Making Democrats in Idaho
Over at 43rd State Blues they're having an interesting discussion on how to grow the party, or "Make Democrats" in Idaho. This is one of the states that if I were so inclined, would classify as a lost cause. But, I'm not like that, so I think it is not only possible to grow the party in Idaho, but for Idaho to become a so-called blue state.
I don't have much to add, so I'll let this speak for itself:
Q: WHAT IS THE KEY PROBLEM FOR DEMOCRATS IN THE STATE OF IDAHO?A: No matter how you slice it, there aren’t enough of us (SELF IDENTIFIED DEMOCRATS) to RELIABLY elect candidates or effect policy change in the state of Idaho.
...So, given the choice, should the goal be to find “VOTERS” or to make “DEMOCRATS?”
I suppose this may seem like a superficial distinction, but it really is not. Every strategic and organizational move you make to get “voters” to vote for Democrats, is going to involve a totally different message, method, and resource allocation than “making Democrats.”
We’ll need to really look into the psychology behind this shift, but ultimately we need to accomplish the following:
Public perception should change to favorably connect Democrats with “responsibility, maturity, decency” think Atticus Finch ala Gregory Peck.
Emmett O'Connell | July 19, 2005 | Comment on This Post (8 so far) |
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“Responsibility, maturity, decency” I like it. How to make more Democrats in Idaho? George W. Bush will be their best recruiter. Idahoans may think of themselves and conservative Republican, but the Bush administration is not conservative. Unfunded federal mandates in education are not conservative. Pre-emptive warfare is not conservative. Secrecy and lies are not conservative. Eroding civil liberties is not conservative. Deficits are not conservative. A weak dollar is not conservative. Massive trade deficits are not conservative. Exporting jobs is not conservative. Changing Senate rules is not conservative. Polarizing the country is not conservative. Ending environmental protection is not conservation. The outing of a CIA agent is not conservative.
Tell your Republican friends their party has been hijacked by the New Republican Order.
The New Republican Order is a Theocrat Party whose leaders in Congress, Frist and DeLay, and previous leaders, Lott and Gingrich, are Southerners whose sensibilities are not those of most Idahoans. The sad Terry Schiavo affair is the fruit of their merger of religion and politics. James Dobson and Pat Robertson have the Republican Party in a hammerlock. When they call, Congressmen and Senators hop to. “Out of control” judges means judges out of their control. The result is an assault on judicial independence, Senate traditions, people not of their particular faith, and anyone else who stands in their way.
The New Republican Order is a Plutocrat Party of K Street lobbyists, paid media shills, secret meetings and class warfare of, by, and for the super rich. This is not the party of Main Street or the middle class, or all the people, but a party of the “haves and the have-mores.” Taxes are being cut, especially for the wealthy, regardless of deficits or national emergencies. Inheritance taxes are not to be merely reduced but eliminated to establish a permanent aristocracy. Bankruptcy laws are tightened, regardless of the effects on families. Social security is to be turned into a welfare program by the introduction of a means test that would cut benefits for the middle class. This threatens to unravel the social fabric of the country while the Order fails to address the rising cost of energy, education, and healthcare.
The New Republican Order is a War Party whose foreign policy is far from that of either Taft or Eisenhower or even tempered by the relatively pragmatic views of Nixon or Reagan. The GOP has been taken over and radicalized by Neocons. John Bolton’s nomination is only the latest example. The result is faulty and manipulated intelligence, the muffling of pragmatic voices, torture and “extraordinary rendition”, discredited color-coded panic at home, the alienation of our friends abroad, and institutionalized warmongering. This runs counter to the true defense our country and what it stands for. It is the road to endless war and countless sorrows.
Posted by: Leo Brown | Jul 19, 2005 11:11:31 PM
Leo:
Social security is to be turned into a welfare program by the introduction of a means test that would cut benefits for the middle class. That line is political gold.
I hadn't really thought about the social security means test before. I had assumed it was 1) a way to pay for a small part of Bush's privatization scheme, and b) a bone thrown to Democrats to make it harder for them to oppose privatization.
Now I see a different possibility. Means testing turns SS into a welfare program which, historically, is politically easier to oppose than a retirement safety net. 10 (or 20 or 30) years from now, I can imagine a concerted campaign to get rid of the "welfare" SS tax .
Yikes.
Posted by: Bert Lowry | Jul 20, 2005 5:45:31 AM
Another suggestion, given the patriotism of Idahoans is to point out that the leak of a CIA agent occured from within the present Adminstration. Even if we concede that we don't know who it was, it's taken two years to get where we are today, therefore, it is tolerated by the White House. And there are no Republicans expressing ANY concern to even the slightest degree that treason has been committed and there is a traitor in the White House Administration.
Posted by: Gregor | Jul 20, 2005 1:29:21 PM
I think the best thing to do is to, indeed, focus on finding voters rather than Democrats.
Every political science study ever done finds incredible resistance to someone changing their political affiliation. It happens rarely in large numbers, and those generally occur around huge staggering events.
However, the party can make it very attractive to become a split-ticket voter. If someone splits the ticket often enough, it gives them an internal wedge to deal with.
Incrementalism at its finest.
XT
Posted by: Xpatriated Texan | Jul 21, 2005 4:45:55 PM
Yes, the proper way to go is to find voters, not change political affiliations. Some voters express their party, but vote a different way in the booth. Ask Howard Dean what he has planned for Idaho also the Democratic Party of Idaho. I know Wyoming is in worse shape than Idaho. We have a cow mentality here even in an era of enlightenment.
Posted by: Jimmy Porter | Jul 22, 2005 8:11:57 AM
Yes, the proper way to go is to find voters, not change political affiliations. Some voters express their party, but vote a different way in the booth. Ask Howard Dean what he has planned for Idaho also the Democratic Party of Idaho. I know Wyoming is in worse shape than Idaho. We have a cow mentality here even in an era of enlightenment.
Posted by: Jimmy Porter | Jul 22, 2005 8:13:02 AM
Gregor has a very good point about the patriotism of Idahoans. See http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucru/20050718/cm_ucru/republicansmustchoosebushoramerica/nc:742
REPUBLICANS MUST CHOOSE: BUSH OR AMERICA?
Does the elephant fly higher than the flag in Idaho?
Posted by: Leo Brown | Jul 22, 2005 10:23:56 AM
both getting out the vote and making people aware that democrats care more about them are important.
i don't talk about politics with my family, because i'm passionate about both, so i was surprised to hear that my idaho-dwelling mom had convinced my idaho-dwelling sister to vote kerry by having her watch "fahrenheit 9/11" the night before the election.
they said their county was something like 80% red, though. when they first moved from washington, my 15-year-old sister tried to resist all the church groups recruiting at her public school, but on my most recent visit, she was planning to attend a "lock-in" at a church. there are churches and flags and real men love jesus bumper stickers everywhere. there's a huge amount of pressure to be a flag-waving, church-going republican.
still, as mom drove me over the idaho-washington border to the airport on a recent visit, we heard an npr broadcast (my request) about how republicans are growing the divide between rich and poor, and i saw a dusty kerry-edwards sticker on a truck. there is hope.
i would like to see some tax exemptions taken from churches that get messed up in politics too much. i think this was a huge issue in red states -- preacher politicians -- and i think they learned the facts about neither jesus nor bush.
Posted by: jami | Jul 27, 2005 4:14:03 PM
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(and yes, we know that sometimes they're very, very wrong. Other times, they're right on.)
