from my blog,
Basie!
After months of discussions between party activists and politicians at all levels of government, it seems the Democrats have finally come up with their catch all phrase for 2006. The Hill's Josephine Hearn has the story.
House Democratic leaders are holding a closed-door meeting with members of their caucus this afternoon to discuss a new slogan for the 2006 midterm elections: "Together, We Can Do Better" or "Together, America Can Do Better," according to Democratic sources.
[...]
Today's meeting will gather feedback from the broader caucus on the slogan, Democratic aides say, as part of a periodic effort to reach out to all members of Congress on message issues.
Democrats plan to unveil their 2006 party platform in the coming weeks, much earlier than in previous cycles and way ahead of the GOP's 1994 "Contract With America," which came out six weeks before the election.
Two points... The proposed slogans work, particularly the first. They sound good and concisely convey the exact message Democrats want to pass on to voters.
But the Hearn article isn't all good news for the Democrats, who still seem to spend too much time listening to the inside-the-Beltway crowd. Just because Republicans and TV's talking heads say the Democrats do not have any ideas does not mean that they should trot out a platform one year before the election.
President Bush and the Republican Party are on the defensive as a result of many factors; their ethical issues and political failings are front and center these days. But if the Democrats offered a wideranging set of policy priorities -- thereby shifting the focus of the political press from Republican problems to the Democratic agenda (which the GOP would have 12 months to undercut) -- they would in effect be throwing the Republicans a life preserver. There absolutely no reason for the Democrats to do this.
It's not too late to wait. As Hearn notes, the Republicans' "Contract with America" wasn't released until six weeks before the 1994 midterm elections, inhibiting the Democrats from devising a successful pushback while offering the public just enough time to learn the GOP's agenda. The Dems don't have to wait until next September to lay out their platform; indeed, there is even talk of a midterm convention for the Democrats to take place in the late summer of 2006. But if the Democrats are too hasty in offering their policies, they run the risk of losing whatever advantages they currently hold and lessening their chances at retaking either House of Congress next fall.
for more campaign 2006 news, visit my blog at Basie.org