Is it Time for a Right Turn for the Democrats?

Obviously, the elections didn’t go the way the democratic party wanted. Of course, they’re huddling right now – looking for scapegoats, complaining about strategies, pointing fingers, and trying to find a winning direction. But which direction should they go?

There are stalwarts in the party that are going to advocate that the party didn’t energize its base. They didn’t work hard enough to appeal enough to the far left and party loyalists and the only way to find a winning way would be to stay with their base.

In an election where ABB (Anybody but Bush) was recognized by the vast majority on the left, it comes down to the question of whether you won the hearts and minds of your loyalists or whether you have enough loyalists? I would argue that there just aren't enough members of the base. The political compass of the country has shifted to right and sentiments of the nation are firmly rooted in "conservative values." Whatever that means. But whatever it means, it's time to take notice and start re-thinking strategies.

I don’t know if this shift dates back to the “Reagan Revolution” or not, but I strongly suspect that it does. If you look back over the history of the United States, you can see shifts. F.D.R. and his liberal ideals ruled the day for over two decades. Then there was a shift to the right with Ike. Then a shift back with Kennedy and L.B.J. Then Nixon and the temporary backlash from his debacle that caused a momentary shift back to the left, but I think you could just argue that Carter’s election more of a reaction to the unsettled landscape left in the wake of Watergate.

Reagan brought a simple assurance into the office that permeated the country. People like simple ideas. Where people stand on base issues is simple for them to determine.

Abortion – Pro Life or Pro-Choice
Gay Marriage – for or against
Taxes – lower or lower

These are simple issues to decide – what Republicans might call fundamental values. Throw the complexity of solving the problems of Social Security and Health Care at the populace and they have no idea what to do. The Clinton Health Plan was over 1300 pages long. It’s that sort of complexity that puts voters as a distance.

The problem with the left is that they fail to focus on the simple issues like the morality of a living wage. Like the widening gap between the rich and the poor. And so on.

And it’s not just focusing on simple issues. They don’t need to abandon their protection of the issues of the women’s right to choose and gay rights, but they had better put those items on the back burner and focus on the “kitchen table” issues that Clinton was able to capitalize on and attempt to capture a broader base of voters than what was typically in their court in the past.

You’ve already lost this fours years in the White House and quite a few seats in the congress. Don’t you think it’s time to win? The only way to do that is to take a step to the center. Notice, I didn’t say right. The center is where the democrats can win.

What do you think? Is a move to the right an apostasy for democrats? Or is it a realistic move to make?