Two articles this morning, one at
The Washington Post and one at
The New York Times, give several facts that have a lot for us to ponder.
Bill Clinton has done an analysis on the Democrats' problems in the new media age, the political dimensions of which The Washington Post treats this morning in an article at its web site. Clinton's analysis is a component of a longer piece on the role of the New Media in modern politics. The article's thrust is that in the battle for the new media's ear, the Republicans have been ahead, but that with the Foley event and other recent stories, there are signs we progressives are catching up.
Clinton say that if we are to get ahead, we need to master the art of the new media in the way that the conservatives have done. I think that we at Daily Kos get it, but Clinton thinks that the Democratic power structure hasn't understood it.
Clinton -- who regards Rove with a mixture of admiration and disdain as the most effective modern practitioner of polarizing politics -- said in an interview that he has become fixated on the problem of how Democrats can learn to fight more effectively against the kind of attack President Bush's top political aide leveled. Associates of the former president said he thinks that Democrats Al Gore in 2000 and Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) in 2004 lost the presidency because they could not effectively respond to a modern media culture that places new emphasis on politicians' personalities and provides new incentives for personal attack.
The other article this morning that I think is noteworthy for the future is news of a problem that that besets Evangelicalism, a faith tradition that I believe has had a less than productive influence on the national debate. I am a believing Catholic, but I was relieved this morning to read an article at The New York Times web site that indicated Evangelical ministers are afraid they are losing their teenagers. If
current trends continue, only 4 percent of teenagers will be "Bible-believing Christians" as adults. That would be a sharp decline compared with 35 percent of the current generation of baby boomers, and before that, 65 percent of the World War II generation.
While some critics say the statistics are greatly exaggerated (one evangelical magazine for youth ministers dubbed it "the 4 percent panic attack"), there is widespread consensus among evangelical leaders that they risk losing their teenagers.
Saving the country is a many faceted program. One is to gain the upper hand on the new media in the political debate, and we are certainly doing our part at Daily Kos. The other is to change the cultural climate that perdures in the country, and there are signs of change there as well.
Our national Constitution is in grave distress. I believe it is people like you and me who must save it, if it is to endure the transition into this new age. But lose it well might do if we are not keenly focused on salvaging it. Indeed, like any battle, we might do our best and fail, but the other possibility is that we might win.