For most of my life, Dems were the pitbulls of Congress.

[charlyvi]

Off the top of my head, on the Senate side: LBJ, Mike Mansfield. Daniel Moynihan, Robert Byrd. On the House side: Sam Rayburn, Tip O'Neill. These are Dems who were proud to be Dems. They knew how to rally a vote. Byrd still tries, but not too successfully. But he still tries. No one doubted where any of them stood on the issues--they were proud of their Nation and their Party. When they compromised, and all of them did, there was a reason for compromise other than fear.

So what happened? Was the spine of the Democratic Party interred with LBJ? I shake my head in bewilderment, and wonder what to do.

[cali]

1. Russ Feingold, Barbara Boxer, Pat Leahy, Teddy Kennedy

just to name a few.

[charlyvi]

3. Good Dems all.....

but what happened to the "rally the vote" part. The Blue Dog Dems are pretty much a disgrace. Chain...weakest link,,,,etc.

[NightWatcher]

2. they've become fat, rich, and comfortable living off the status quo

they love the republicans. They have based their existence on being the "opposite" of the repiggies, but they would never want to completely run them out of town, because then we'd begin to hold them responsible for their actions. Now we elect certain dems simply because they call themselves democrats. They do nothing except keep a seat warm.

[KharmaTrain]

4. The 24/7 News Cycle

Most of the great things of LBJ or Tip O'Neill or Jim Bynre were done behind closed doors. Deals were done over stiff drinks in smoke-filled rooms and the beltway was a big boy's club.

That changed the day the first TV cameras were installed in Washington DC...especially on Capitol Hill. It turned the government into a reality TV show and those who covered it became personalities as well. First it was the faces we saw on the teevee and now it's anyone who lives within 50 miles of the Washington Monument. The boys club expanded to include the corporate media stars and the script of go-along, get-along went out and confrontation and partisanship is in. That's what draws ratings to this reality show.

Democrats dug themselves in a hole for 20 years of both ignoring the jobbing of the corporate media by the right wing and its own soul searching. The Harold Fords and DLC'ers felt the only way to win was to be a "moderate" and compromise...a game that worked for Clinton but lost the House majority. It took a combination of the excesses of the booosh regime and the coming of age of the internet to help create a long-overdue push back...but it still hasn't been felt within the beltway yet.

The Democrats have many great leaders...Russ Feingold, Chris Dodd, Henry Waxman, Barbara Lee...and I expect we'll see them in very prominant roles if the Democrats are able to make solid gains in November.

[charlyvi]

6. I agree about the media.

But business is still done behind closed doors. They're simply Republican doors.

[KharmaTrain]

7. True...Different Doors

It's always interesting when one can watch a "mark-up" session or a House/Senate "conference" that tries to iron out the details of a bill. The horsetrading is fast and furious...even with the cameras on, and something I wish we'd see more of. That part of the beltway will never change and with all the money that goes into making the "right vote" or inserting the "right earmark" or some other perk, it's what politicians do. That's why they are who they are.

The doors you refer to are the ones of access. The GOOP made sure to use the corporate media to its fullest...allowing "access" to those who toed the line...cozying up to their egos to those who were more interested in getting face time or a byline rather than the truth. Careers rose the more they played the game and those who didn't ended up excluded from the corporate media airwaves. We ended up with right wing repugnicans vs. either "moderate" Democrats or the "librul media" as the proxy. This is what Gramps proudly calls "his base"...and they're surely delivering.

[charlyvi]

8. True.

Don't forget the K Street Project, too. The lobbyist end of the program.

[Juche]

5. Probably the 80s

This is pure conjecture on my part, but I would guess the ass whipping the dems took in the presidential elections of 1980, 84 & 88 has something to do with it. I guess the dems got the idea that if they acted like Reagan-lite that they could win more elections.

[AndyTiedye]

9. Our Party Has Been All But Destroyed by the Mighty Slime Machine

Coverage of Obama and other Democrats:


Coverage of McCain and the Repiglickins:

[charlyvi]

10. We lost the media, for sure.

But we allowed that to happen. I can't imagine an LBJ or Sam Rayburn sitting still for that. (I speak of LBJ in his Senate years)

[AndyTiedye]

13. We Never Had a Situation Where One Party Owned All the Media In Those Days

LBJ or Sam Raburn would never have gotten as far as they did without at least some of the media in their corner.

[TexasObserver]

11. What happened? We lost our asses in 1994.

Clinton stumbled badly out of the gate in 1993, and 22 months later, we lost congressional races big time. The wingers and the media jumped on everything that he or Hillary did, and led the overreactions. However, the Clintons did much of the damage with appointments that seemed bad or weak, policies and initiatives that drew heavy immediate criticisms, and being on watch for things like Waco and the Branch Davidians, and the first attack on the WTC.

Talk Radio, largely conservative, emerged as a voice for the wingers, and Newt et al. pushed their famous Contract on America.

We have been trying to make our way back to those pre 1994 days ever since. We may be on the verge of doing so. I think we'll increase our leads in both houses of congress, with a 25 vote edge in the House and a 5 vote edge in the senate.

But if have Reid and Pelosi running things, I'm not confident the congress will get anything done.

[Riddler]

12. Too bad none of our current crop of dems couldn't carry Sam Ervin's jock strap...

let alone fill it.