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The Third Estate
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What Has It Been Until Now In The Political Order?
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Hopeful Narrative

Monday, May 08, 2006
The media discussion going into an election is critically important. If a party is being framed as disorganized, then its voters are less likely to turn out and its candidates find it more difficult to raise money. Given David Broder's crucial (and lamentable) position in the press hierarchy, his recent op-ed is a very positive sign for Democrats. In it Broder lays out a brand new theme: "Republicans in disarray." Cool.

At the same time, the Democrats have laid out an agenda if they capture the House. It didn't get much coverage outside the WaPo, but now when pundits say "where are the Democrats' ideas?" they can say "read the paper, stupid!"

The Democratic laundry list is perfectly fine, I suppose:

Democratic leaders, increasingly confident they will seize control of the House in November, are laying plans for a legislative blitz during their first week in power that would raise the minimum wage, roll back parts of the Republican prescription drug law, implement homeland security measures and reinstate lapsed budget deficit controls.
It certainly is "thinking small," however. Yeah, it hits major policy areas - economics, the budget, health care, homeland security - but you must admit this is pretty small-bore stuff. But then the Contract With America was pretty trivial too. This modest platform is useful in that it gives the Democrats something to rally around, and sets the table if they win control. Its greatest asset is that they would force the Republicans to oppose these measures or hand the Democrats legislative successes.

Given the dire situation Republicans find themselves in, what is their response? According to the NYT, Rove is using the fact of Democratic control itself to mobilize the GOP. I don't know guys. Even hard-core partisans are motivated more by substance - even symbolic substance - than by sheer partisanship for the sake of it. And is it really a good idea to predicate your campaign on loyalty to Bush (in order to block impeachment) when Bush's support is so weak. Finally, the Democrats have only to ask "what are you guys so afraid of?"

P.S. This is really brilliant.
Posted by Arbitrista @ 7:13 AM
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