I heard an interview on public radio with Paul Waldman, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, where he was promoting his new book,
Being Right is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn From Conservative Success." A very articulate speaker, he made a number of great points. Here are a few of my favorites:
"... what Republicans understand that Democrats don't understand is that politics is not really so much about issues as it is about identity. Issues are a vehicle with which to communicate your identity.""Let's think about what happens every time a presidental campaign rolls around. The Democrat gets up and he says 'Well, if you look at my 10-point plan, I'm sure you will realize it is superior to my opponent's and you will vote for me.' Now, he's doing that because it looks like on the issues he has the advantage. The Republican also knows the Democrat has the advantage on the issues, so what does he do? He doesn't get up and talk about his 10-point plan. He points to the Democrat and he says, 'That guy hates you and everything you stand for. He's a liberal Northeastern elitist, he doesn't believe in God, and he doesn't support our troops. I'm one of you, and he's not.' And lo and behold, the Republican wins. And the Democrat goes back and says, "Gee, we had the advantage on the issues - how did that happen?' Well, it happened because people don't make their decisions politically by filling out a checklist.""Republicans understand that politics is about identity. It's about who you are as an individual candidate, as a party, as an entire movement. And they've worked to build up that identity.""It's also about giving people a sense fundamentally of who you are. We often hear about this term 'values voters.' Rebublicans have convinced people that conservatives have values and Democrats just have positions."The 2000 and 2004 presidental campaign strategies in a nutshell. And history will repeat itself in 2008 unless the Dems make fundamental, not just cosmetic changes.