Why Democrats Should Value - Not Shun – Accountability

[realFedUp]

http://www.workingforchange.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=5DFDC53F-A78E-5A03-82D3513BD58565FA

Why Democrats Should Value - Not Shun – Accountability
David Sirota

There is nothing so pathetic as someone who undermines a team crying when they get called onto the carpet for disloyalty. But, as expected, that's what's happening with Democrats and CAFTA. I was met this morning with a few emails from Capitol Hill Democrats who don't like that I had the nerve to tell it like it is about last night's tragic vote. The whining and crying is the perfect image of pathetic thumb-sucking weakness that has hurt Democrats throughout the heartland.

Don't worry - I've been there before with this, and it is more than a little hilarious to criticize me for supposedly being disloyal to Democrats. I long toiled in the day-to-day trenches fighting the Republicans. And, unlike many of the whiners in Washington, I've actually left the Beltway and worked on winning campaigns. Still, it never ceases to amaze me how Washington, D.C. Democrats - unlike Republicans - have no understanding of why accountability will actually help them get back into the majority.

You've heard it before: Democrats don't like to talk about who is loyal to the party and who isn't. They would prefer that everyone just be quiet about divisions, even if those divisions undermine the party's ability to deliver a serious message. It's the big tent for big tent's sake - even if it means losing into perpetuity.

Clearly, many Democrats still haven't learned anything from people like Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, or the current GOP leadership - even though it is those very people who have emasculated Democrats for the last decade. Their lessons were pretty simple: do everything possible to enforce unity around principles and policies. That allowed them to drive home a sharp message in 1994, and now ram legislation through Congress.

Whining Democrats, I ask you: do you think Newt Gingrich was nice to people within his party who undermined him in his quest to take back the majority? Do you think the current Republican leadership dislikes Grover Norquist's efforts to keep GOPers in line today? Do you think Karl Rove keeps winning elections by letting turncoats within his own party undermine the GOP?

The answer to all these questions, of course, is no. Republicans understand the value of having an infrastructure that helps keep their troops in line - an infrastructure that makes it clear there are actual consequences for selling out. To most people in the real world, this kind of thing is really very elementary. But let me just spell it out for those who still don't understand: Consequences are the only thing that makes sure someone who has undermine the team doesn't undermine the team again in the future. Some Democrats may not be comfortable with that kind of accountability infrastructure developing on our side - but they better get used to it.

Let me be clear: the majority of Democrats in Congress are courageous and honest people. The problem is, they are being undermined on a daily basis. It is the loyal foot soldiers that a strengthened accountability infrastructure will help, because without consequences for turncoats, the party will be undermined forever.

This is the way back to the majority for the Democratic Party - not rolling over and dying when turncoats within the party's ranks repeatedly undermine the party's effectiveness. Helping create accountability for those who sell out is not disloyal. On the contrary, it is the ultimate act of loyalty if you are seriously interested in seeing Democrats regain the majority. The people who are disloyal are those Democrats who pay lip service to the goal of winning back Congress, but in reality have become so comfortable in the minority they'd rather just sweep even the most self-destructive problems under the rug.

Sources:
Calling out the 15 Democrats who sold out the party on CAFTA:
http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/07/which-of-15-dem-sellouts-should-start.html
Democrats cry and whine when they get called out for voting for the bankruptcy bill:
http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/032305/podesta.html
My career toiling in the day-to-day battles with Republicans:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3225673/
My work on winning campaigns:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0412.sirota.html
Dems still shun a discussion about loyalty/accountability:
http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=382804&category=STATE&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=7/26/2005

[BillZBubb]

1. Sirota hits the target once again!

"It's the big tent for big tent's sake - even if it means losing into perpetuity." That is, unfortunately, the Democrat's flawed understanding of the voters. We don't want to offend anyone, so we have come to be viewed as weak and valueless. It's killing us in elections.