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June 30, 2005
Where's the Opening?
Starting around 1988, Bill Clinton positioned himself almost perfectly as a "New" Democrat, giving voters that were unhappy with the Republican Party but unwilling to vote Democrat a third option -- all the things voters liked about the Democrats and none of the things they didn't. Much of his campaign focused on issues like welfare reform and though people forget this fact, his selection of Al Gore as his #2 reinforced a forward looking theme that if elected he would reinvent government by embracing new technology and making it relevant for middle class Americans of the 1990's.
Interestingly enough, Ross Perot also positioned himself to take advantage of an underserved segment of the population, the America first anti-globalist anti-taxers. Together with Clinton, they delivered a death blow to incumbent President George HW Bush.
Leading up to 2000, candidate George W Bush did a similar thing. He analyzed the political landscape, figured out what voters did (tax cuts, isolationism) like about Republicans and what they didn't (mean spirited, obsessed with impeachment) like, and packaged himself as a Clinton style "new" Republican -- compassionate conservatism was the centerpiece.
As the next Presidential election approaches, I'd be curious to see what commenters think the current "opening" in American politics is. If you were a Democrat running for President or a strategist advising one, what moves would you start making now to capture an unrepresented segment of the population and convert them (even if only temporarily) into Democratic voters? I have my own idea about where such openings exist, but I'd like see what others think.
Keep in mind that according to a new DCorps poll, more than 55% of the electorate thinks the country is heading in the wrong direction, yet while only 43% of voters have positive feelings towards the Republicans, a mere 38% feel positively towards Democrats. How would you capitalize on those numbers?
Posted by Chris at June 30, 2005 01:10 PM
Comments
Zell '08?
Posted by: MEM ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.chrisishardcore.com//nav-commenters.gif)
at June 30, 2005 01:54 PM
No, he's too far to the right on economic issues. For example he voted for the Bush overtime rules.
Posted by: chris at June 30, 2005 03:16 PM
I was just being snarky anyway.
Posted by: MEM at June 30, 2005 04:23 PM
I seem to remember that Clinton also made inroads by campaigning against the huge federal deficit of the time. Well, the next candidate could almost rerun Clinton's '92 campaign, at least on that point.
Posted by: MelGX at July 4, 2005 09:25 AM
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