Wordcruncher

The Best Damn Thing That Ever Could’ve Happened

Lately I am coming to the conclusion that losing the election in 2004 will be the best thing that ever happened to the Democrats. There was actually little consolation in hoping for a Kerry win; we all knew the reality on the ground, which was that the Republican congress would handcuff him and box him in out of shear spite, smearing and meanness (wonder how fast they would resurrect the independent special prosecutor rule?). We’d seen this movie before, with a Democratic president and a Republican House. It would have been much worse with the Senate against him, too – but at least we could have accomplished something.

I think all of the post-election Democrat soul-searching has been more productive than therapeutic. It was a truly interesting process, the likes of which have not been seen on the American political front. Yes, parties have re-grouped and re-focused after losses, but never before has the soul-searching of a party been so public, so communal. Or so productive.

There has been a seismic shift in the power structure for the Democrats, which will have a significant impact on Democratic policies and politicians. But there are other dynamics, serendipitously working in concert to the Democrats’ advantage, as follows:

Richard Gephart's retirement. Gephart's retirement to pursue a failed bid for the Democratic nomination holds significance as a changing-of-the-guard, as he was the last of the old, big-government-era Democratic leaders. His leadership was tied to his own obsolescence in today’s political reality. Gephart came from the days when holding together the Democratic coalition was the primary concern of its leaders. It will always be an important job for any party leader to appease divergent interest groups (the GOP has similar concerns, for example, keeping the libertarians and social conservatives in the camp). But while no Democrat can afford to take interest groups for granted – indeed, Karl Rove proved that you can win by motivating those groups – in today’s political climate, none of the groups are going to vote outside the party.

Gephart also rose to prominence in the days when Democrats held a safe majority. Democrats could afford for representatives to return home and campaign however they felt necessary – as conservatives, moderates, liberals or radicals – to the detriment of a unified party message.

Nancy Pelosi has brought a level of public feistiness the Democrats have been sorely lacking. Her response to the Republicans’ blatantly unscrupulous and shameful neutering of the House Ethics Committee has been encouraging. But she has long needed help – exactly the kind of help Senator Harry Reid is bringing.

The defeat of Tom Daschle. Republicans actually helped facilitate what is turning out to be a major addition by subtraction for the Democrats. Daschle, inexplicably a demon of the right, was the leader Republicans should have enabled, not defeated. While the GOP labeled him an obstructionist – with the arrogant presumption that the minority party should never dissent – he had to consistently pander to conservatives in his home state because his seat was always hanging by a thread.

The main reason Republicans targeted Daschle was that they wanted his seat and thus, a larger Republican majority. As collateral damage, perhaps they’d hoped to intimidate the Democratic leadership into appeasement. While many Democrats regretted the loss of Daschle’s seat, many, many Democrats celebrated and welcomed a change of leadership – and anyone was better than Daschle, who had to sacrifice principled Democratic stands for his own political survival.

Perhaps the new “Give ‘Em Hell, Harry!” Democrat, Reid has brilliantly united the party in its opposition to the president’s dishonest social security privatization scam. He has responded forcefully to the GOP’s attempts to Daschle-ize him. He has also adopted the GOP method of threatening senate dissenters with the loss of their committee seats (as DeLay has done recently in the House with the Ethics Committee, whose Republican members were punished for reprimanding him). And he has gotten the caucus squarely behind him.

Howard Dean’s ascension to DNC Chair. Dean has been very impressive, from the moment he declared himself for DNC chair. Democrats rejected him in the primaries because few knew who he was before this campaign season and because Democrats wanted an established name, preferably with military credentials. But during his candidacy for DNC chair, he has marvelously channeled the grassroots and understands the netroots. He also responds forcefully and passionately to GOP attacks. (I will comment on Dean in a subsequent post outside of this series.) John Kerry failed to understand any of this, because the army of consultants he hired to run his campaign was comprised of Washington insiders who had no idea. Nor did they care.