The New Democratic Party March 1, 2008
Posted by blogtransferaccount in 2008 Presidential Election, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, The Democratic Party.Tags: 2008 Presidential Election, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, NAFTA, Presidential Primaries, The Democratic Party, The National Journal
3 comments
The National Journal has a great article this week about how the Democratic Party is transforming before our eyes. Gone is the party that nominated John Kerry in favor of a younger, more affluent, more Latino, more female, more evangelical and more liberal party. Though I certainly think that the growth of such groups is unequivocally a positive thing for the Democrats, I worry about the remnants of the New Deal Coalition that for so long has been the heart of the party.
I think this is the reason we see Hillary and Obama bashing NAFTA so much these days, especially in manufacturing centers like Ohio. Despite the fact that they probably realize that the aggregate effects of NAFTA are a positive for the US in the long run, it’s important to comfort those who are afflicted in the short term. However, this is not the right post to be discussing trade policy.
Ultimately what this transition means is that the Democratic Party is becoming more knowledgeable and passionate about politics. Passion has long been a problem for the Democrats, which was typically realized by the fact that high overall turnout in any election was usually a good thing for the Democratic candidate. This is due to the fact that passionate Republicans were always going to vote, but more apathetic Democrats were harder to get to the polls.
Where Has This Been? February 28, 2008
Posted by blogtransferaccount in 2008 Presidential Election, Hillary Clinton.Tags: 2008 Presidential Election, Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton, NAFTA, Ohio Primary, Presidential Primaries
2 comments
I must say that this is undoubtedly the best I have seen Hillary Clinton the entire campaign. By ‘best’ I don’t mean the fact that she is attacking Obama for doing the exact same thing her campaign has done to him time and again. What I do mean is the fact that she is expressing authentic and passionate anger about something she views to be wrong.
Republicans such as George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzalez, Donald Rumsfeld, anyone in the Republican presidential election, or international figures like Osama Bin Laden, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kim Jung Ill, the Janjawid or even the Chinese government would have been much better targets than Barack Obama. Directing this same kind of anger toward the actors would have enabled her to wrap up the nomination weeks ago. Of course she couldn’t have done this every day or every week, but to show this kind of aggressive emotion at the most opportune times would have showed that she cared deeply about making things different. Democrats right now don’t want the Stepford Wives candidate, they want someone who is visibly passionate about bringing change. (more…)
