The message from Democrats has to exceed all of our expectations, and based on their level of outrage on issues like Iraq, the VA and budget defecits…my underwhelmed impression so far has nowhere to go but up. If the Democratic Party was a traded stock, speculative investors would be getting in right now expecting a bounce. This analogy is apt when you consider what makes two stocks in the same sector different. Effeciency, superior product lines and most importantly strong forward-looking leadership are what seperates a winner from the rest of the pack.
Unlike business though, in politics it’s not what you’re selling as much as how you go about it. In my opinion, the greatest downfall of Republican leadership during Bush’s presidency has been their lack of independant leadership. The organization is run from the top down, and with that type of a business model you’re gambling that whoever’s calling the shots knows what they’re doing. Clearly, this strategy has backfired, as John McCain looks more like a hero amongst lemmings every day for simply doing his job.
An opportunity for Democrats to grab up a larger share of the market lies in how they describe this dynamic to the voters. The Republicans set up a system where Senators and Representatives were expected to vote as they were told to vote. When they appeared on talk shows or CSPAN, the RNC talking points were repeated over and over. So voters who thought they were electing a candidate, were in fact electing a political party. The elected politician answered to the party first, and their constituents second.
Pointing this fact out to voters will win Democrats seats in 2006. A textbook example of someone who cannot win versus this strategy is Rick Santorum. This Senator is as much of a rubber stamp as there is in Congress, and when the public clearly feels that the country is going in the wrong direction, exposing the people who let it happen without a fight is key.