On 2010-12-02, at 7:51 PM, SA wrote:
> http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/12/dems_internalize_that_losing_f.html
>
> Posted at 3:05 PM ET, 12/ 1/2010
> Dems too quick to internalize that losing feeling
> By Greg Sargent
>
> [...] At risk of overgeneralizing, the problem isn't that Dems aren't capable of winning an argument. It's that they don't think they're capable of winning a protracted political standoff, even on an issue where the public is on their side, once Republicans start going on the attack. They seem to set their goal early on at salvaging a compromise, rather than going for the win. As a result, they tend to telegraph weakness at the outset, sending a clear message that they'll essentially give Republicans what they want as long as they can figure out a way to call it a compromise.
Which "Dems"? It is certainly true of the Democratic leadership and that part of the Democratic base which is most susceptible to its conditioning. But it does not seem to be true of the more politically aware party activists and liberal commentators who became disenchanted with the Obama administration precisely for its penchant to "telegraph weakness at the outset." I don't mean to reopen this debate, but we shouldn't let pass that there are deep divisions within the DP and around its periphery about the concessions which the administration has consistently granted without a struggle to the industry lobbies and political opposition. It's too bad there is no longer a US working class left to help translate this rank-and-file sentiment into an effective opposition, but such are the times we live in.
Here's an earlier piece from the Washington Post by one disenchanted liberal commentator:
Where's the Democrats' fighting spirit? By Eugene Robinson Friday, November 12, 2010
"Why don't they fight back?"
That's the question I've been hearing from the Democratic Party's stunned and dispirited base. For the past month, I've been on a book tour that has taken me to Asheville, N.C., Terre Haute, Ind., Austin and elsewhere. Everywhere I go, supporters of President Obama and his agenda ask me why so many Democrats in Washington don't stand up for what they say they believe.
I confess that I don't have a good answer. What I can say with confidence, however, is that the White House and Democrats in Congress ignore these grumblings at their peril. Call it polarization, call it conviction, call it whatever you like: These are not wishy-washy times. If you don't stand for something, you get run over.
Full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/11/AR2010111106085_pf.html