There is apparently a new strategy in the Democratic Party. It may not be such a terrible thing, but I think we need to be honest about the effect. The Democratic Insurgency which began with Dean will end.
The strategy is to let the Republicans be the Republicans. Let them do and say what they will, they will only make themselves less popular. It's a strategy which is very familiar to me. Progressives have recommended it for a long time. Forget trying to compete for the moment, let's put the Republicans in a position where they have to answer for themselves. Of course that was before the Conservative Democrats lost the majorities in Congress, The Presidency, the majority of state houses and the majority of governorships.
More than a decade ago, Conservative Democrats said that they had a strategy to *preserve* the Democratic majority and win the Presidency. Bill Clinton never won a majority of the vote, but he did win the Presidency. But from '94 onwards, the losses across the country were steady and got worse. With each loss the Conservative Democrats said that their strategy would, in the end, preserve more than it sacrificed. Then, this year, we lost the Supreme Court - the one thing they promised to protect after they gave up on every other cause.
Progressives recommended, years ago, that the Democratic party should be willing to trade the short-term benefit of compromise with the Republicans for the long-term benefit of challenging the Republicans on the issues. The Conservative Democrats said we could not afford the risk of losing majorities. We have lost those majorities.
Fortunately the Republicans seem to have gone too far. They are on the wrong side of many popular issues. The Iraq War, Guaranteed Health Insurance, NSA Spying/Censure, Drilling in ANWR, Abortion Rights. Unfortunately much of the Democratic leadership is also on the same, wrong side of these same popular issues.
Nevertheless, the Republican party has clearly gone over the line. Americans don't trust them. There is an argument that when your opponent goes nuts, you just let him talk. We Progressives said the same thing. Except we thought the Republicans should have the freedom to make their case in the context of firm ideological opposition by the Democratic Party. The Conservative Democrats felt we should undermine the Republicans - taking away their issues by triangulating.
In any case, the majorities have been lost. Now the Conservative Democrats say we Progressives should continue to withhold our opinions when it comes to Party matters. They say that an approach which avoids confrontation will win us back these majorities. After this victory, they say, we can pursue our goals. "End your insurgency," they say. "Trust us." "We know best how to protect your values."
So, what is our choice?