There's a lot of people talking right now about a new article in the Washington Monthly, "Fire the Consultants", which does a very good job dissecting the national Democratic Party's reliance on a small number of insider consultants who aren't particularly good at, say, winning elections.
It's important to remember, though, that just because Bob Shrum shouldn't run the party doesn't mean that you or I or Kos should. We're at the cusp of some important changes in how campaigns are conducted, particularly on the Democratic side. But for the moment, two facts remain very much central:
1) The overwhelming majority of persuadable voters decide how to vote based on television and direct mail.
2) Most grassroots progressive activists, a category in which I include myself, have no experience or ability in communicating to said voters, no matter how many blogs they comment on or how much George Lakoff they've read.
Yes, we need to recognize that the way the D.C.-based Democrats are operating is losing elections. But we also need to take a clear-eyed look around and figure out who's winning them, and why.
Posted by Michael at January 16, 2005 11:29 PM | TrackBack