Pincer Movement

One of the favorite themes of the corporate media is that no matter how incompetent and corrupt the Bush administration may be, no matter how unacceptable the GOP has become to the electorate at large, the Democrats are still losers. Democrats are routinely described as being in divided disarray. Today's example comes from the Washington Post:

Democrats Face Uphill Battle to Retake House

An 18-month recruitment drive by the Democrats has produced nearly a dozen strong candidates with the potential for unseating House Republicans, but probably not enough to take back control of the House absent a massive anti-incumbent wave this fall, according to House political experts.

[...] Their efforts are being helped by widespread public dissatisfaction with Congress and with President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, a situation that has driven down the Republicans' approval ratings to less than 40 percent.

But Tuesday's special election north of San Diego to fill the seat of former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) showed that the Democrats face an uphill battle to pick up seats even in districts where the Republicans have their backs to the wall.

The implications of this election have already been remarked upon by Kos, here and here. As he says:

The Democratic leadership thinks that the GOP implosion will ipso facto translate to Democratic victories in November. But the electorate is universally disenchanted with politics.

The GOP has proven, time and time again, that it is incapable of governing. But Democrats have not shown they are any different. They do not paint any bright lines between them and us. And they do nothing to motivate the Democratic base to turn out and vote.

Here on The Broad View, Ellen and Shaula are tireless in their activities and focus on state Democratic Party organizations as the road to change. How much shorter would that road be if the elected Democrats in Washington and their Beltway consultants could cease trying to suppress the demands of the grassroots and focused instead on an intelligent attack strategy against the GOP?

Part of our problem is that the administration and the GOP are constantly throwing up targets and we can't settle on one. No sooner do we advance on one outrage than another and yet another is tossed into the mix. We are constantly forced on the defensive, our arguments dissipated in the general cacaphony.

I would suggest an understanding that we are fighting on two very broad fronts, under which every Bushian/GOP crime falls: Extremist foreign adventurism and domestic corruption and inequality. Both flourish due to the subversion of our Constitution by Bush.

Every specific Democratic complaint should be framed as an example of one or both of these failings. Every Democrat who is given a spot on the talking-head shows should be made to understand his role in advancing these frames--and if a Lieberman or a Biden doesn't want to cooperate, he/she should be on notice that his funding will suffer.

The national organization should be identifying and designating the best candidates to advance the message on each front. If successful, the GOP will be enveloped in a Democratic pincer movement--crushed on foreign policy, crushed on domestic policy.

It requires the Democrats in Congress to grow up, finally, and support the organization's broader interests with intelligence and consistency. They would be rewarded in the long term by an energized and loyal base.