Reply #58: that's an interesting notion [View All]

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quite true, but disturbing nonetheless.

Liberals and progressives HAVE shown up, election after election. I think there's alot of folks who count on that and expect that it won't change. It probably won't, to any significant degree. But, my point is that in the effort to 'reach out' and in the attempts to avoid offending voters who don't traditionally show up to vote for Democrats, there are going to be those loyal Democratic voters who may feel slighted or taken for granted by efforts to play down or marginalize traditional Democratic tenets. There's an attitude from some of "where else are they going to go?" I think the danger in a midterm election is that these contests usually rely on folks who regularly show up to make the difference. It's good to talk about expanding the base, but I'm worried that our traditional voters have become apathetic about the party effecting any of the changes THEY have been advocating, no matter how much they may be derided for that. With so much of our agenda unrealized, it may seem an affront to these voters to change gears now and start casting aside and stripping down initiatives that form the base of our dependable voter's concerns.

For instance, we need a timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq, but the moderate position is to avoid talking about a timetable for fear of being sullied politically for it. The end result is a party leadership position which settles for withdrawal-lite, redeployment and promises of continued military support (albeit less support). The liberal, progressive position mostly advocates immediate, unconditional withdrawal. It's not a stretch that we could see serious erosion of voter support if the liberal voters feel the party isn't challenging Bush enough to actually get him to pull out.

Apathy and non attendance are real dangers that I think will stem from too much pandering outside of traditional Democratic ground by our party leaders. I worry that there will come a day when these voters who regularly show up bolt at the first sign of a retreat from liberal and progressive principles. As I say, in a midterm, the base could be critical.