Former Republican strategist Kevin Phillips writes in The Nation that for Kerry to win, he needs to tap into the disaffected Republicans who are disatisfied with not only the current Bush, but with the last occupant of the White House who has the name of Bush as well. He cites these voters supported Perot in 1992 and McCain in 2000. According to Philips, these "Republican dissidents" have their own agenda that is at odds with the current Republican leadership. Their agenda includes:
§ campaign and election reform,
§ opposition to the religious right,
§ distaste for Washington lobbyists,
§ opposition to upper-bracket tax biases and runaway deficits,
criticism of corporations and CEOs
These issues are not being addressed by the GOP, but they are by the Dems. In essence, Kerry has a chance to create "Kerry Republicans" in the way that Ronald Reagan created "Reagan Democrats" in 1980. Right now, it seems that Kerry is not doing much to reach to these disaffected Republicans. Phillips believe that to get these dissidents on board, Kerry will have to get angry:
"Back in 1992, Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot went after Bush with the gloves off, softening him up so that the Democratic nominee Clinton didn't have to do that much. In 2000 Al Gore didn't run a strong campaign--his occasional populism was as labored as fellow Harvard man Dukakis's in 1988--but some Republicans and independents had taken their cues from McCain. This year, by contrast, Bush had no primary challenge and will have no ex-Republican third-party opponent. Sure, some Republicans have attacked Bush through books, but while that's probably been worth a point or two, it's not the same thing.
To win this election decisively, John Kerry is going to have to feel the same outrage that Howard Dean felt, and he's going to have to express some of it with the same merciless candor that the Republican dissidents have employed against two generations of Bushes. In today's circumstances of a nation on the wrong track, most swing voters--especially wavering GOP men who grew up on John Wayne movies--will not be content with pablum."
Many people criticized McCain in 2000 when he went after the religious right and likened his campaign to Luke Skywalker going up against the Death Star that was Bush. However, such edgy talk made him an instant hero to this "unbase." If Kerry wants to gage how angry some Republicans are, he might want to check out Republicans for Kerry. There is anger here that would make you think you are among Democrats but you're not. Republicans are angry too and Kerry needs to tap into some of that Republican anger against Bush and use it to his advantage.
Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for article.
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The Democratic Party has become the philosophical refuge for those who remain true to the principled Republicanism of people like Mark Hatfield, John Chafee, Chuck Percy, Margaret Chase Smith, Millicent Fenwick, Marge Roukema, and Lincoln Chafee, among others.
To take back the Party, moderate Republicans need to do something that I think most are loath to do - leave. By forming an independent voting bloc in the House and Senate, aligned with, but not tied to the Democrats, moderate Republicans can (a) take the committee chairs from the Right in both Houses, (b) prevent Tom Delay from becoming Speaker of the House, (c) keep the Democrats true to the fiscal responsibility that they have recently adopted, and (d) start to rebuild the vital center as the driver of American politics.
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Posted by: silentbob at July 26, 2004 11:51 PM"especially wavering GOP men who grew up on John Wayne movies--will not be content with pablum."
That's not quite how I would have said yet (as it is a simplified sterotype) but the
"will not be content with pablum" part is right.