PAUL KRUGMAN Tells Dems - "Don’t Make Nice"

[kpete]

October 23, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Don’t Make Nice
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Now that the Democrats are strongly favored to capture at least one house of Congress, they’re getting a lot of unsolicited advice, with many people urging them to walk and talk softly if they win.

I hope the Democrats don’t follow this advice — because it’s bad for their party and, more important, bad for the country. In the long run, it’s even bad for the cause of bipartisanship.

There are those who say that a confrontational stance will backfire politically on the Democrats. These are by and large the same people who told Democrats that attacking the Bush administration over Iraq would backfire in the midterm elections. Enough said.

..............

Why, then, should the Democrats hold back? Because, we’re told, the country needs less divisiveness. And I, too, would like to see a return to kinder, gentler politics. But that’s not something Democrats can achieve with a group hug and a chorus of “Kumbaya.”

more at:
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/23/opinion/23krugman.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

[goforit]

1. Yes Paul! You tell'em! Just Bully back harder!

[demnan]

2. We don't need divisiveness

but we do need truth for a change. I'm longing for truth. If the Republicans also stand up and say these bastards need to be held accountable I would rejoice. If they don't then I'm still for truth.

[Greatwildbeast]

8. "Bad Cop / Nice Cop" approach should work.

Seriously. You pick one Democrat and make him the designated hitter. Someone tough with sheer balls. A Mike Papantonio type who uses his harsh style to cut holes in what's left of the GOP machinery. Yell "investigations corruption Impeachment, war crimes, etc.

Then take a soft spoken woman like soon to be House Speaker Pelosi. Have her talk "togetherness, cooperation and bipartisanship".

While formerly the GOP was scared to death of Pelosi (silly really because she's such a moderate) the GOP dingbats in Congress will huddle like scared kids under her apron.

But it only works if you use someone really really tough to play the hard guy. Al Gore won't do. He failed in his Vice president job at defending Clinton. No time for John Kerry either. John Edwards could almost pull it off except that he isn't holding public office.

Barrack Obama is not a good choice for being the hard guy because he won't want to peddle himself as a divider what with 2008 elections around the bend.

Howard Dean almost fits the bill but there should be someone a lot tougher and actually in Congress.

I don't know if Russ Feingold is the street brawling type but positionally he's in the right job.

AHAH! Just figured it out. Can you guess?

Barbara Boxer in the Senate. Just her name states bar fight.

Perfect! bring her front and center to knock the teeth out of every GOP left standing.

Maybe the GOP would call it: "Nice Bitch / Bad Bitch"

HAHAHAHAAH

[BeFree]

14. Sounds good to me

We know Boxer is as strong as can be... she stood up for us on the stolen elections in 2004.

[Greatwildbeast]

17. I just e-mailed her with the suggestion to play the heavy hitter.

I just thought of another reason to have Boxer be the "Hatchet Woman": Her Senate seat is secure as the granite in the High Sierras.

And... With her presumed "unelectabilty" on the 2008 presidential stage she could STILL fit the role of Vice Prez by balancing the ticket of a more moderate Democratic candidate. Someone like Edwards or even Obama.

One "job" of a Vice president is to be the hatchet man. Al Gore kinda failed at this though i once had high hopes for him in this respect. that was back in 1992. He debates well but doesn't go for the knockout punch.

But Boxer? She's one tough old broad. I relish the thought of her making what's left of the GOP senate spit teeth at the end of every round.

[OzarkDem]

24. Yes we do

We need leaders who aren't afraid to stand up for what is right. If they don't, how will anyone know? Who will know the "truth" if it isn't pointed out?

[pnwmom]

3. Krugman points out that Americans want the Democrats to stand up

against corporate interests, such as the drug companies, and want the Democrats to speak out on the war in Iraq.

And as long as the Republicans continue to promote bitter partisanship, we have no choice but to respond in kind.

"As long as polarization is integral to the G.O.P.’s strategy, Democrats can’t do much, if anything, to narrow the partisan divide.

"Even if they try to act in a bipartisan fashion, their opponents will find a way to divide the nation — which is what happened to the great surge of national unity after 9/11. One thing we might learn from investigations is the extent to which the Iraq war itself was motivated by the desire to have another wedge issue.

"There are those who believe that the partisan gap can be bridged if the Democrats nominate an attractive presidential candidate who speaks in uplifting generalities. But they must have been living under a rock these past 15 or so years. Whoever the Democrats nominate will feel the full force of the Republican slime machine. And it doesn’t matter if conservatives have nice things to say about a Democrat now. Once the campaign gets serious, they’ll suddenly question his or her patriotism and discover previously unmentioned but grievous character flaws.

"The truth is that we won’t get a return to bipartisanship until or unless the G.O.P. decides that polarization doesn’t work as a political strategy. The last great era of bipartisanship began after the 1948 election, when Republicans, shocked by Harry Truman’s victory, decided to stop trying to undo the New Deal. And that example suggests that the best thing the Democrats can do, not just for their party and their country, but for the cause of bipartisanship, is what Truman did: stand up strongly for their principles."

[kpete]

4. thanks for adding this pnwmom

[pnwmom]

10. You're welcome. It's frustrating that everyone can't read the whole thing!

[n2doc]

27. psst! Read it here...

http://wealthyfrenchman.blogspot.com/

[Jack Rabbit]

34. psst! Thanks.

!!

[OzarkDem]

26. He's right

The GOP isn't going to allow a bipartisan atmosphere in Congress, they'll fight it.

Dems will have to move forward regardless.

[survivor999]

5. Yes. I want Dean!

He can put them in their place!

[C_U_L8R]

6. Justice will be swift

and severe

[AspenRose]

7. Hell, yeah!

:applause:

[JeffR]

9. Hate to bring up '08 when we're so close to midterms

But man, Krugman for Treasury Secretary. On second thought, Krugman for should be running the Fed.

[senseandsensibility]

11. Krugman has been right about everything since 2000

as far as I can see. Will the Dem leadership listen to him this time? Have they learned anything? I'm not holding my breath.

[magellan]

12. Agreed and I'll go one further

...and say that I think the Dems need to quit the Pollyanna crap NOW. (They should have done so long ago.) I mean, if they really care about this country and want to cement their lead, they have only to FIGHT.

What kick-started the recent Dem rally, even before Foley's Folly? Bill Clinton standing up for himself during his FAUX News interview, that's what.

It's one thing to go off half-cocked for no good reason -- that's the Bush** Repug's M.O. I'm talking about showing courage. The Dems have been creeping around the Congressional furniture, afraid of their own shadows, for five years now. It's past time for them to grow a pair and start standing up to the bullies with a united front. If they want to energize their base and ensure a massive voter turnout, that's what it will take.

Of course, if they're happy with winning only by default, then odds are they won't take Krugman's advice on board either. And if they piss away the next two years the way they have the last five, they'll just set themselves up for a Repug sweep in '08 and '10...And that, I think, will certainly spell the end of the Democratic Party as anything but the Repug Party's weak little brother.

[leesa]

13. We need handcuffs and orange suits.

[cal04]

15. He is SO on target

The reason we have so much bitter partisanship these days is that that’s the way the radicals who have taken over the Republican Party want it. People like Grover Norquist, who once declared that “bipartisanship is another name for date rape,” push for a hard-right economic agenda; people like Karl Rove make that agenda politically feasible, even though it’s against the interests of most voters, by fostering polarization, using religion and national security as wedge issues.

As long as polarization is integral to the G.O.P.’s strategy, Democrats can’t do much, if anything, to narrow the partisan divide.

Even if they try to act in a bipartisan fashion, their opponents will find a way to divide the nation — which is what happened to the great surge of national unity after 9/11. One thing we might learn from investigations is the extent to which the Iraq war itself was motivated by the desire to have another wedge issue.

There are those who believe that the partisan gap can be bridged if the Democrats nominate an attractive presidential candidate who speaks in uplifting generalities. But they must have been living under a rock these past 15 or so years. Whoever the Democrats nominate will feel the full force of the Republican slime machine. And it doesn’t matter if conservatives have nice things to say about a Democrat now. Once the campaign gets serious, they’ll suddenly question his or her patriotism and discover previously unmentioned but grievous character flaws.

[mmonk]

16. I'm not ready to make nice.

I have just sat through my birthday with no Dixie Chick concert and limo ride that was planned. Rightwing scum even affect something as simple as my birthday (rightwing stations wouldn't carrying advertising for the concert, so it was cancelled and I had already bought tickets). So I've spent my time today making notes on who I've got to contact and what I want to volunteer for in order to put democrats in the win column this election. If they're going to keep me home on my birthday, I'm going to keep their candidates home on election day.

[cosmicdot]

18. for more of Krugman's commentary

read here

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2006/10/paul_krugman_do.html

[lies and propaganda]

19. I was never much for Kumbaya anyway...

being a Brownie sucked.

[sarahlee]

20. Remember the bumpersticker that read

"Bush Won. Get Over It"

We need something like that.

Meanwhile before the election - be sure and read about http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2899960">Google-Bombing the Election so you can have still another way to fight the dirty fight up until Nov. 7th - though this one will take some paying attention to Monday and Tuesday and a lot of action pretty fast to make it work.

[zonkers]

21. SHOW THE CULT OF INCOMPETENT LYING HYPOCRITES NO QUARTER.

[w4rma]

22. We need to kick the neo-cons while they are down. They can't be allowed

to lick their wounds and recover.

[BlueEyedSon]

23. Simple, declare all Repubs "Enemy Combatants". Problem Solved.

They are basically enemies of the Constitution and of the American people.

[Philosoraptor]

25. WORDS TO LIVE BY

[Joe Chi Minh]

28. Spot on! Tough love! They thoroughly spoiled the Democrats

and the people, indulging them endlessly with their tough love. Surely, the time to return that most bountiful largesse with interest is long, long overdue.

What after all are an orange jump-suit, handcuffs and leg-irons but fatherly correction and discipline. "Spare the rod and spoil the child", Scripture tells us. And how right it is. Susan McDougal and her husband, driven to suicide, were positively smothered by their tough love, weren't they?

Maybe Susan has learnt that in the neocon's Canon Law, refusing to perjure yourself when being blessed by their tough love actually IS perjuring yourself! Black is white, up is down... You know the drill.

Of course, without prejudice to their integrity, bi-partisanship must be the medium to long-term aim. Didn't Christ tell us we are to love our brothers and sisters? But he also warned that a Christian cannot treat with the Devil, with evil.

[Ignacio Upton]

29. We need to avoid repeating the mistakes of 2001-2002

When, in the wake of 9/11, we let Bush do everything he wanted and didn't question him for fear of a political backlash towards us (remember, we controlled the Senate by a one-seat margain until 2002 when we lost it again.) Krugman describes it was thus:

"Even if they try to act in a bipartisan fashion, their opponents will find a way to divide the nation — which is what happened to the great surge of national unity after 9/11. One thing we might learn from investigations is the extent to which the Iraq war itself was motivated by the desire to have another wedge issue."

I remember in the lead up to the war, even Democrats who supported it were attacked as being unpatriotic. The fact is that the right-wing still doesn't give a shit about you. Unless you are a DINO who enables them, Sean Hannity will still foam at the mouth with the mention of your name, and Freepers will still single you out for death threats.

If we win the House, Pelosi has to make sure that she doesn't repreat Daschle's mistake in political callousness in hoping to keep the House. The pressure for her will be immense, because Congress-Critters will try and pander to the right as the 2008 Presidential Election willm ake it harder for them to get re-elected in red states. However, being nice will only give us another 2002.

[j_gregory1948]

30. hmmm

don't Dems have to WIN first, before not making it nice?

I am amazed at, after 2000, 2002, 2004, how some Dems still think the votes will be counted fairly this time.

[Joe Chi Minh]

31. No, they don't buddy! You must be simple to think that.

They are very hopeful of a confluence of events more inimical to the electoral prospects of the Republicans than there is even now; but most of all that Democrats (including many, old conservative Republicans) will vote in sufficient numbers (despite the purges from the voter lists and the machine skullduggery) to render fraud to keep Bush in power effectively impossible.

[j_gregory1948]

32. the machine skullduggery ALONE

will erase whatever number of Democrats and old conservative Republicans that shows up to vote.

[Bouncy Ball]

33. As with all things, there is a happy medium.

No, we don't have to be all in everyone's face, acting like a bunch of three year olds smacking down everyone we can for anything we can. That's just obnoxious, anyway.

But you can carry out the business of the people AND take steps to get the republicans to clean up their nasty messes without acting like an asshole.

Happy medium. Maturity and grace.