Cool Hand

by digby

MR. BRODER: Well, if they’re going to be responsible, they need some policy. And the great void on the Democratic side is nobody can tell you today what their policy is about Iraq, about entitlements, or about any of the other challenges facing the country. Whether they need that politically, somebody else is smart enough to decide, but if they’re going to be a responsible party, they need to talk about policy.

MR. RUSSERT: Do they need to do it?

MR. COOK: See, I would argue that minority parties don’t have to be responsible. That’s the one good thing going for them, and when they try to be responsible, they’re just going to dig themselves into a hole. I mean, you’re on – your job is to throw rocks. Once you start offering alternatives, then suddenly you’re playing defense as well. I think Democrats would be crazy, from a political standpoint, to offer up proposals.

MR. RUSSERT: That movie, “Cool Hand Luke,” sometimes nothing’s a real cool hand.

MR. COOK: Exactly.

The Democrats’ problem is not policy, it’s politics.

The Republicans spent many millions and many years building up their second rate think tank-based policy infrastructure which we now know functioned mainly as a front for their political machine. Their policy apparatus, to the extent it exists, has been proven to be intellectually bankrupt, not that they will ever admit it. The Democrats, on the other hand, have a surfeit of first rate analysts, thinkers and academics who will provide numerous choices and pragmatic solutions for problems Americans face, not that they will ever get credit. Broder can relax.

I hope the Democrats will listen to Cook, not Broder. If we’ve learned nothing else these last few years, it’s that the modern Republican party has no interest in practical, bipartisan solutions to the problems Americans face. Their gift, and the reason they are in the majority is because they dominate modern election campaigning with superior messaging, analysis and coalition building. In this era, responsible policies are meaningless unless Democrats can gain and keep a majority — and they aren’t going to get there trying to impress David Broder with their 10 point plans. They need to learn to do politics as well as they do policy.

As Kevin Phillips wrote over on TPM cafe earlier this week:

I believe that Democrats and liberals in 2006 stand to have their greatest opportunity since 1992 (which was lost). You will have the substantial support of many lapsed Republicans and doubters of Bush conservatism like myself. But I also have the sense that many Democrats and liberals have an instinct for the capillaries, not for the jugular. If that leads to failure in 2006, there will be a major price to pay, not just for the United States but in terms of the credibility of your party and movement.

It is our duty as the grassroots of the Democratic party to continue to pressure our leaders to go for the jugular, not for the capillaries, and show them that we will support them when they do it.

Reminder: If you are in a town or city where your senator has an office, consider dropping by and telling him or her that you support the Feingold resolution.

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