Report Warns Democrats Not to Tilt Too Far Left

Holy cow. Why did it so long to come to this conclusion? Unless Democrats follow a center path, they will find the south a mudbog. There was another article discussing this on washpost a while back with Bill Richardson and another democrat(Warner) from the south as the only contenders from the democratic party who might be palatable to the southerners. And Richardson and the other democrat aren't radical leftists. Actually, both are similar to John McCain. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/10/AR2005061000841.html

 

Warner would face significant disadvantages in a Democratic primary: He is little-known nationally, he is a centrist in a party where liberals dominate primaries, and much of the party establishment is lining up behind Clinton.

But Warner has qualities that could make him attractive in a general election. In recent history, governors have been far more successful than legislators in presidential races, in part because they do not have lengthy voting records that opponents can distort. And Warner has proved popular in a conservative Republican state, territory that Democrats must win if they are to regain the White House.

 

From http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_2003_August_19/ai_106701628, "Dean's fund-raising success has changed Democratic prospects dramatically, Iverson says. His appeal to the influential far-left wing of the Democratic Party "has positioned it so far to the left it will be unable to get the moderate votes needed to win."

 

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Democrats must "admit that they cannot simply grow themselves out of their electoral dilemmas," wrote William A. Galston and Elaine C. Kamarck, in a report released yesterday. "The groups that were supposed to constitute the new Democratic majority in 2004 simply failed to materialize in sufficient number to overcome the right-center coalition of the Republican Party."

Since Kerry's defeat, some Democrats have urged that the party adopt a political strategy more like one pursued by Bush and his senior adviser, Karl Rove -- which emphasized robust turnout of the party base rather than relentless, Clinton-style tending to "swing voters."

But Galston and Kamarck, both of whom served in the Clinton White House, said there are simply not enough left-leaning voters to make this a workable strategy. In one of their more potentially controversial findings, the authors argue that the rising numbers and influence of well-educated, socially liberal voters in the Democratic Party are pulling the party further from most Americans.

On defense and social issues, "liberals espouse views diverging not only from those of other Democrats, but from Americans as a whole. To the extent that liberals now constitute both the largest bloc within the Democratic coalition and the public face of the party, Democratic candidates for national office will be running uphill."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/06/AR2005100601645.html