November 04, 2004
Coming tasks...
Our friend Andrew Cory writes in a comment to my post on gloating:
One would think, at this point, that hearing our cries and the lamentations of our women (wymon?) would be enough for you people...More than the next two years. If my 70-Year Cycle posts are anywhere near reality, Dems will be flailing for 20 years or so. One generation. You will have occasional gains when Republicans mess-up (depend on it, we will) but generally your percentages will keep shrinking. Democrats of my generation, currently in charge, are too old to re-think and re-build. The current leadership will probably oscillate between being faux-conservative, much like Wendell Wilkie was a faux-Republican [Note to Mrs. Clinton: Your opportunity. Learn to bake cookies, and shoot a burgler. In the back.] and being more shrill-leftist than ever, as the people most alienated by conservative victories are and will be the most energized among Democrats.Sheesh! I hope you’re right about the best direction for this country. For the next 2 years, you’ve got everything lined up your way...
During this decade and part of the next, things will be similar to the 1930's, when businessmen and bankers moved almost en masse to the Republicans, because they hated the New Deal. This was the wrong way for the Republican Party to move at a time when industrial workers were switching en masse to the Democrats. Republicans became very energetic, but as reactionaries. All they could say was "Stop! We don't like these innovations. We are the Party of Lincoln! We should be running things, the way we always have." They were also hate-filled and cranky. It was the heyday of Father Coughlin, and many people saw FDR as a communist demon who was bent on destroying America.
Your generation gets to start rebuilding the Democrat Party. You are roughly the equivalent of the WWII generation, of the Republican generation of Goldwater, Nixon and Reagan, and thinkers like Irving Kristol and Bill Buckley...Your Jeffersonian roots are waiting to be re-discovered.
[It occurs to me that all the advice-giving going on right now is probably more irritating to Democrats than gloating. George Will: "the Democratic Party should purge its Michael Moore faction..." Yeah, like that's Sooo easy. Just build a bonfire of giant puppets and fling those guys on it.]
Posted by John Weidner at November 4, 2004 09:19 AM | TrackBack"During this decade and part of the next, things will be similar to the 1930's, when businessmen and bankers moved almost en masse to the Republicans, because they hated the New Deal. This was the wrong way for the Republican Party to move at a time when industrial workers were switching en masse to the Democrats. "
What else were they supposed to do, bend over and take it?
I guess we were all screwed either way.
I see your point, although I can't escape the conclusion that the businessmen and bankers were mostly right and the New Deal was a disastrous mistake that's still haunting us. (Of course, the New Deal was only able to get underway because the previous Republican screwed the pooch badly with tax hikes and tariff hikes and whatnot, and sensible ideas were in horrifyingly short supply in either party in those days). I guess if I felt any differently, I'd be a Democrat - and if they felt any differently than they do now, they'd be Republicans.
And so it goes...
Posted by: Ken at November 4, 2004 05:52 PMMy theorizing here has nothing to do with whether the policies are right or wrong. I suspect the 1930's would have been beter off (at least economically) without Roosevelt's fixes.
But politically speaking, the Republicans were out of ideas, and the Dems were bursting to try their ideas, and to get in and fix things, and improve things. They had a compelling case to put before the voters.
Since I don't favor the New Deal, I don't think there was any "right move" for Republicans just then. In theory they could have become New Dealers Lite, but really that wasn't an option. They would have just been faking it.
Similarly, I don't think Dems have any good options for regaining power right now. They will oscillate between being themselves, and losing...and being Republicans Lite, and probably still losing because they won't be able to fake it convincingly.
Posted by: John Weidner at November 4, 2004 06:18 PM
