NYT's Bob Herbert: 'The Democrats are in disarray because it’s a party that lacks a spine'

[Newsjock]

Source: New York Times

It would be easy to misread the results of Tuesday’s elections, and it looks as if the leaders of both parties are doing exactly that.

Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are offering voters the kind of change that they seem so desperately to want. We’re getting mind-numbing chatter about balanced budgets and smaller government and whether Mitch McConnell and his gang can chase President Obama out of the White House in 2012.

What voters want is leadership that will help them through an economic nightmare and fix a country that has been pitched into a state of sharp decline. They long for leaders with a clear and compelling vision of a better America and a road map for getting there. That leadership has long been AWOL. The hope in the tumultuous elections of 2008 was that it would come from Mr. Obama and the Democrats, but that hope, after just two years, is on life support.

... The Democrats are in disarray because it’s a party that lacks a spine. The Republicans, conversely, fight like wild people whether they’re in the majority or not. What neither party is doing is offering a bold, coherent plan to get the nation’s economy in good shape and create jobs, to bring our young men and women home from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, to rebuild the education system in a way that will prepare the next generation for the great challenges of the 21st century, and to reinvigorate the can-do spirit of America in a way that makes people believe that they are working together toward grand and constructive goals.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/06/opinion/06herbert.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

[xchrom]

1. sigh -- it's all so frustrating. nt

[Nay]

5. It is, and it's one of many reasons people are tuning out. They know

that it's a big fight between two dinosaurs who just want more meat for themselves and who trample the little people under their feet in the struggle. Now everyone is focused on trying to save themselves, their families and maybe their friends from total ruin, while the big shots holler about bullshit stuff like "freedom" and "socialism." It's such a disgusting display of crap that it's a wonder people aren't hanging these bastards from lampposts.

[mediaman007]

7. Spoken like a true anarchist (libertarian left)!

[DainBramaged]

2. Spine, a word not found in the Democratic dictionary

:banghead:

[Darth_Kitten]

3. I love your cat....

;)

[DainBramaged]

10. Me too

:hi:

[mediaman007]

6. That's because these people don't really believe in what they represent.

Where are the Scoop Jackson's, the Hubert Humphrey's, the Bobby Kennedy's, the Paul Wellstone's? Teddy was the last of the breed.

[AlinPA]

4. The country is hopelessly split along party lines. I've never seen it so bad in

73 years.

[Lorien]

19. Fox "news" and hate radio. The same kind of shit that caused a war in Rwanda. nt

[stevenelijah]

8. You don't want to hear this...

As a student of the nation politic I find it interesting that when the GOP was in power their base accused them of "still acting like a minority party"...they were also accused of having "no spine". This was because their base had unrealistic expectations...their conservative addenda was out of step with America. When the GOP lost, their base believed it was because they were not "conservative" enough.

Now the Democratic party poses the exact same criticisms. Their leadership is accused of having "no spine"...they were not "liberal" enough.

Whether you like it or not the American people do not want liberalism or conservativism. They do not know what they want because they are more interested in reality TV and other distractions. The American people are too short sighted to be willing to accept real long term solutions to our country's problems.

That is why the "charisma" of a candidate is all that matters. An unattractive candidate, of any party, has little chance of being elected in this environment. You might remember when Bush was elected he was the "guy you could have a beer with". Many came to regret that vote.

Many of you will be offended by my observations. Why? Because the cycle continues...

[LWolf]

12. I don't mind hearing it.

I don't agree with your comparison when it comes to who is in power, or not. The Democrats had no spine when they were the minority party under Bush. How many had the spine to vote NO on the war on terror, to vote NO on the patriot act, etc.? Few. When they gained a majority in '06, they still had no spine. The refused to hold the Bush administration accountable for their crimes. They refused to support and defend the Constitution of the U.S.. When they gained the WH in '08, the only spine they mustered was the spine to attack and lecture their own voters.

I do agree that faux "charisma" matters too much. I think that way too many voters WANT media pundits to think for them and tell them what to support, and what to oppose. I think way to many Americans just want to pick a political team, cheer them on, and be "coached" about how to vote.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[stevenelijah]

17. Thank you for the welcome :)

I suppose my point is that it is difficult for a majority party to satisfy their base.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

21. but why ignore such clear facts?

The GOP has run roughshod over its members (AND their opposition) for years. The fiasco of pressure put on specter was disgusting. The attacks on other senators (some of whom were primaried because of leadership decisions) were clear. The attacks on moderate congresscritters was the norm, not the exception.

Why ignore that past? the GOP WAS the majority party when they acted like that, and frankly, the pro-war neocon faction was a minority. They had no problems ignored the more moderate, less pro war majority of GOP voters.

[Paladin]

9. Agreed. (n/t)

[Catherina]

11. Mr Fish makes this point brilliantly. Rec'd

[CrispyQ]

22. One of my faves!!!

Is that Harry Ried with the glasses?

;)

[ProSense]

14. One can claim that Democrats don't have a spine, but

they are not in disarray. The blue dogs lost big, and the few that remain like Heath Shuler are bitching as they've always done. The Third Way idiots (including Evan Bayh) are desperately trying to spin the election.

People are making too much of the GOP house victory. Yeah, that was a lot, but it doesn't matter if they lost 30 or 60 when the other party gains control the House. The Dems gained 31 seats in 2006 to control the House (with about the same margin Republicans now hold). Dems gained another 21 in 2008 to increase their majority to 257, which is 17 seats more than the new Republican majority.

Also, unlike 1994 and 2006, the party out of power failed to take control of both chambers of Congress, that is significant. It keeps Republicans at a disadvantage.

In 2006, Democrats gained the majority in the Senate, but there is a big difference between a 2-seat and and a 6-seat margin, especially when Dems control the WH.

Yeah, Demcocrats lost a lot of House seats, but this isn't a disaster. Now, Republicans are on the hot seat.

This is disarray and this.

This can't be good news for Republicans.

[Johonny]

18. I think they clearly have a spine

They put real issues out for the American people to talk about and they voted for them on the house floor. Some even went through the senate. How often does the other party ever do anything for the American people. When do they ever talk about shit that matters. Particularly on the floor of congress with bills targeted towards those issues. Health care was the #1 cause of bankruptcy in America, and Dems put a bill together and passed it to tackle this issue. Republican congress after congress ignored this issue. Hell maybe what the Dems did won't work or wasn't perfect, but at least they have the balls, spin, manned up etc to tackle hard shit. Republicans only get so far as tax cuts to the rich and some vague notion they will cut stuff. What will they cut... we'll tell you later. DEMOCRATS HAVE A SPIN, its the otherside that always runs from every issue.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

15. Meaningless garbage. Has he ever *met* a voter?

"What voters want is leadership that will help them through an economic nightmare and fix a country that has been pitched into a state of sharp decline. They long for leaders with a clear and compelling vision of a better America and a road map for getting there."

There are three hundred million voters in the USA. If you lined them up and asked them "what do you want" I suspect not even one of them would say anything remotely resembling that. By contrast, quite a large minority of them would talk about balanced budgets and smaller government, and likewise you'd get a great many talking about other specific things.

[fascisthunter]

16. agreed

[kenny blankenship]

20. The beliefs/needs of the D voter base and the beliefs/wants of the DONOR base are incompatible

Leading to the widespread perception that D pols believe in tenets of the party platform but simply lack spine. This is off the mark.
The truth is more like most of them do not believe in anything different than Repukes - they have no beliefs aside from this one : they serve the Master and the Master rewards them.

[bigtree]

23. they're in 'disarray' because of the election (if 'disarray' is accurate - I doubt it)

The fucking Congress hasn't even begun and the snipes are already pronouncing our party in some sort of chaos. We still control the Senate, and the House is nothing more than a neutered wind tunnel for republicans without the Senate majority; a poster for the republican crazies, highlighting and spotlighting everything we're going to ask voters to reject in 2012.

But hey, let's jump our own party instead.

[GeorgeGist]

24. Au contraire. It has a spine but is afraid to use it because it belongs to a woman ...

Nancy Pelosi.

[wakemewhenitsover]

25. Bob Herbert for President n/t

[closeupready]

29. I am so there.

Have been for years now. :hi:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

26. What the country needs:

A party with the spine and the fight of the Republicans, and the forward-looking ideas of the Democrats!

It just came to me...

What'll we call it?

And who's in?

:kick:

[Scurrilous]

27. Kick

:kick:

[Better Believe It]

28. K & R

Ooppss.

I posted a link to the same article.