Update [2005-9-23 22:14:16 by Armando]: By Armando. The Democratic strategy recommendations are found at pp. 8 and 9 of the link.
Last week, Democracy Corps conducted four focus groups (two with non-college voters in Des Moines, IA and two with college-educated voters outside Philadelphia) to explore the developing post-Katrina political environment, and today we released a report on our findings. There are two points that I would highlight here:
There is an obvious temptation to compare the political impact of Katrina to the startling reversal in the political environment after 9/11. But whereas 9/11 completely erased the political dynamic which had been in place prior to the attacks - a faltering presidency still haunted by questions about the legitimacy of the 2000 election and public disapproval for most of its top priorities - Katrina has simply continued the dynamic that had already taken hold in August, driven predominantly by Iraq and gas prices.
This is important because, as Katrina fades from the front pages and the public consciousness, there is little reason to believe that Bush will gain any significant ground. His current position is one of historic weakness, and we believe he will not recover unless he takes dramatic steps to address the dominant concerns facing the country (highly unlikely) or to shift the entire political environment (e.g., the buildup to Iraq prior to the 2002 elections).
While public attitudes toward Iraq have been steadily turning for several months, Katrina could well turn out to be the tipping point. Katrina has drawn attention to the millions of Americans lacking basic needs in our own country, and it has made voters feel more vulnerable than they have since 9/11. These emotions are pushing Americans from `we have to stay the course and finish what we started' to `we have to take care of our needs at home first and we can longer afford to pursue a failed strategy in Iraq.'
Of course, one of the clearest similarities between 9/11 and Katrina is the White House's shameless use of a national tragedy to funnel tax dollars to their closest corporate and special interest allies. With voters' eyes now opened anew to the failure of the Bush administration to address the security and preparedness needs exposed by 9/11, Democrats must be forceful in ensuring that the tremendous amount of resources directed toward recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast aren't similarly wasted.