November 13, 2006--"Git-R-Done!"
If you look at the Daily Kos blog you'll find many contributors moaning that nothing changed last Tuesday because Joe Lieberman is still in the Senate. This sort of thing worries me. It suggests a lack of pragmatic thought among many influential progressives.
In fact, a lot happened. There was considerable change; and for the Democrats to succeed they have to get some good things accomplished--like a sane plan for extracting ourselves from Iraq, health care for kids, federal grants to help low-income families pay for college, and economic relief for the middle class. So it is good to see that among most newly elected Congresspeople, as the NY Times headlined, "Populism Trumps Ideology" (article linked below).
Larry the Cable Guy is a so-called blue-collar comedian, and if we are smart we will mine what he has to say for political guidance as well as a few laughs. His mantra is “Get-R-Done.” And it should become the same for the new Democrats.
In addition to helping to keep them focused on actually accomplishing things rather than, as in the recent past, being ideological correct and smarter-than-the-next-guy (John Kerry case in point), it will remind them that it’s the Working People Stupid.
These good folks were the Democrats’ constituents from the days of FDR through Johnson when the Dems were a national majority party. Ironically, though Roosevelt and Kennedy were Brahmins, they knew enough to champion programs that were attractive and needed by the majority of U.S citizens, while at the same time pursuing a strong foreign policy that appealed to American’s sense efficacy.
Thus, keep your eye on what the new Congress promulgates for early signs of whether or not they are taking to heart the messages voters recently delivered—if they come out of the blocks advancing legislation that is too ideologically or culturally based or which panders to individual constituencies (redistributional tax policy that can be characterized as class warfare, national as opposed to targeted health insurance, an unnuanced approach to raising the minimum wage, protectionism, etc.), they will quickly find themselves the minority party again in 2008.
Carol Shea-Porter, a new House member from New Hampshire has it right. She says that though new jobs were created during the past two or three years, most of those were Wal-Mart jobs. “My voters understood when the Republicans talked about the stock market boom that half of Americans aren’t even in the stock market.”
Amen.
And that reminds me of another thing--don’t forget the “amen” part either. Hillary now wearing a cross also won’t Get-R-Done.
In fact, a lot happened. There was considerable change; and for the Democrats to succeed they have to get some good things accomplished--like a sane plan for extracting ourselves from Iraq, health care for kids, federal grants to help low-income families pay for college, and economic relief for the middle class. So it is good to see that among most newly elected Congresspeople, as the NY Times headlined, "Populism Trumps Ideology" (article linked below).
Larry the Cable Guy is a so-called blue-collar comedian, and if we are smart we will mine what he has to say for political guidance as well as a few laughs. His mantra is “Get-R-Done.” And it should become the same for the new Democrats.
In addition to helping to keep them focused on actually accomplishing things rather than, as in the recent past, being ideological correct and smarter-than-the-next-guy (John Kerry case in point), it will remind them that it’s the Working People Stupid.
These good folks were the Democrats’ constituents from the days of FDR through Johnson when the Dems were a national majority party. Ironically, though Roosevelt and Kennedy were Brahmins, they knew enough to champion programs that were attractive and needed by the majority of U.S citizens, while at the same time pursuing a strong foreign policy that appealed to American’s sense efficacy.
Thus, keep your eye on what the new Congress promulgates for early signs of whether or not they are taking to heart the messages voters recently delivered—if they come out of the blocks advancing legislation that is too ideologically or culturally based or which panders to individual constituencies (redistributional tax policy that can be characterized as class warfare, national as opposed to targeted health insurance, an unnuanced approach to raising the minimum wage, protectionism, etc.), they will quickly find themselves the minority party again in 2008.
Carol Shea-Porter, a new House member from New Hampshire has it right. She says that though new jobs were created during the past two or three years, most of those were Wal-Mart jobs. “My voters understood when the Republicans talked about the stock market boom that half of Americans aren’t even in the stock market.”
Amen.
And that reminds me of another thing--don’t forget the “amen” part either. Hillary now wearing a cross also won’t Get-R-Done.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
1:07 PM
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