Since the 2004 election I have seen countless discussions of how to turn the ship around, to get some Democratic seats in congress and retake control of the government. In these discussions, we hear, almost exclusively about what policy we should support and how we should sell that policy.
It is not about policy, it is about the candidate.
Being interested in the national political scene, we tend to think in terms of the big numbers. We tend to think about the number of seats in congress that are in our control and the power that we can wield based on that. This is natural, but this approach is what costs us in the long run.
We keep trying to convince ourselves that people vote issues, or faith, and some do, but by and large, people vote for the person they like. They look at somebody's character, their story, and then they vote for them because they think they are a good person. While yes there's always going to be single issue voters and party line voters, the fact of the matter is that those voters pretty much offset eachother at the end of the day.
Hackett did incredibly well in a deeply Republican district. Why? Because people liked him. They liked his character and his natural charisma. They liked his story, an Iraq war vet, trying to make a change against all odds. He did not do well because of policy, he did well because he's a likable guy that exudes leadership.
This is why the Democrats need to focus on growing the power of the state parties. We need to focus, not on big policy issues, but rather on ferreting out individuals who have the character to win races. The kind of people like Hackett and Cegelis who can go into districts that they should, by all rights, lose in a landslide, and manage to make competitive.
In spite of many disagreements on policy, I would vote for McCain in a heart beat if he got the nomination. Why? Because I trust his character. I trust that he wouldn't dick around with us like Bush does. That he wouldn't play politics with people's lives. That, in the end, he'd respect the authority he has been granted and excercise it with some wisdom. That's what wins elections folks, not policy.
So I urge all of you to stop thinking about this in terms of policy or some national strategy. What we need are good people to run. There are countless thousands of good people out there, we just need to get them the support they need to run a solid campaign. We proved last year that we can bring a massive amount of money and general support if we've got the candidates to back. In 2006, we need to overwhelm the Republican attack machine with an endless stream of qualified, intelligent people, with strong character and a love of this country. The policy will follow.