Monday, March 14, 2005
Washington Democrats: Doing the Exact Opposite of What They Should Be Doing
Josh Marshall wrote the following today, and it sums up the Democrats' biggest problems in a nutshell:
One of the Democrats' greatest problems -- far more insidious than many realize -- is their desire to gain the approval and approbation of establishment Washington and its A-list pundits. The habit or inclination is rooted in a political world that ceased to exist 20 or 30 years ago, and even then was wrong-headed. Republicans, on the other hand, have long seen the relationship as fundamentally antagonistic (if not necessarily unfriendly) and have acted accordingly. On balance, that's led to better press treatment because, though they are loathe to admit it, the mix of editors and pundits and talk show hosts respect the treatment. Democrats, from top to bottom, would do themselves no end of good if they simply acted on the assumption that the Washington establishment is not a constituency they are trying to appeal to or cultivate. That doesn't mean they should ignore the Washington press. Far from it. They should state their views and demand they be fairly covered. But they should not act on the ingrained assumption that these people are basically like-minded people of shared assumptions and beliefs who can be appealed to on that basis. All of that is another way of saying they should act like Republicans."Shorter Josh Marshall: Washington Democrats emulate Republican policies, but not Republican strategy, when they should be emulating Republican strategy, but not Republican policies.
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