Reinventing the Formula: a model for Democrats

[brooklynite]

It’s difficult to imagine Bernoulli’s Equation as a political strategy — primarily because hardly anyone in politics knows what it is. And yet, in an odd sort of way, it has already helped to transform the politics of a major American city and an entire state, and may be pointing the Democratic Party toward a posture of competitiveness on a much larger field.

Bernoulli’s Equation, the discovery of an 18th-century Swiss mathematician, is a complex proof of a very simple idea: that friction and turbulence block the flow of water through a pipe. The movement of the water, and the overall effectiveness of the system, increase in exact proportion as the friction is reduced.

...snip...

In effect, laminar flow and Bernoulli’s Equation have been the secret weapons of the Democratic Party in Colorado over the past few years. Following Hickenlooper’s lead, Democrats have steadily reduced their level of friction with all sorts of previous antagonists: the business community, the affluent Denver suburbs, and even the conservative Republican governor. They have taken on more and more disparate elements, kept them moving forward and avoided having them break apart.

Here are some of the results: In November 2004, Democrats seized control of the Colorado legislature for the first time in 30 years. The same month, they also won passage of a $13 billion regional transportation bond issue that will create one of the nation’s largest rail transit systems. This past November, they campaigned successfully for Referendum C, a ballot proposition suspending TABOR, the state’s previously sacrosanct tax limitation law, in order to maintain state funding of education, transportation and health care.

http://governing.com/articles/2demo.htm

[Demeter]

1. Most Significant Paragraph

"None of this would have anything to do with politics if it weren’t for the fact that the mayor of Denver, John Hickenlooper, is a geologist. When he ran for mayor in 2003, he was better known as a restaurant owner, but he spent the first 10 years of his adult life working in the field of petroleum geology, and that is still the way he thinks. “Laminar flow,” he will proclaim out of the blue, “is a good goal in politics.” Laminar flow is what you get when diverse liquids make their way smoothly through a pipe, keeping their distinct chemical identities but resisting the pressure to break apart."

In other words, an educated engineer with broader interests and an ability to grasp the laws of nature and work with them, not a religious whackjob, nor a shmoozer on the make for a corporate retirement slot. This is the kind of leadership that built America, and the only kind that will save it.

[SharonAnn]

2. Great article! Thanks for sharing it. I've sent it on to my campaign

committee.

[Demeter]

3. Kick==Don't Let This Die!

We need all the good news we can find.