(Note: This is a little long).
I've seen many diaries and comments post-election that basically write "we lost, it didn't work, let's ditch the leadership and start over."
I've spent a fair amount of time around people who create new products for a living, and I think this starting from scratch business will only hurt us. Besides, I refuse to believe 55 million votes is a complete failure. We lost, but it was a good fight. Let's not diminish what we accomplished.
So, with that in mind, fine tuning an existing product is often more effective than creating a completely new one. It takes less time, requires less education of potential buyers, and costs less money for marketing, etc. So with that in mind, I decided to outline what I saw as having worked, and what I think we should work on.
What worked (what Dems have)
- The right ideas. Even if we're not great at messaging, the reality is we're fighting for the right stuff -- a platform of programs and values like tolerance, respect, and personal responsibility
- Good friends. A unified group of liberal cohorts (ACT, NDN, MoveOn, Blogs like this dkos, etc.).
- Money. For the first time ever, we aren't behind the eight ball on this one. We can continue to build on a strong financial base.
- Big-tent cooperation. Almost everyone in the party made a sacrifice (anti-war Dems supporting Kerry despite his refusal to propose a troop withdrawl, for example) in the name of the greater good. Not bad, especially for a party that Reps. love to disparage as being tied to "special interests."
- Databases. Names, and contact info, and other good stuff we're going to need to continue to get close to lots of voters and spread our message.
What didn't work (what Dems need to fix)
- Caution when courage was needed. We're too inclined to let slurs go by, and Reps run roughshod over us. Dean gave the party a backbone, but we still bent too easily on too many issues. Kerry was too cautious in explaining some of his positions, even when they were the right ones.
- Muddled messaging when clarity was possible. Let's face it, Dems are like engineers, good at solving problems but bad at making those solutions attractive to the non-engineer. We need to get a strong public relations and marketing campaign going. Today.
- Several ideas in place of a single theme. My preferred: "Responsibility and respect: personal, fiscal, and military." Others have called this something else, a storyline or a bumper sticker slogan, but you get the idea.
- Good teams, but no superstars. Kerry's well known but we've discussed that he's hardly Elvis. We've got Dean, but it's not clear that he'll run again, and we've got Obama and Hillary but I think both are just a little before their time. In Obama's case, I think there's way to much pressure on him to "save" the party. We need a better list of national stars like the Reps have Rudy, McCain, and Arnold. Get some people out there now. Not because we expect them to run for Pres, but to give the country a view of the Dems as being "cool" and having the leaders. Right now no one things of Dems this way.
What are your ideas?