I've always been interested in how memes develop. Especially if they're incredibly wrongheaded ones. You know the ones I'm talking about. "Cutting taxes will
raise revenue!" "Welfare
causes poverty!" That kind of thing. I've noted a number of memes of that sort appearing on dKos, and it's frankly very, very depressing.
I find it interesting that with Kerry's seeming lock on the nomination, a new sort of idea set has emerged among Democrats. I see it on dKos, and I see it in my Democratic friends in real life. And it's a little scary. I don't know if this is just our old friend "Democrat Boot-Licking Tendency" rearing its ugly head again or if people who actually think these things have just been silent for the last 4 years or so, but the fact that they're getting so widespread is worrying.
First, there's this idea that the Democrats never really needed an insurgent campaign. The logic here goes that the supposed weakness of the party from 2000-2003 was just a popular misconception. In reality, they were actually incredibly strong... it was just that the climate was just so hostile to Democrats. This type of thinking is great for a certain segment of the Democratic party because it absolves the party of all guilt. The party never made a strategic mistake, you see. There was nothing it could have done better, nothing it could change, nothing there to reform. People just hate us. Oh but y'know, now people like us! So ANY Democrat could win the White House, without even trying! And if those icky Deaniacs would just shut up and go back to their Playstations, we could finally get back to the real work of taking back the country. It's especially conducive to Kerry-support because it means that the one vote that almost everyone hates in hindsight, the Iraq vote, was actually strategically brilliant! Hurrah for spin!
The second piece of problematic spin centers around the Democratic establishment. It's become fashionable to say that, basically, there isn't one. And I don't mean "there isn't a shadowy Illuminati-esque organization that secretly controls every Democrat behind the strings", I mean the idea that there's NO group of powerful Democrats who have a greater impact on the party's overall strategy, planning, and funding than normal rank-and-file Dems. Again, this means that a reform candidate is useless because who would he attack? There's no establishment here, just a bunch of independent minded but loyal Democrats. And what kind of BASTARD attacks loyal Democrats? An angry, unbalanced one, that's what kind...
Third, concurrent to that. The DNC has no impact on Democratic party ideology or strategy. Yeah, it's the Democratic National Committee. So? That obviously implies that it's simply a ceremonial title that's only devoted to fundraising. Nope, the DNC isn't responsible for Democratic planning at all. When Democrats are being exhorted to vote for measures that their constituents would find unacceptable on the environment, on war, on civil rights, or whatever, it doesn't come from here! Of course, that leaves it unclear exactly where those brilliant plans and strategies (which, remember, have been incredibly effective) are coming from. Y'know, since there's no Democratic establishment.
Basically the major thread tying all of these together is that suddenly the Democratic Party has become one big sacred cow. It's as though Dean's collapse means we're not allowed to attack it or criticize it anymore. Now, honestly, as someone who was criticizing it LONG before I ever heard of Howard Dean, I think that's bullshit. This kind of "no see, all of our problems were YOUR fault" thought is extraordinarily dangerous to our chances of taking back any segment of government. It amounts to pretending that all the bad planning, bad luck, and bad results of the last 4 years were meaningless. So rather than learning from them we should just stay the course. I dunno, I really hope all of this fades away once Kerry's the nominee and his supporters stop feeling the need to kick Dean's corpse (although given the record of some of these party guys' grudges, I doubt it), but if we truly campaign pretending that the Democratic party does not, and never has, need some major repairs, then we're destined to lose big to Bush.