Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you're all enjoying your weekend. I work most of my Saturdays, so it's nice having a chance to relax and write again. Let's see how productive this effort becomes.
I found the behavior of conservative activists in the last few years to be completely absurd. They basically ran the liberal Republicans out of the party. Then they went after their moderates, who themselves are now mostly out of the party. I know several folks who consider themselves "independents" now who were Republicans on a few years ago. The conservative base of the Republican Party did this, both through demanding ideological purity within their party and by demanding ever more ideologically rigid behavior in policy. Senator Jim Demint (R-Insane) put it best. He'd rather have thirty Republican Senators who actually believe in their values than sixty who didn't. Fair enough. We'll see how well this works for them.
Let's not follow their example, folks. We've GOT to take a deep breath here.
Yes, Max Baucus is driving me nuts on health care reform. Yes, Joe Lieberman is a fucking tool. Absolutely yes (!) I wish the Blue Dogs would get on the same page as the rest of us on the public option. No, I'm not blind to their obstructionism and how they water down bills that truly matter.
We need to suck it up and work with these folks and make them feel welcome within the party. No, that doesn't mean that there is never a time to primary one of our own - of course there is! However, Senators Begich, Tester, and the rest have to have a shot at re-election. That doesn't mean they shouldn't reflect the values of our party (which they do, by the way), but it does mean that they also need to reflect the values of their constituents and their own values.
The Republicans went out of their way to make their tent smaller. If we are to have a durable majority we need to keep our tent bigger than theirs. They had a hell of a time keeping social, economic, and national security conservatives all on the same page. I cannot imagine that was a simple or easy task. Ours is every bit as hard. We've got competing interests of our own, and we'd like to keep the majority of independents with us as well.
Folks, these independents appear to trust President Obama still. The polling shows this. They do not, however, have much love for Democratic members of Congress and especially their leadership. My own experience with "Obamacans" is precisely that. They can tell that the President is working his ass off and they appreciate and respect that fact. They just don't agree with the "liberal" agenda in the House or, to a lesser extent, in the Senate. We need these voters to stick with us, or at least remain open to the notion. I am not suggesting we substitute politics for policy. However, we should ask ourselves what it is about President Obama that keeps his numbers so much better than the rest of the party's.
He's open-minded and conciliatory. He refuses to clench his fist and take a swing. He insists on trying to work with whatever sane members remain within the Republican Party. Folks, the Obamacans didn't vote for Barack Obama because they were sold on his policy agenda - most of the ones I know were iffy on a lot of it. They admired his temperament, demeanor, and willingness to listen. I understand your frustration with the Republicans on health care. Fuck, I share it! However, we need to find a way to genuinely work with whomever we can on this one, or at least make it abundantly clear that we tried.
There are still millions of disaffected former Republicans out there. They don't agree with us on a lot of policy, but they will vote for us if they continue to believe that we are more competent and more sane. We can't lose that. If that means that the bill we pass isn't all we on the left want, well, suck it up. We can tinker with it. Neither Social Security nor Medicare were all that amazing at their respective inceptions. We'll get it right.
The most important thing we can do is increase access to health care for all Americans. I'm with the President on that. Any idea that gets us there is something to consider. Our ideas are better, I'm convinced of that, but I'm willing to swallow my pride and accept second-best if that's the alternative to more of the same. We will get it right over time, but if we insist on ideological purity we will lose the opportunity to sustain the change we so desperately need.
I don't have all the answers, and I in no way suggest we stop holding their feet to the fire. I just want you guys to avoid repeating our opponents' mistakes. Winning elections is great. Governing is hard because it's tempting to assume that everyone who voted with us agrees with us on any particular issue. They don't all agree. They can be persuaded, but we don't want to scare them off by coming across as every bit as ideologically staunch as the party they just left.
You don't have to agree with me, really, but I do hope you'll chew on it.