The Third Way And The Highway
There is a much discussed report by The Third Way Middle Class Project called “The Politics of Polarization” that purports to analyze the plight of the Democrats and suggests concrete measures to focus the party. Based on a reading of the executive summary, the conclusions, and some skimming through the report, those of us who are liberals will find at least some food for thought. But it has several major flaws in its reasoning which led the authors to conclude, wrongly, that the Democratic Party should advocate “centrist,” actually center-right, positions.
Two of the flaws are uwarranted assumptions on the part of the authors. First, they deride “the myth of mobilization;” it is a mistake, they say, to assume that by energizing liberals and getting them to the polls in record numbers, Democrats can win. They argue that since conservatives outnumber liberals 3 to 2, “Democrats cannot win the game of “base” ball, except in those rare circumstances in which conservatives are discouraged and demobilized.”
Let’s not argue with their stats for now. What they fail to take into account is that perhaps liberals may not be a dependable base for the Democratic Party.
In my own case, I donated thousands of dollars to Democrats in 2002 and 2004, far more than I ever had before, and far more than I could afford. That is how serious I felt the situation was. Despite having the distinct advantage of having to campaign against the worst president ever, the Democrats lost badly both times. Folks, whatever the amount of shenanigans that went on, it shouldn’t have even been close. The Democratic Party took my money and blew it. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… won’t get fooled again.
Come 2006 and 2008, therefore, I will be donating not a dime directly to any Democratic candidate, but rather to organizations that advocate liberal causes – not radical causes, but liberal ones, I’m no revolutionary – who will then donate to candidates that they believe are both viable and liberal. If my money ultimately goes to Democrats, fine. But my money will go only to groups that are unequivocably liberal. If they funnel my money to candidates from other parties, that’s fine, too.
I suspect I am far from alone. If the Democrats tack right, they may find that their liberal base is more mythological than real. The Third Way authors fail to take into account how thoroughly disgusted many of us are. We’re not disgusted with politics (and Republicans are beyond disgust). We’re disgusted with the Democratic leadership and their failure both to win and to articulate a compelling platform. Sure, Dean’s head of the party, but it remains to be seen whether that is more than a merely ornamental appointment. So far, I’m not that excited about what I’ve seen.
The authors fail to understand that liberals are not, in their dismissive phrase, “Michael Moore Democrats.” I, for one, am eminently practical. I’m perfectly aware that a national politician needs to take numerous positions I disagree with if for no other reason than to appeal to people who are quite different than me. But the party hasn’t done that. They’ve advocated positions and implemented strategies that appeal to no one except their marketing consultants. The Third Way authors assume liberals will just pony up as usual even if the party chooses a platform carefully tailored to offend no one, and therefore excite no one. Well this liberal won’t saddle up for that ride. I want to see a genuinely winning strategy. But as Joe himself proved, twice, Liebermanism is not a winning strategy on a presidential ticket. It never will be. Ominously, however, that is what the authors of “The Politics of Authorization” suggest Democrats adopt.
The second flawed assumption is structural. The authors of “The Politics of Polarization” take as a given that political parties in the United States are, first and foremost power clusters, a core of pure energy onto which one slathers a gooey, sticky sweet collection of endlessly replaceable causes. Therefore, what Democrats need to do in order to win is simply pick whatever they want – hot fudge values, melted marshmallow values, walnut sauce, and sprinkles – provided marketing research certifies that enough people find them yummy.
This is not how voters perceive political alignments, at least not in modern times. Parties are perceived as comprising of people with shared social and political values. Their values are inextricably wound up in their desire to obtain political influence; a will to power analysis won’t cut it, it’s far too crude (as crude as a purely “idealistic” analysis would be).
The result of such an analysis leads to disaster. We know what Republicans are. Republicans value big business, the dangerous myth of Manifest Destiny, and a violent, arrogant foreign policy. Democratic leaders, on the other hand value…I have absolutely no idea beyond their desire to obtain and, increasingly rarely, retain power.
This second flaw – that values can be applied to a pre-existing party apparatus and changed as the polls change – is fatal, in my opinion, to their analysis. It fails to take into account that we voters perceive such behavior as the height of cynical opportunism. And it enables the GOP to argue that Democrats “will say anything, absolutely anything to get elected,” which is exactly what Cheney said. The problem is not only one of perception: it is one of analysis. The Third Way authors have chosen a way of conceiving of the problem that is doomed to provide an inadequate party platform. Indeed, their reccomendations are the same tired, same-old, same-old that hasn’t worked for years.
As for the merits of this study, there are some. Kevin Drum rightly points out that the authors are correct: a national security strategy must be articulated. Given that Bush has none – “exterminate all the brutes,” aka Perle/Frum’s “End of Evil” is not a strategy, it’s closer to a racist fantasy – this shouldn’t be that hard. It’s clearly not the fault of “Michael Moore Democrats” that Democrats haven’t been able to. Rather it is the obsession of folks like the Third Way authors that any recognition of complexity in foreign policy will be tarred as “liberal” that’s holding things up.
The study also warns that a rising tide of Hispanic voters will not necessarily help Democrats. If the party leadership were competent, this would be a “no shit, Sherlock” kind of an insight. Under the circumstances, the warning about Hispanic voters is important.
The study also brings up the importance of religion in American political life. It is true that Democrats, and liberals too, have failed to find compelling ways to restate the obvious: to tear down the wall of separation between church and state is not the American Way.
Distressingly, the study takes an ignorant swipe at those of us who know that Democratic rhetoric is in need of a complete overhaul. They assume we think that rhetoric is the only major problem. Hardly. The simple fact, however, is that you can’t have good ideas unless you can articulate them well. Until Democratic rhetoric is focused as carefully as the Republicans have done, it will be all but impossible to come up with compelling new ideas. This is not Lakoffian hoo hah. This simply is what Richard Feynman meant when he said that unless a physicist can teach quantum physics so it’s comprehensible to an undergraduate, the physicist doesn’t understand it.
So there you have it. If the Democrats continue to listen to Third Way authors, they will get enough reality to make them think there’s some there there, because there actually is. A little. But there’s a lot of the same reasoning that has permitted extremism to thrive in the GOP by winning elections with no intelligent opposition. It’s the kind of reasoning that caused the Democrats to squander the greatest gift handed them in the entire history of the party, a gift that should have ensured Democrats a 50 year plus dominance in US politics: the Bush presidency.
(A disclaimer: I have never discussed this subject with Digby and they are clearly not his opinions, or Jane’s, but only mine. Digby or Jane may be less disillusioned with Democratic leadership than I, or more. I have no idea. I just don’t want them to be held responsible for opinions that they don’t necessarily share.)