I couldn't resist quoting Buffy...but the question is a serious one. The we in this case being the Democratic Party. I had hoped that this outcome might suggest a striking re-evaluation of the Party's direction. The early signs are not encouraging. So, let me make a few brief points:
1. If you believe that the 1976 election is sui generis because of Watergate (which I think is inarguable), then the last time that the Democratic Party has been able to craft a popular vote majority was _1964_. 40 years ago. Even in 1976 it only polled 50.1% of the vote. I'm not sure if there has ever been a similarly long period in American history of a single party simply failing to command the support of a majority of the American people. 2. The Republican Party now controls the White House, the Senate (with a significantly enlarged majority), the House (with an apparently unassailable majority), and 29 of the 50 governorships, including the four largest states (California, Texas, New York, and Florida.) The Mayor of the largest city in America is a Republican. The Republican Party didn't just win the Presidency - it also picked up seats in the House and Senate and held onto its margin in statehouses. That is a remarkably thorough victory, without really even a hint of upside for the Democrats. 3. The traditional Democratic argument has been that a high turnout election would result in a Democratic victory - that supposedly there was an unvoting majority in the US that supports the Democratic Party. There is, quite literally, no empirical evidence to support this belief, and there never has been. But now we've had an election with the highest turnout since 1968. The Democratic base was as fired-up as it is _possible_ for it to be. Large portions of the Republican base, by contrast, really were not all that excited by the President. But the Republican Party did not just win, it won _decisively_. A 3 million vote popular vote majority. A 2% win in the critical swing state. Now, if I were a Democrat, I'd look at this list and think something is very, very wrong. If George W. Bush - in my opinion the weakest incumbent President to run for re-election since Jimmy Carter - can crush a Democratic candidate who had a unified party and a fund-raising _advantage_, then it's time for the Party to look in the mirror. I have a few ideas about where it could go. But I wanted to put things this clearly on the list to see the reaction before I chimed in with my own ideas. ===== Gautam Mukunda [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Freedom is not free" http://www.mukunda.blogspot.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
