins
Politico leads off with some troll bait today about how President Obama’s supposedly more liberal stance is endangering retaking the House in 2014. The article has a number of quotes from Democratic challengers in tough, usually Romney-voting districts across America, but mostly in the South and in districts like those held by Michele Bachmann. These challengers are mewling that the President has been too liberal on marriage equality and gun control, while the writers at Politico lionize Rahm Emanuel for “reaching across the aisle” to retake the House in 2006 (conveniently ignoring Howard Dean’s role in making that happen.)
One could take issue with Politico‘s reporting here in a number of ways: the first page and headline screaming about “distance from Obama” is begging for a link from Drudge, while the key lede information about GOP gerrymandering and the advantage of Democrats in difficult districts being able to show independence by pivoting away from the President on a few key issues is buried in the second and third pages.
But the point here isn’t to criticize Politico for sensationalist hackery in playing to a conservative audience. That would be easy.
The point is that from now until 2022, Democrats are going to have a difficult decision to make. The country is on their side on nearly every issue of importance and controversy. But to win the seventeen House seats it will take to wrench the gavel out of John Boehner’s hands may require Democrats to water down their brand and take unpopular conservative positions out of step with the American people.
Democrats can choose to spend the next 9 years chasing Republicans to the right in the hope of knocking out a few Michele Bachmanns. Or Democrats can spend that time painting conservative Republicans farther and farther into a corner, potentially taking the House over the next four to six years, with a view to an overwhelming knockout blow after redistricting in 2020.
It’s a difficult choice. Republican cheating via the gerrymandering process certainly makes the Rahm Emanuel decision more attractive. And the experience of the wrecking ball that is the GOP House just these past few months makes the prospect of nine more years of similar gamesmanship almost unthinkable.
But chasing the Republicans to the right is a fool’s errand. Playing politics that are deeply unpopular and harmful public policy on a national level in order to win over a few abnormally conservative districts will weaken the brand and deflate the base such that victory will not be possible. On the other hand, as with the immigration debate and even possibly the gun debate, pushing the Republicans farther off the brink of unpopularity may force them into the moderating ground on a number of fronts, whether or not they continue to hold the House.
It will be difficult, but the right choice for America and for the Democratic Party lies in holding popular ground and not shifting rightward for the sake of a few outlier districts. Even if it means giving up already vain hope of retaking the House in 2014.
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