Democrats to Roll Out Action Plan
According to the
SF Chronicle's Mark Sandalow, Democrats will be unveiling their agenda this week. Here's part of what Mr. Sandalow wrote about it:
Read Mr. Sandalow's entire article. It's a great look into the Dem's agenda.
Posted Wednesday, June 14, 2006 7:39 AM
May 2006 Posts
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Democrats will introduce a domestic agenda for the 2006 campaign this week, confident that their opportunity to pick up seats is the best in a generation, yet divided over how much an agenda will matter. The Democratic program will consist of bread-and-butter priorities: increasing the minimum wage, cutting costs of prescription drugs, reducing interest rates on student loans, rolling back subsidies for oil companies, and pay-as-you-go budgeting, according to party officials.Increasing the minimum wage, cutting the cost of perscription drugs and cutting interest rates for tuition appeal to centrist American voters but the "rolling back subsidies for oil companies, and pay-as-you-go budgeting" are klunkers at best, especially with the deficit picture looking much brighter. Besides, the deficit, while important, historically has never moved many voters.
Last Tuesday's House special election north of San Diego where Democrat Francine Busby came within 5,000 votes of beating former GOP Rep. Brian Bilbray in a solidly Republican district did not settle the dispute over whether Democrats can win the majority simply by exploiting GOP weaknesses.Oh yes, it did. In fact, it settled the issue of whether Democrats can retake the House. (They can't.)
Democratic strategists are split among those who believe the party must aggressively show voters that they offer a reasonable alternative and those who warn against providing a target that might rally opponents.TRANSLATION: Democrats are fearful that setting out an agenda isn't wise because it'll tell voters too much about who they really are and how radical their agenda is.
Much of the Democratic agenda already is known.It is? I didn't think they had an agenda beyond Bush-hating.
Party leaders have publicly detailed their plans for security, open government and energy independence. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco has privately circulated a list of five priorities for the first week of a Democratic Congress, which parallel the pocketbook issues being presented this week, along with a call to adopt the security recommendations of the Sept. 11 Commission. Democrats have called for pay-as-you-go budgeting to end deficit spending and for deeper restrictions on lobbying activities.GOP candidates will point out that the 9/11 Commission's recommendations have mostly been acted on so that's a klunker. With the budget deficit shrinking dramatically, the pay-as-you-go budgeting thing doesn't stand a chance of appealing to people. This might also be code for "We want to raise taxes on the 'richest 1 percent.' That's a klunker if ever I heard one.
"The public wants a different course, but timidity still chokes the political debate," said Toby Chaudhuri, a spokesman for the Campaign for America's Future, which is sponsoring the event.That sounds dangerous to me in this sense: When a progressive activist calls for an agenda that isn't timid, that usually signals radical ideas that are so badly out of touch with America that it'll do Democrats more harm than good. In that light, I heartily encourage Democrats to 'Go Bold'.
Read Mr. Sandalow's entire article. It's a great look into the Dem's agenda.
Posted Wednesday, June 14, 2006 7:39 AM
May 2006 Posts
No comments.
