MSNBC #39;s Joy Reid on Why Democrats Lost in 2014 Midterms
Joy Reid Host of MSNBC #39; "The Reid Report" Democrats Failed To Appeal To Mobilize Blacks Origin by http://christianpost.tv/msnbcs-joy-reid-on-why-democrats-lost-in-2014-midterms-6369/
By: Christian Post
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MSNBC's Joy Reid on Why Democrats Lost in 2014 Midterms - Video
Do The Democrats Have a Man Problem?
Melissa Deckman Washington College Politics Science Department Chair GOP #39;s impact with men had huge effect in election results Origin by http://christianpost.tv/do-the-democrats-have-a-man-probl...
By: Christian Post
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Do The Democrats Have a Man Problem? - Video
Democrats Agsinst Health Reform
Critique of Dr. Paul Krugman #39;s article inthe NyT on December 4, 2014 where the good doctor counsels the dems on how to be good dems.
By: Tom Dillon
Democrats at the moment are going through a lot of soul searching. Why did they lose the last election so decisively?
Weve already noted New York senatorChuck Schumersmea culpa on Obamacare. Former Virginia senator and potential presidential candidate Jim Webbtold an audience in Richmond last week The Democratic Party has basically turned into a party of interest groups.
Those two views are not inconsistent. Obamacare was put together by special interests insurance companies, hospitals, drug companies, you name it they all had a hand in the final product. Search high and low for any overriding principle in the health reform bill and you are unlikely to find it
Are Democrats out of new ideas? asks Ezra Klein. He goes on to say:
The last few years has been a period of policy ferment on the right in a way it hasnt been on the left. The Republican Party is thick with ambitious young politicians arguing over big ideas. Rep. Paul Ryans budgets have taken over the GOP. Sen. Rand Paul has beguna war with the neoconservatives. Sen. Mike Lee has been fighting to move Republicansbeyond supply-side tax reforms.
There is less energy in the Democratic coalition. The Obama administration has been a factory of policy ideas but now its agenda is stalled and its not clear what comes next.For Democrats, the election should in part be a warning about their overwhelming intellectual exhaustion, wrote Yuval Levin, a leader among conservative reformers, in a triumphalist, but sharp, post-election analysis.
As I noted in aprevious post, Democrats really had only two policy proposals in this last election: a higher minimum wage and equal pay for equal work. These were repeated frequently by guests on TV talk shows and in campaign speeches throughout the land. But these are hardly new ideas. Equal pay for equal work has been the law of the land since 1964 and no one really believes that passing more laws is going to have much effect on the work place anyway other than making it more expensive to hire people. Also, almost no one who actually votes earns the minimum wage which mainly applies to entry level jobs, mostly held by teenagers.
Many in the Democratic Party thought Obamacare would create a new class of voters grateful for all the newly subsidized health insurance Obamacare has given them. But as Senator Schumerpointed out, almost everyone who votes already had health insurance. The uninsured basically dont vote.
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Democrats' Dilemma
More than a month after another midterm-election drubbing, House Democrats are still wondering what went wrong to put their seat count come January at its lowest 85 years.
Some think the campaign agenda was too negative, with little appeal to swing voters; others contend that the liberal, left-leaning message was just right but was drowned out by global crises. Most just want answers, any answers.
Theres a lot going on around here, privately, about the need for us to sit down and talk about the need to put a strategy together. Thats why we need to have a postmortem, said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.), a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
But the Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), is not interested in indulging the angst-ridden or the frustrated members of her caucus, or those who just need to vent.
Its no use having a conversation unless you have data, unless you have analytics, unless you see what happened, she said in an interview in her Capitol suite, dismissing calls for a marathon session just so lawmakers can vent their frustration. I really have an attitude that some may not agree with: You have to know what youre talking about.
But after three straight lost elections, resulting in at least six straight years in the minority, Pelosi is facing her most uneasy moments in her 12 years as the top Democrat in the House. And tensions with Senate Democrats are high, as she largely blamed their poor campaigns for losses in House races. She is pushing a go-slow approach while her team pulls together voting and polling data so the party can chart a new course.
Thats a marked contrast to how Democrats handled the historic 63-seat loss after the 2010 midterms. During their first meeting after that devastating defeat, Pelosi opened up the mikes to dozens of defeated incumbents. It allowed the losing side to blow off steam but produced little concrete action for the road ahead.
Now, Pelosi has tasked a trusted ally, Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), to run a new policy and messaging shop to craft a formula for returning the party to the majority. Israel, who ran the caucuss campaign arm for the past four years, has given presentations about the 2014 results but some lawmakers want a broader review in which they can offer critiques.
Despite the losses, Pelosis position is as safe as it has ever been. No one challenged her during Novembers leadership elections, and her liberal base has even more leverage in the smaller caucus. Even her critics praise her fundraising prowess, and her loyal lieutenants have taken no visible steps toward taking over whenever the 74-year-old decides to retire.
Shes got an amazing reservoir of goodwill in the caucus. Who can do what she can do? The answer is nobody, said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic lobbyist who served as chief of staff to Pelosis predecessor, Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.).
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Pelosi wants less talk, more action as Democrats plot new path ahead