November 11, 2014 11:15 AM UTC

Told Ya So Part III: The Elephant in the Room

• 8 Comments
• by: Zappatero

(Discuss – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

As Colorado Pols continues to scour the election results for positive data points from a mediocre result they continue to miss the larger issue from last Tuesday's electoral dysfunction: Democrats did not have a coherent message to run on nor candidates that could create one of their own.

The most glaring example of this and the latest victim of ignoring Harry Truman is Mark Udall:

What about Mark Udall in Colorado, another Democrat who lost in a purple state that Obama carried? Udall built his campaign narrative around a war on women by his opponent Rep. Cory Gardner. He, like Braley, ticked off a list of progressive issues — from minimum wage to pay equity to protecting Social Security — without providing any framing story to link them together. He left out who the villains are in the story.

Udall also committed the ultimate narrative sin: delivering your opponent's story. Here's the closing line of a Udall ad: "I'm Mark Udall. No one — not government, not Washington — should have the power to take those rights and freedoms away." Voters who wanted the anti-government candidate chose the real thing!

Udall would have had a much broader audience for his "war on women" message if he framed it as part of a broader war on American families by the rich and powerful. It is easy to make opposition to pay equity or a woman's right to make her own decisions part of this broader story, which speaks to Americans' deep concerns about their families.

Yeah, I complained about it in real time, yet Udall continued tilting at economicwindmills built by Republicans:

There have been some important polls regarding Social Security lately. The views of the American People contradict the fiscal falsehoods on your Official Senate Website and show a significant level of disagreement with your conclusions regarding the best way to strengthen Social Security.

You don't think we should raise taxes on America's most wealthy to extend and strengthen Social Security. American Citizens say we should.

I suggest you take some of these polls into account when you're deciding whether or not to be on Squack Box the next time they need someone to lie about Social Security.
 

• Social Security – Polling Report Poll conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications. Aug. 16-20, 2012. N=1,006 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 3.9.
• Poll: Don't cut Social Security – Associated Press – POLITICO.com – Most Americans say go ahead and raise taxes if it will save Social Security benefits for future generations. And raise the retirement age, if you …
• State Social Security Polls | Strengthen Social Security
• Social Security – When you retire, how much do you expect to rely on Social Security — as your main source of income, as a minor source of income, or not at all? Do you think the …
• Social Security Institute Only 21% Say U.S. Government Has Consent of the Governed
• Poll: Raise taxes to save Social Security – AMERICAblog One of America's most influential progressive political blogs, providing news analysis of US politics, by John Aravosis in Washington DC.
• The Polls: Social Security by ROBERT Y. SHAPIRO AND TOM W. SMITH. We put those payroll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and …

If you want to see a budget that fits longstanding Democratic principles and has the support of majorities of Americans, you should check out The People's Budget that was designed by The Progressive Caucus (I think Jared Polis is a member, but I can't be sure), or the ideas found within Prosperity Economics that are gaining supporters as more Americans realize the policy of Austerity does not work, Trickle Down hasn't and will never work, and pandering politicians like you who want to codify the failures of Bush Economics are guaranteeing the demise of the Middle Class as they smile and lie their way through TV interviews.

Your continuing insistence on reciting false data and unneeded "fixes" to Social Security is a disservice to the citizens of Colorado.

Udall used every platform at his disposal to push economic falsehoods while following the Blue Dog, Third Way playbook. The Blue Dogs continued their losing streak while progressive Dems who supported progressive policies won. And right on cue the remaining Senate Democrats move closer to their Republican friends across the aisle.

What's the elephant in the room? Democrats keep trying to compromise with people who do not want to compromise. The last few years, Republicans have found a way to win by losing 2 presidential elections. And now they are claiming a mandate after ignoring the mandate won by Barack Obama only two years ago. Democrats' guiding principle has become bipartisanship for the sake of bipartisanship to the exclusion of any faith to core democratic principles or the accomplishments and lessons of their most successful predecessors.