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big_dog

(4,144 posts)
Sun Dec 21, 2014, 05:17 PM Dec 2014

Time to Bring Back the Truman Democrats! (Daily Beast/Newsweek) Editorial

Democrats are pushing race and environmental issues when they should be embracing the lunch-bucket themes that once built party dominance. Meanwhile, voters flee.

Once giants walked this earth, and some of them were Democrats. In sharp contrast to the thin gruel that passes for leadership today, the old party of the people, with all its flaws, shaped much of the modern world, and usually for the better. Think of Franklin Roosevelt or Harry Truman, John Kennedy, or California’s Pat Brown, politicians who believed in American greatness, economic growth, and upward mobility.

For more than 40 years, the Democratic Party has drifted far from this tradition, its policies increasingly a blend of racial and gender politics combined with a fashionable brand of environmental fanaticism. No longer does it constitute a reliable, middle class-based alternative to the corporatist mindset of the Republicans. “Today’s Democrats have no more in common with Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson ,” notes author Michael Lind, “than today’s Republicans have in common with Abraham Lincoln or Dwight Eisenhower. “

To regain their relevancy, Democrats need to go back to their evolutionary roots. Their clear priorities : faster economic growth and promoting upward mobility for the middle and working classes. All other issues—racial, feminine, even environmental—need to fit around this central objective. In survey after survey, economic issues such as unemployment, the economy, and the federal budget top the list of concerns while affirmative action, gay rights, and climate change barely register. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/21/time-to-bring-back-the-truman-democrats.html

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TwilightGardener

(46,416 posts)
1. Like the author says at the end, maybe Jim Webb has a message that can resonate.
Sun Dec 21, 2014, 05:26 PM
Dec 2014

I'll wait and see what comes of his candidacy.

 

RBInMaine

(13,570 posts)
4. Yes, bring back the Truman Democrats, BUT only SOME of what this author says is true.
Sun Dec 21, 2014, 10:21 PM
Dec 2014

In 2008 and 2012 Dems WON on the economic issues. 2012 was GREAT. Romney was defined as an out of touch corporate job killer.

People like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are constantly hammering on the economic issues.

Obama has spent tons of time talking jobs and the economy, has visited businesses again and again, has touted the saving of the auto industry, etc. etc.

The House Dems have talked a lot about their "Made in America" plan.

The PROBLEM is that ALL Dems have had a hard time STAYING on the message CLEARLY and CONSISTENTLY, and in this last campaign the DNC, DSCC, and DCCC didn't have ANY message. It was just SHIT.

They stumble around and veer in and out of the BIG, BOLD, POPULAR, and COMPELLING issues of fixing income inequality, raising the minimum wage, investing in infrastructure to create millions of new jobs, refinancing student loan debt, investing more higher education, etc. etc.
Yes, we need the BIG, BOLD, POPULAR, BREAD AND BUTTER ISSUES all around; a STRONG message of WE ARE FOR AN ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR EVERYBODY AND WE OUTRIGHT REJECT TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS !!

Dems are NOT just talking about feminism, climate change, and gay rights. Those are our issues too, but they are the secondary issues. (Though the PERCEPTION is that we do spend too much time talking about these because we are not CONSISTENT and STRONG and CLEAR enough on the economic theme.)

WE DO NEED TO GO BIG, STRONG, BOLD, AND TOUGH AS NAILS ON THE POPULAR POPULIST ECONOMIC MESSAGE. AND WE NEED TO BE DEMOCRATIC STRONG !! WE NEED BIG "BALLS" AGAIN AND NOT THIS "TAKE THE HIGH ROAD" JELLY SPINE WIMPY SHIT. STAND FOR SOMETHING BIG AND BOLD !! AND TAKE THE FIGHT STRAIGHT TO THE RIGHT WINGERS' VERY GUTS.

grasswire

(50,130 posts)
6. I like the way you think.
Mon Dec 22, 2014, 03:14 AM
Dec 2014

Jeff Merkley was re-elected on a populist message. He got it right, and voters responded.

 

RBInMaine

(13,570 posts)
9. OK but it is NOT the main theme MOST Americans want to dwell on. They want JOBS JOBS JOBS !!
Mon Dec 22, 2014, 10:07 PM
Dec 2014

They want economic security and the American economic dream. The social issues are secondary. They can't be at the top of the list or we LOSE.

 

1StrongBlackMan

(31,849 posts)
10. You'd better keep that language down ...
Mon Dec 22, 2014, 10:26 PM
Dec 2014

because I, and most PoC (i.e., unwavering Democrats), get real testy when you tell me that my issues are "secondary."

Persondem

(1,936 posts)
12. Race and economics go hand in hand. If a part, or parts, of society is denied an equal chance at the
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 04:12 PM
Dec 2014

American dream because of discrimination, then all the jobs in the world don't matter if the gatekeepers to those opportunities are biased.

A rising tide should lift ALL boats and not leave behind the people in the lifejackets barely keeping their heads above water.

It's not just race - class, gender, sexual orientation, and disability can all mark people as undesirable.

Separating economics and social issues really does a disservice to many Americans.

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