The last time Franklin Delano Roosevelt worked his political magic was on November 7, 1944, when he was reelected for the third straight time. Even in this contest, his worst performance, he still garnered 53.5% of the popular vote, and an incredible 432-99 electoral vote margin. For the 1944 edition, FDR was smart enough to jettison his unpopular uber-Leftist vice president, Henry Wallace, in favor of Harry Truman, and no doubt benefitted from the unwillingness of most voters to change presidents in the midst of World War II.
Still, the formula that got him where he ended up was his patented combination of socialism, class envy, appeal to ethnics, pandering to union members, and the amazing ability to proffer crypto-racism without those ethnics seeming to notice or care. If all this looks quite similar to what the Democratic party has been doing ever since, you’re right. The only difference is that FDR never had the virtual 100 percent unquestioning support of the mainstream media.
It would appear that this formula finally stopped working—after 60 long years.
It’s easy enough to observe that the socialism has gone too far for too many, the class envy means a lot less when everyone—including the poor—is a big consumer, not all ethnics are downtrodden nor necessarily liberal anymore, and the crypto-racism isn’t so crypto these days. The only problem for the Democrats is that they still don’t get it. They still think it is merely a function of “educating” the unwashed masses, and getting their message out. That no amount of educating will sell gay marriage just does not compute.
In fact, the defeat of the Dems is truly epic, if one considers that they were aided nonstop by an almost supernaturally energized elite media, whose misdeeds in this campaign were legion, wrapped up as they were with tragi-comic phony early exit polling data.
Then again, what would the Dems do if they did get it? In order for something to be fixed, there has to be some salvageable component. But what, pray tell, would that be? Around here it’s pretty clear that Joe Gibbs can’t win football games in 2004 with 1980’s ideas, so you’d think the wonks could understand that you can’t win elections in 2004 with 1930’s ideas, either. You’d think…
Instead, they are devoting not one moment to introspection. Rather, these supposed apostles of tolerance and diversity are attacking all of us religious fanatic fools, who voted for George W. Bush.
Garry Wills: “The secular states of modern Europe do not understand the fundamentalism of the American electorate. It is not what they had experienced from this country in the past. In fact, we now resemble those nations less than we do our putative enemies.”
Maureen Dowd: “W. ran a jihad in America so he can fight one in Iraq – drawing a devoted flock of evangelicals, or “values voters,” as they call themselves, to the polls by opposing abortion, suffocating stem cell research and supporting a constitutional amendment against gay marriage.”
Bob Herbert: “As usual, he turned reality upside down. A quintessential American value is tolerance for ideas other than one’s own. [Mike note–Do tell!] Tuesday’s election was a dismaying sprint toward intolerance, sparked by a smiling president who is a master at appealing to the baser aspects of our natures.”
FDR, for all his faults, and there were many, was at least an original. He was, after all, the master craftsman of an amazing election strategy. It would have made about as much sense for him to use some modification of 1876 Dem candidate Samuel Tilden’s platform, as it did for the Dems to use his playbook this time around.
Where have all the voters gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the voters gone,
Long time ago.
Where have all the voters gone?
Gone from Franklin every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?