what next

[topaz]

So we've had a bit of a day.

I've been pondering the aftermath, and rereading many of the excellent posts and essays people have written on the subject. I'll quote from a few here. I don't usually like to do the "blog quilt" thing — patching together bits and pieces from everyone else's journals — but I was struck by how everyone seems to be coming to the same conclusions independently:

pinkfish said on Monday:

...while I hope Kerry turns out to win tomorrow, that isn't really my goal. I don't want to work for getting someone elected.

I hope Kerry wins tomorrow because it will reflect that America and Americans have decided that they don't want to live in a world where might makes right. That they don't want to change the constitution to remind themselves that they really aren't gay and how horrible being gay is. That they don't want to sell out to fear.

trapezebear said yesterday:

Yesterday, those people voted for him again, and so did a lot of others. Even if Kerry pulls it out in Ohio (the largest still-unclear state as I write), we have to face the reality that a lot of people in this country think that what Bush accomplished is either a) just fine, or b) better than the alternative.

Chris Bowers writes at MyDD:

Our activism kicked ass. Our ability to appeal to the center kicked ass. Our problem is that we are in the minority. ... The solution to our problems, the only solution that actually addresses our problems rather than criticizes us for not doing well at tasks where we actually excel, is to increase the number of liberals in this country at a more rapid pace than the number of conservatives are increasing. We must grow liberalism.

That's the problem in a nutshell. It's not just about campaign strategies, polling tactics, demographics and phone banking. It is about those things (and always will be) but it's also about the most basic, most classic problem: we just haven't convinced enough people. We haven't found the language to talk to them. We haven't figured out how to persuade them of the rightness of our issues. We don't have the votes. We just don't have the votes.

It pisses me off. I want to see a strong, functional, effective left wing in this country. I want to see a major American party represent progressive politics. I would prefer this to happen before I die. And judging from the last few years, well, baby, we got a long, long way to go.

I don't know what to do about it. I don't have a magic answer. But the first step, obviously, is to get involved again. I don't know how I can work political volunteer work into my life — right now I can't work time for my life into my life — but I can sure as hell try.

cos mentioned elsewhere that the Dean Meetups are still going on. Are you coming? I need somebody to keep me honest. :-)

Comments

[jacflash.livejournal.com]

If you want to start winning, you need to get real, fast.

As long as you folks stay in this cocoon of believing that Republican voters are a) stupid or b) deluded by a right-leaning mainstream media, you will continue to lose, because a) people don't like being called stupid, and they will not put people they don't like into power and b) the mainstream media doesn't lean right (rather emphatically the reverse), and pretty much everyone other than you knows it.

Kerry lost because he was a lousy candidate, both in terms of crafting an effective, appealing message and in terms of delivering it, because he had a difficult history with influential groups (veterans, for example), because he had an undistinguished (at best) Senate record, and because the evangelicals got the vote out more effectively than the MoveOn etc folks did. That's really all there is to it.

The right isn't any more "unethical" than the left when it comes to media manipulation, vote fraud, etc. There's plenty of case history on both sides.

You want to win? Stop calling your opponents "stupid". They aren't. Stop thinking that the appeal of your message should be "obvious" to anyone who isn't stupid or deluded. It isn't. Instead, start trying to understand where the majority of the American people are at, and start trying to persuade them by communicating with them honestly and humbly.

[renniekins.livejournal.com]

Off topic: what a lovely icon.

(Or maybe it's on-topic. Maybe the "grownups" are just too set in their ways.)

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

Ok, so probably I should have asked first, but I reposted a portion of this to my journal, and referred people to here to view the orinigal post; hope that was ok.


Well said :) -H...

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

It's always okay to link to my journal! That's great.

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

Another link you might find interesting that suggests a few ways the Democrats and liberals might rethink their over-all long-term strategy:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/stormydragon/54663.html
From someone who seems to be somewhat Republican leaning. -H...

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

We're in the minority, but it's minority by a relatively small margin of voters. It's not as if Bush won 60% or more of the votes. But yes, we do need to grow the liberal base, and one way to start doing that is to stop acting ashamed of the words "liberal" and "progressive." We need to stop cringing every time conservatives and right-wingers say we're liberal. If we can't proudly admit to it, why should anyone else join us?