Posted on 07/15/2002 12:34:32 PM PDT by wallcrawlr
SEPTEMBER 11th changed everything and nothing about American politics. It placed the war against terrorism at the heart of public life, and reminded Americans that, contrary to academic orthodoxy on the primacy of race, gender, sexuality and the rest of it, the bonds that unite them are stronger than the differences that divide them. But, in terms of partisan politics, it left America as it was on September 10th: deadlocked.
The Florida recount was less a freakish anomaly than the perfect symbol of the state of American politics. In 1996 Bill Clinton was re-elected with 49% of the vote; in 2000 George Bush and Al Gore each won around 48%. In the past three elections the Republicans have held the House with an average of 47.7% of the popular vote to the Democrats' 47.4%. You have to go back to the 1880s to find the country so evenly divided.
Neither September 11th nor the president's astronomical approval ratings have done anything to break the logjam. Recent polls suggest that the Republicans are only a fragile point or so stronger today than they were on September 10th. In terms of party politics, we are still living in the age of Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison and Chester Arthur.
Which is why it is worth paying close attention to one of the mechanics who labour away behind the facade of the American political system, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, the DNC. Terence McAuliffe—the Mack to his friends—is painstakingly overhauling his party's machine. The result could well be an engine with just enough horsepower to pull America in the Democrats' direction.
Mr McAuliffe was a controversial choice for the DNC job. He is not one of the Democratic great and good. He had never held elected office or chaired an important committee. Mr Clinton imposed him on the party against Mr Gore's express wishes, and many Democrats still think he embodies everything that went wrong with their party under Slick Willie. Mr McAuliffe made his political reputation by raising prodigious sums of money—$600m by some counts—for the party. He made a fortune out of a combination of property development and influence-peddling. It was he who came up with the charming idea of renting out the Lincoln Bedroom, and he who produced his cheque-book when the poor Clintons needed a little place near New York. “He single-handedly destroyed campaign-finance law in the United States,” is the verdict of one veteran reformer.
So the Mack is hardly the sort of man to clean up American political life. But he is just the sort of man who can win elections. Mr McAuliffe is convinced that superior organisation has allowed the Republicans to punch above their weight. There are fewer self-described Republicans than Democrats in America. Democrats enjoy an advantage on most “kitchen-table issues”. Yet the Republicans have been much better at the mechanics of politics—at appointing political fixers like Lee Atwater and Haley Barbour as their chairmen; at applying business methods to the old-fashioned job of getting out the vote; at equipping their headquarters with modern technology.
Everybody expected Mr McAuliffe to fill the party's coffers: raising money is as natural to him as breathing. More surprising is his enthusiasm for such nuts-and-bolts issues as voters' lists. He was shocked by the state of the party's databases when he took over his job. Although Mr Gore won 51m votes in 2000, his party had only 400,000 voters in its address book (thousands of whom had moved or died). It had e-mail addresses for only 70,000, compared with the Republicans' 1m. The Democrats could not tailor their message to their audience: you got the same spiel about Social Security whether you were born in 1940 or in 1980. Mr McAuliffe wants to produce a database that will put the Republicans to shame, one with 125m names and capable of sending “100 different messages in 100 different languages to 100 different subsets of the party”.
All revved up and no place to go?
A better-engineered Democratic machine is one thing; but it needs someone to drive it and somewhere to go. The Democrats still patently lack a leader. This weekend, Mr Gore is returning to Tennessee for barbecue and mending picket fences. But he is that most vulnerable figure in political life—a weak front-runner. Mr McAuliffe is careful to heap praise equally on such party dignitaries as Dick Gephardt and Tom Daschle; he is equally careful not to present himself as the party's interim leader. But he is less deft when it comes to the Democrats' other deficit: ideas.
Opposition usually provides parties with a chance to recharge their intellectual batteries. Remember the ferment on the left that followed Michael Dukakis's defeat in 1988? By 1990 the publication of a Progressive Policy Institute paper or Mr Clinton's latest musing about training vouchers was an exciting event. Nowadays you only have to compare the neo-conservative Weekly Standard with the leftish American Prospect to realise that intellectual excitement in Washington remains on the right.
Mr McAuliffe is unlikely to change that. He has the fiercely partisan world view of someone who has been going to party events since he was five. He believes firmly in emphasising the differences between his party and the opposition. Yet modern politics is as much about luring in swing voters as turning out the loyal troops. Mr Clinton was a political cuckoo, adroit at stealing ideas from his opponents' nests.
A leader with fresh ideas would help Mr McAuliffe. But even without them the changes he has put into effect are important. In 2000 the Democrats won the popular vote with the twin handicaps of an unsympathetic candidate and a half-baked message about the people versus the powerful. Is it fanciful to imagine that a more professional party machine might have been able to summon up the 600 or so votes that were needed to capture Florida? The Republicans should beware the Mack
Correction
Jul 11th 2002 From The Economist print edition
In Lexington (“The McAuliffe effect”, June 29th) we said that Terry McAuliffe came up with the idea of renting out the Lincoln bedroom. This was incorrect. Our apologies to Mr McAuliffe.
...the Democrats' other deficit: ideas.
This,IMHO,was the sleaziest thing that happened under the Xlinton Occupation.
Fair enough, but I assume you (The Economist) were presented with evidence to the contrary. Care to enlighten us?
I grew up in Crofton,MD. How 'bout that fish?
Clinton's Party - Terry McAuliffe, friend of Bill, seizes ...
... Clinton's Party - Terry McAuliffe, friend of Bill, seizes the Democratic reins.
Politics/Elections Editorial Source: Weekly Standard Published: January 1 ...
Clinton-Carey Sugar Daddy Terry McAuliffe, in Hot Water [ ...
... Clinton-Carey Sugar Daddy Terry McAuliffe, in Hot Water Crime/Corruption Opinion
(Published) Keywords: HE HELPED BILL & HILL BUY THEIR DREAM HOME; COULD THAT ...
TERRY MCAULIFFE - DNC CHAIRMAN - WAS KEY DEFENDENT IN LORAL ...
... TERRY MCAULIFFE - DNC CHAIRMAN - WAS KEY DEFENDENT IN LORAL SHAREHOLDERS CASE ie.
CHINAGATE- - # 10 Crime/Corruption News Source: Judicial Watch Published: 7/23 ...
INSTANT BOOKMARK !!! ~ Eight Long Years ~ WSJ. ~ Who Is ...
... Teamsters head Ron Carey, AFL-CIO official Richard Trumka, former White House deputy
Chief of Staff Harold Ickes and top Clinton fund-raiser Terry McAuliffe. ...
Kickback Convicts for Clinton [Free Republic]
... Teamsters head Carey, AFL-CIO official Richard Trumka, former White House deputy
Chief of Staff Harold Ickes and top Clinton fund-raiser Terry McAuliffe. ...
Timeline of Union Real Estate Deals [Free Republic]
... Thereby insuring that Terry McAuliffe, Laura Hartigan and
Harold Ickies will never see the inside of a courtroom. ...
Who's Who: Sorting Out the Clinton Pardons [Free Republic]
... of Mike Espy's brother Clinton Link: Espy was Clinton's agriculture secretary;
petition was pushed by Clinton pal Terry McAuliffe Outcome: Paid fine, spent ...
Outline of Clinton Scandals [Free Republic]
... Marc Rich Riady Hambrecht & Quist Molten Metals Public Broadcasting Teamsters Terry
McAuliffe Others Bypass by Executive Orders Foreign Policy Antiquities Act ...
Lazio suing fund-raiser over ties to McAuliffe
More vermin here:
| FOB and FOFOB... the clinton friend files |
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