Observation on D campaign effort.

[Deep13]

Anyone else get the feeling that the reason we are doing well this year is not because the Ds have their act together, but rather it's because the Rs have become to lazy to hide what they steal? I've heard it said that the reason the Ds are second place in gavernment is because there is no third place. The whole effort seems really disjointed. If a particular candidate has a good machine, then that race is run well. If not, then there is no real help available from the party, especially when one looks at state and local races below governor.

That's just an impression. Anyone else see that or maybe see something different?

[JNelson6563]

1. I see it differently

Take your eye off the national level and look closer. You'll be surprised to see that there are many campaigns across the country that DO have their acts together and are making great progress in spite of the national situation. Many counties in my state have worked hard since 08, have recruited viable candidates and are doing what they need to to help these candidates get elected.

Julie

[OzarkDem]

2. They're still on the "learning curve"

Dems wandered around in a fog of big donors, DLC blather and poor leadership in the post-Clinton years. They're starting to wake up and learn how to fight the GOP in today's political world, but they're coming from pretty far behind. IMHO, they're still relying too much on winning by default and not enough on smartly articulating their own vision for voters. They've become the party where good ideas go to die.

We have to face the fact that many of our Dem leaders are still folks who only know how to survive as a member of a minority party. Very few of those people will ever really learn new leadership skills. Hopefully new faces in Congress after November will help bring some new role models and strategies and a willingness to work with Howard Dean.