Republicans to Campaign as Democrats

Posted by Chris Bowers, Open Left at 6:02 AM on May 19, 2008.

Following up on D-Day's article on this past week's string of progressive victories, which Paul already followed up earlier today, comes the new Republican message for the 2008 campaign season:

Republican Solutions and a Positive Agenda
Posted By: Tom Cole, May 16, 2008 - 9:52 AM

Families today face challenges that yesterday's laws simply don't address. We need to fix government, and one solution is to update our laws so they provide America's families with more freedom in their jobs; greater healthcare and retirement security; safer communities; access to quality, affordable education; and the ability for future generations to compete in the global economy.

Embarrassed by three special election defeats over the last two months, all in supposedly deep red districts, Republicans apparently plan to campaign as Democrats this year. This passage could have come out of virtually any Democratic campaign from 1992-2004, and reverses a long standing trend where Democrats have felt the need to campaign like Republicans over the past two decades. It is another sign of realignment, as Republican narratives collapse and they are forced to campaign as Democrats in order to have any chance. Campaigning against "liberal elites" along with more recognizable conservative rhetoric just doesn't work for Republicans anymore.

Now, rhetoric from Republican campaigns is one thing, and voting patterns, legislation, and base attitudes are another. The laws behind this messaging are undoubtedly still retrograde corporatism. Also, the over 1,300 comments that appeared below this post from Tom Cole, more comments than appeared on the last 100 NRCC blog posts combined, were all negative, as online conservatives signaled their intention to revolt against this new messaging. Further, even as the NRCC sounds conciliatory notes, conservative whipping infrastructures such as the Club for Growth are still running ads against Heath Wilson in the New Mexico Republican Senate primary for supporting S-CHIP, no matter how hopeless that campaign is for Republicans. So, we are a long way from conservative and Republican capitulation to progressive ideas like expanding the social safety net.

However, a collapse of public conservative rhetoric from Republicans is still a major victory. If they are further wiped out in the 2008 elections this November, and reduced to a rump party with only 40-43 Senators, 175-180 members of the House, and a 7-8% loss in the Presidential election, we could start witnessing major changes in voting habits, too. Or, even if they don't, we can bury them further in 2010, when they have to defend 21 Senate seats and we only have to defend 12, and when we can draw new maps that will solidify a Democratic majority until at least 2022.

Either way, we are approaching a true, long-term political victory, where we not only realign the public, but where out political opposition comes to accept many of our core policies that they once opposed. And this would be a true reversal, as for the past two decades many Democrats helped pass conservative legislation like NAFTA, the 1996 telecommunications act, the bankruptcy bill, and the authorization for the use of military force in Iraq. As Gul Dukat once said:

A true victory is to make your enemy see they were wrong to oppose you in the first place; to force them to acknowledge your greatness.

That would be true victory, and it is the path to a more progressive America. We are moving down that path already.

Tagged as: democrats, republicans, campaigns