Therapy for Democrats

Published November 11, 2014

by Gary Pearce, Talking About Politics, November 10, 2014.

After last Tuesday, Democrats need a psychiatrist as much as a political strategist.

 

Here’s helpful advice from my old friend and pollster extraordinaire Harrison Hickman, titled “Top 10 Least Helpful Democratic Excuses.” Harrison, an NC native and CEO of Hickman Analytics, Inc. in Washington, says, “To learn from our landslide defeat, Democrats should avoid excuses that divert attention from the tasks required to prepare for the next round of elections.” Among his 10 examples:

 

"’All hope is lost.’ Party fundraising emails may say so, but it's not. Ask anyone who went through 1984, 1994, and 2010. Elections are cyclical, and we need to be ready for the next opportunities by learning from our mistakes and moving forward.”

 

"’If only ... [fill in the blank].’ In a wipeout of this magnitude, no one factor would have changed the outcome. A multitude of factors were at play, including many completely beyond the control of the campaigns wrecked by the wave.”

 

"’There's nothing we could have done.’ Actually there are plenty of things we could have done, but most of them should have happened months or years ago. Maybe nothing tactical in the closing month would have changed the outcome, but better messaging and performance leading up to it could have helped. Besides, this type of thinking is self-destructive and presents a horrible image to the audience we most need to convince. Voters who expect courage and performance from their leaders are not going to cast their lot with a party of defeatists.”

 

"’It's all about race.’ Racial attitudes are part of it, but they are not the only reason we lost badly. If we want voters to put us in charge of their government, understand that they expect performance. We simply have not delivered in ways that meet their needs and expectations.”

 

And lastly: "’But so-and-so said ....’ Here's a dirty little secret. With some notable exceptions, most of the people opining about what went wrong and what needs to change are no longer paid to run or advise major campaigns -- if they ever were. You know more about these things than so-and-so does, and you have a helluva lot more at stake in coming up with the right answers. So do it.”

 

Dr. Pearce’s Rx: Take all 10 to heart. 

http://www.talkingaboutpolitics.com

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November 11, 2014 at 9:17 am
Richard Bunce says:

Polticial strategists... jumbo shrimp, military intelligence, tax expenditures...

November 11, 2014 at 10:35 am
Tom Hauck says:

Thank you for your column which I, as usual enjoyed.

One of the talking points the Democrats constantly use is how the Republicans are racist and thus hate blacks. If that was the case why was it the Republicans who installed Tim Scott, the first black Senator from the south, and then when possible, voted him into office? Another break in the "Republicans hate blacks" myth is that the Republicans elected Mia Love the first black Congresswoman from Utah -- with no special gerrymandered Congressional District.

By the way, since it is Democrats who run the major inner cities in the country -- why are so few blacks able to get an education in those inner cities or even at Chapel Hill High where only 24.3% of the blacks passed the reading and math end of grade tests in 2012-2013. Last year's rates have not yet been posted at www.ncreportcards.org