A New Poll Suggests That Play-It-Safe 'Centrists' Are Weakening the Democratic Party

[babylonsister]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/7936

A New Poll Suggests That Play-It-Safe 'Centrists' Are Weakening the Democratic Party
by RJ Eskow | Jun 6 2007 - 9:47am

If Sunday night's debate improved Hillary Clinton's chances of capturing the nomination, poll results released Tuesday suggest that she and other "centrists" are losing the very independents they need to win the general election. Congressional reluctance to take decisive action on Iraq is driving these critical voters away from the Democrats - and they're taking the party's base with them.

Most observers, including me, believe that Sen. Clinton won Sunday night's debate (although Edwards was giving her a good run until Wolf Blitzer stopped giving him air time in the second half). And Sen. Clinton moved effectively to neutralize Iraq as a divisive issue for Democrats when she said "the differences among us are minor. The differences between us and the Republicans are major."

Unfortunately, the poll numbers don't offer much to support the play-it-safe strategy advocated by Sen. Clinton and other Congressional Democrats. In increasing numbers, the American public is beginning to agree with the assessments made by a number of liberal commentators: that the Democrats were given a majority in 2006 to take charge and end the Iraq war, and that their failure to do so leaves voters doubtful about their ability to lead.

snip//

These numbers suggest what many have suspected for a long time: Many Congressional Democrats in the Clinton/Emanuel mold confuse "independent" voters with "centrists," and mistakenly assume that independents fail to align with either party because their views lie somewhere between the two.

There's little evidence for this assertion. In fact, ideas like "Unity '08" that are based on the "unaligned centrist" model have failed to gain public interest. It's more plausible to think that many "independents" avoid party affiliations because they believe all politicians are cynical, fearful, self-interested, and pandering. The Democrats' timid behavior on the war is more likely to reinforce that perception than change it. The results among independent voters are likely to be devastating for the triangulators and their party.

snip//

If Democrats don't take firmer action they may well find themselves going into the 2008 election with a double handicap. Swing voters will consider them cynical and fearful of taking bold action, while the party base is dispirited and open to third party alternatives (or staying at home). Without the clear and present danger of a Bush/Cheney ticket Dems can't count on the Fear Factor to save them again. If Congressional leaders and leading Presidential candidates don't change their strategy, 2008 could turn into a surprise blowout ... for the Republican Party.

[IChing]

1. Maybe there is a way to shine some light on these people.

Too bad it costs $1500

Good point by the OP when polls prove most Americans approve of Progressives ideals.

Link to light added: http://www.ohgizmo.com/2007/06/05/spine-lamp-adds-a-touch-of-creepy-to-any-office/

[peacebird]

2. k & r - as one of the liberal left wing independent voters who has consistently voted D

I can attest to my own disillusionment with the Congressional Dems and with the Presidential contenders so far..... I have never sat out an election in 32 years of voting, but I am very discouraged by the whole lot of them at this point.

[EFerrari]

3. They needed a poll?

:wtf:

[Mandate My Ass]

4. They're not a bit confused

They have the same corporate agenda, albeit a bit watered down, as the repukes. Ergo, it benefits them to be the minority party, it helps maintain the illusion that there's a two-party system and therefore hope for the proles. They are throwing away power at almost the same rate as the repukes stole it when they were in charge. Strategy schmadgety. Jeebus X. Christmas.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. The irony is that they complain about "voter apathy" while running on nothing but platitudes.

“Now, the man on the stand he wants my vote,
He's a-runnin' for office on the ballot note.
He's out there preachin' in front of the steeple,
Tellin' me he loves all kinds-a people.
(He's eatin' bagels
He's eatin' pizza
He's eatin' chitlins
He's eatin' bullshit!)”

Bob Dylan

[leftchick]

6. it is more about corporate dollars than trying to woo anyone

look at the fucking bill introduced by two "democrats" in the house. It is all about the fucking money.....

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/06/05/MNG44Q7OS01.DTL


The proposal was written by Rep. Rick Boucher, a Democrat who represents a coal-producing district in southwest Virginia and chairs the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee charged with crafting climate change legislation. The full committee's chairman, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., a longtime ally of the auto industry, also played a key role in putting together the new legislation.

Boucher's and Dingell's offices declined to comment on the proposal.

The "discussion draft" bill was posted by Boucher's staff on the committee's Web site late Friday. Environmentalists read the bill over the weekend, and by Monday morning they were exchanging urgent e-mails warning that it could end the ability of states such as California to pursue more aggressive climate change policies than the federal government.

The bill would add language to the Clean Air Act stating that the Environmental Protection Agency administrator could not grant states a waiver for their vehicle emissions rules if "such state standards are designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions." In other words, any state rules seeking to curb global warming would be null and void.

[cascadiance]

14. And Gephardt and Obama are pandering to the coal industry lobbies too...

By trying to push through legislation to do liquified coal investments. Those investments would be better made on non-carbon-based fuel processes such as solar or thermal in my book! Liquified coal still produces tons of greenhouse-gas pollution! When voters see this, they conclude that our party is no different than the Republicans and just pandering to us on emotional issues, and not those that will substantively fix the situation in Washington.

http://www.freeliberal.com/archives/002788.html

[leftchick]

16. Obama and Liquid Coal

http://www.environmental-action.org/blog/archives/2007/03/tell_obama_no_l.html


Tell Obama - No Liquid Coal
Posted by Dan Stafford at March 22, 2007 10:19 AM

I'm writing today with some surprising news - Sen. Barack Obama, Illinois Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate supports a massive increase in liquid coal production. If you're not familiar with liquid coal, let me assure you, it's as bad as it sounds.

Liquid coal is touted as an 'alternative energy' source, when in truth it's worse than many of our current energy sources. This World War II-era technology creates twice as much global warming pollution as gas, actually speeding up global warming.

Let Senator Obama know that we need clean energy alternatives, not outdated polluting technologies - we've set up a simple page for you to send him this important message:

:grr:

[cascadiance]

7. I think that many of the independents and Republicans are looking for non-corporatist positions...

... as an alternative from the Democrats as a reason for leaving siding with the Republicans even if they differ with us on issues like Abortion, gay marriage, etc. If they see that it's "just the same", then they look back at the Republican party which serves their other positions instead. They'll say "Why do I need to go to the Dems when they have the same problems as the Republicans?". They might be looking for a newer party instead too.

Being corporatist may help us with the pocketbooks of their campaigns, but it is working against the wishes of about 90% of Americans in many instances. We should recognize that and find more ways to distance ourselves from corporate influence instead of using it like the DLC Dems keep doing which damages us. Then we can appeal to more on both sides on issues that both can support if framed properly (public campaign financing, bankruptcy protection, health care reform, global warming, the Iraq War, etc.). If we are a party that promises to fix this problem (through things like public campaign financing) instead of continuing to be used by it like the DLC wants, we'll just be doomed to failure again.

[porphyrian]

8. Surprise!

Ah, no one listens to me, I'm just an asshole.

[Dr.Phool]

9. Yesterday I sent a letter to Dean, Pelosi, and Reid.

Stating pretty much the same thing.

It was in response to a fundraising letter from the DNC. I said I will no longer send any money or spend any of my time working for any incumbent Democrat. Even "progressives" who ran on an antiwar platform last year sold us out. There's enough evidence to fill an encyclopedia to warrant impeachment.

[Mandate My Ass]

10. I got that letter too

I filled out the survey which was almost a joke it was so full of talking points and where it asked for a contribution I wrote in "Not even a thin dime until you show me you've heard me."

[cascadiance]

11. DCCC sent me a survey and a request for funds...

... a month or two ago. I didn't even put a postage stamp over the "postage paid" part of the envelope like they requested we do to save them costs.

I put in big BOLD letters in the comments section that they need to make public campaign financing a #1 priority or I'm not giving them ANY more money (I haven't for some time now anyway!)!

[DeeDeeNY]

12. The Play It Safe policy does NOT work

Too many Democratic candidates and their clueless advisors believe what they hear from the corporate media, which is a good part of their problem. Maybe this poll will wake them up.

[kestrel91316]

13. Mission almost Accomplished. The moles and pretenders have

been pretty successful so far.

[BlueIris]

15. HELL, yeah they are. In a big way. Thanks, Howie. Thank you soooo much.

K & R & B.

[wryter2000]

17. Very insightful!

My only quibble is that there's no Bush/Cheney fear factor for 2008. Any of the Republicans is more than enough to scare the **** out of me. Even Ron Paul, because as good as he is on some things, he's gawdawful on many more.

[postulater]

18. They'll continue toward the center as long as there are

winner take all elections. All the candidates fight for the same slim majority of votes to get elected, so they all gravitate toward the position they think will capture the center.

When there is instant run-off voting then candidates with a more progressive view will do better.