Sunday, January 1, 2017

The future of the Democrat party - lots of wandering in the wilderness

When a national party, either Republican or Democrat, loses in a catastrophic landslide, some retrospective soul searching is always a good idea.  What happened?  Why did we get our butts kicked? How can we reverse our fortunes going forward?

It happens periodically to both parties.  The Goldwater debacle in 1964 set the GOP back perhaps a generation.  They watched as their depleted minorities stood by helplessly while their counterparts, the Democrats, spent money we didn't have on LBJ's 'The Great Society,' and 'War on Poverty,' where everybody would have a chicken in every pot and a Cadillac in every garage.  

The Democrats lost their 40 continuous years as a majority in the House when Newt Gingrich and his Contract with America swept the Republicans into power in the 1994 mid year elections.  These Democrats then sat back helplessly as Newt and the GOP worked to establish a balanced budget, drastically cut back on welfare and generally derailed many Great Society boondoggles (not nearly enough, but some) to the lament of the Dems in the minority. And even the then-president Bill Clinton (D) said at the time: 'the era of big government is over.'  He didn't mean it, but he said it.

Then the pendulum swung back the Dems way in 2006 after a bungled GOP majority became what Nancy Pelosi correctly termed the 'culture of corruption,' with perverts Mark Foley and Denny Hastert leading the GOP demise.  Nancy grabbed the gavel and ran with it, again spending money we didn't have hand over fist, much like a drunken sailor.  

Ten years later, here we are again, with the GOP winning huge gains in many state legislatures, gubernatorial races and majorities in all three branches of government (assuming Donald Trump nominates a rock ribbed constitution originalist to replace Antonin Scalia on the SCOTUS).

Historically, all the Dems need to do is wait ten to fifteen years, and the gavels of power will be back in their hands.  During this time in the wilderness, however, it is customary for the party out of power to figure out how they bungled things, how best to fix them and implement their fixes to get them out of their current funk.  

Not this time.  The Democrats have not figured things out, not at all.  They think that they simply did not get their message out.  The DNC and Hillary Clinton campaign poured $6 dollars into messaging for every $1 that the RNC and Donald Trump ponied up. This statistic alone would debunk the 'not getting their message out' excuse for failure.  Americans heard the Democrats loud and clear. They just didn't believe what they were hearing.

Now they blame the Russians for outing their malfeasance and skulduggery via Wikileaks.  This, despite Julian Assange adamantly insisting that their info came from within a disgruntled channel of the DNC, and not the Russians.  Nope, that couldn't have been the cause for their drubbing.  No, it was those rascally Russians ratting their rottenness out to the public.  And of course, all of the aforementioned out-ratted malfeasance and skulduggery was never repudiated.  It was all true, such as Donna Brazile providing Hillary Clinton the questions in advance of the debates.  Not denied, not at all.  Or Debbie Blabbermouth Schultz, then-DNC Chair-person undermining Bernie Sanders during the Dem primaries.  True.  Not denied, dead to nuts accurate.

No, none of this malfeasance and skulduggery was the issue.  The issue what that it was made public.  That's what they are crabbing about.  That's why they lost, they figure.  They had agents on behalf of the GOP messing up their modus operandi.  Russians, primarily. If it weren't for those rotten Rooskies, they would still be in power and Americans would still love them.  So wrong, so terribly wrong, but this is what they are hanging their hat on.  So be it.  Just for the record, Americans don't like seeing brazen, open malfeasance and skulduggery.  It is unseemly and unattractive to most voters, but Dems don't get that.

This time around, the Dems may be wandering around in the political desert for longer than usual, assuming the GOP doesn't self destruct (which is not out of the question).  If they can't relate with the Zeitgeist and connect with reality, then they deserve their time in banishment from power.    


19 comments:

LL said...

It's time for the Democrats to throw Keith Ellison into the DNC Chair position. What they need is a full blown Nation of Islam black Muslim to get things back on track. Double down. Promise free everything, no borders, no responsibility -- go full Commie, since that worked so well in Cuba, Myanmar and North Korea. The Fake Indian can run for President (Pelosi as VP) next time promising to destroy the banks and hand all the money out to the shiftless. That should earn a few votes!

I can hear the slogans now "TEAR DOWN THAT WALL". Turn America into Mexico! Free shit for everyone. The aging Madonna can once again promise free sexual favors for anyone who votes Democrat. I don't know how many took her up on it last time. I'm sure several thousand availed themselves of the opportunity to put their shanks into that petri dish. Hollywood starlets could do likewise instead of threatening to leave for Canada - put your mouth where your money is?

You know, I should become a Democrat Party Strategist.

Gorges Smythe said...

The GOP has NEVER been able to handle success. They don't stick together like the democrats, they begin infighting as soon as they're in power. Perhaps Trump can keep that from happening. We'll see.

Kid said...

Excellent Analysis Fredd. Put me in the camp that believes not many people even bothered with the Podesta emails. Didn't matter. So, if the dems think they lost because a bunch of true espose info about the evil of DNC and the clinton beast is why they lost, then Great! Cause they'll be on the wrong track for a good while.

drjim said...

It's not so much that we didn't believe the drivel the Dems were spouting; we heard it all right!

And we didn't LIKE what we heard.

More "Free" stuff that we, the working, would have to pay for.

LESS freedom on all other counts, and the very distinct possibility that the Supreme Court would get packed of of bat-shit crazy liberals, pushing America over the cliff for generations, if not forever.

We heard it all right.

And we told them WE DON'T WANT IT!

Fredd said...

Adrienne: yes, of course you are correct. This stupid 'the Russians did us in' crap is their latest marketing gimmick, now that the 'war on women' fizzled and is no longer getting product off the shelves.

The brains at the highest Democrat levels are working overtime, and the playbook does not include soul searching. The poobahs are just testing out new jingles, and who could blame them? Soul searching is hard, and just blasting the next ad campaign jingle works just about every time it's tried. The American voting public is not all that sharp, on the aggregate.

This 'the Russians screwed us' garbage still has legs, Adrienne. You watch and see.

Fredd said...

drjim: well, many of us heard it. We still have a butt load of moochers out there, who like what they heard. Lots and lots of them. A majority, perhaps (popular vote suggests this).

Fredd said...

Kid: we'll see how long they stay on the wrong track. Both of us are old enough to remember how long the euphoria of our 1994 wins lasted. Not even a year? The Dems did not give up then, and they will not give up now.

We'll see what kind of dirty tricks they roll out. We won't like them, I can assure you of that.

Fredd said...

Gorges: the GOP does indeed have an inclination to eat our own. A lot of that has to do with the Dems using our 'purity' against us: 'look at the scumbag within your ranks!! He hired a nanny and didn't pay taxes!!! Dirty dirty Republicans!!"

And then we eat the guy.

Fredd said...

LL: I agree, you could go far as a Dem strategist. Just imagine the slogan "Free Shit for Everybody" on the side of every bus in America. On every park bench, and on advertisements on "Dancing with The Stars" and all of those shopping networks.

Then again, it appears that they are already doing everything you mentioned above, and have cut you out of the action. Maybe you should just stick to your day job.

LL said...

I think that I might be able to garner more street creds as an 'intellectual' if I grew a Marx style beard and started hanging out at trendy beltway locations where Dems gather. I hate it that the progs took all of my great ideas without giving me even a scintilla of credit.

Fredd said...

I think you're right, LL. You have too few tattoos, your facial hair too sparse, and way too few felony convictions. Your liberal resume is, to put it frankly, quite thin.

But I think you know how to fake your way out of all of this: malfeasance and skulduggery, it works every time it's tried in liberal politics (just don't let the Russians catch wind of your weasily ways). Distribute a fake rap sheet among the liberal elite, glue on a fake goatee, get some fake tattoos. Your liberal street cred will be instant and hefty. You'll be calling the shots in no time at all.

Just keep under the Russian radar, I can't say this often enough.

LindaG said...

Let's hope they wander forever. Of course the real problem, they won't want to work with the Republicans in congress, or Mr. Trump. And we have our RINOs to worry about.
I just hope and pray that Mr. Trump is able to get a few things done in spite of them.

Fredd said...

LindaG: I think The Donald will get things done: ahead of schedule and under budget.

It's what he does. Despite the dirty tricks that the left will throw at him. But don't count on the left wandering in the wilderness forever. They will make a comeback. It's what they do.

LindaG said...

That is sadly true, Fredd. We will just keep praying.

Fredd said...

Z: where's your compassion for lost souls? Same place mine is: reserved for lost souls who deserve compassion. The Dems? No soul to be found, so they don't qualify. To hell with 'em.

Joe said...

The best game Democrats play is the Blame Game. They have perfected the art.

Fredd said...

Joe: it's been about three years since you've been by. Nice to hear from you, Joe. But as far as Dems being perfect at blaming others for their ills, it didn't work this time around. They need to work on that part of their game, too.

LSP said...

"brazen, open malfeasance and skulduggery" -- Fredd, I couldn't agree more, but I'd insert "sheer" before "brazen." Hey, that's just me.

And I have to go with LL's counsel. Dems, DOUBLE DOWN. Maybe that'll lead to a longer stretch in a well deserved satanic exile.

****

PS. Remember their defense against Podesta's Satanism? It went like this, "So what?" Before it shifted to the notorious "Russia Did It" gambit.

Fredd said...

Pastor: yes, 'sheer' would work here. And remember during the Clinton impeachment over his malfeasance and skulduggery back in the 1990's: Henry Waxman (D-Wa), when listing all of Bubba's short comings in character, declared "so what?"

Malfeasance and skulduggery on the part of Democrats is not considered by themselves to be a short coming. Rather, expertise in malfeasance and skulduggery are resume enhancements. And they don't understand that for the rest of us, we don't like our government officials getting involved in malfeasance and skulduggery.

I've used the words 'malfeasance and skulduggery' at least five times here. I think that ought to suffice.