Is there a Democrat in the house?
Published May 23, 2013
North Carolina has become a red state. In 2010 and again in 2012, Republicans convinced voters that Democrats had done a poor job of running our state and they had a better plan. Their message was louder and more effective and they won control of state government with boldness, conviction and an incredible display of action….some good, some not so much.
Where’s the Democratic Party in all this? The state party is in shambles, mired in leadership squabbles, rudderless. Their response to the fast-paced Republican actions is reminiscent of childhood road trips. “He touched me,” or “she’s on my side of the car.”
Democrats don’t get it. Simply whining about what Republicans are doing is not going to win the minds and hearts of voters, most especially the unaffiliated and moderate voters Democrats need if they are ever going to retake control of state government. It is not enough just to point fingers and tell us what the current regime is doing wrong. If you want to prevail tell us your plan. North Carolinians are smart enough to understand the need for tax reform so explain how you would change our tax codes. The people who care enough to learn the issues know we need Medicaid reform but there is no Democratic proposal to consider. We see congested roads, overcrowded schools and other infrastructure problems but no solutions from Democrats. Like them or not, Republicans are the only ones proposing solutions; we have no options but theirs.
After awhile their complaints just become expected and so much noise. And just in case Democrats didn’t get the memo from voters let’s state the obvious: more taxes and larger government haven’t worked and aren’t the solution. The time to begin a new, more effective strategy, is now, instead of waiting until 2014.
Have Democrats become irrelevant? Are they out of ideas? Is there a Democrat in the house?
May 23, 2013 at 3:44 pm
dj anderson says:
Can't believe I hear Tom saying that, but he is and he is right. Democrats have an inherent aversion to accepting blame and an innate tendency to point fingers while flaw finding.
Tom's challenge to Democrats is clear -- stop whining and start offering solutions. I believe that NC Republicans, inexperienced at having power as they are, will give us plenty of problems to solve.
Tom said, "Republicans convinced voters that Democrats had done a poor job of running our state and they had a better plan." I kinda disagree. Democrats did the convincing for the Republicans, from Easley to Bev, Basnight to Black, and those below.
What do we have going on now -- Moral Mondays at the legislature? This is solidifying a small core element with some needed identity ego, but it is also turning off people who believe in the democratic process. NPR had one of the arrested actually saying the Republicans would have the teacher unions collect their own dues! Lord forbid! Better know what you are protesting for, and it had better be worth disrupting the political process over.
The Democrats have little moral high ground to preach from as they defy the election results. Democrats gave us the regressive sales tax, increased it, and let municipalities double it, so how much can they look down on Republicans widening it, wrong as sales tax is in either form?
Time for Democrats to have some bold new plans for helping our state and citizens, like Tom said. People don't yet want to go back to the good ole days of the last hundred years leadership.
May 24, 2013 at 12:35 pm
norm kelly says:
i've thought exactly what Tom said for a long time. democrats were offering nothing new. they still have nothing to offer. for years, probably decades, what we heard from raleigh: 1.) just before the end of the fiscal year, dems would complain we were going to end the year in the red 2.) the budget was cut to the bone, no more cuts could be found, raleigh was as lean as it could be. 3.) there was no choice but to raise taxes and fees. (don't look at the tea cup museum or the school bus ferry on the coast!)
then we add in the fact that the most honest governor in memory, easley, stole money from county sales tax collections, money collected that was supposed to be used for e-911 services (voip & cell, as i recall) was stolen by raliegh and spent on other items, and one-time funds were used to pay for on-going expenses. bev agreed to take federal money for "high speed" rail. it didn't matter to any of the dems in raleigh that the result would be an on-going expense for the state but a one-time infusion of money to get the project started. the state was running on a "bare-bones" budget, but somehow the dems expected that we could manage to find the funds to pay for a rail system that was projected to NEVER pay for itself.
Tom is right. the only idea dems have is their oldest and most used & tired idea. they get to spend more, they get to tax us more, they get no accountability. oh, and they get to complain an awful lot about republicans. and tax wealthy people out of their wealth.
dems have yet to grasp the idea that money that I earn belongs to ME. dems give the impression, at every level of government, that all money earned belongs to THEM, and THEY allow ME to keep some portion of it, but THEY determine the portion.
i am so excited that republicans in raleigh are making changes. i don't agree with all of them, but making progress is a good thing. and it's about time. dems were making no progress. they controlled all of raleigh, and still didn't make progress.
will voters give the republicans time to actually make a difference? my fingers are tightly crossed.
May 29, 2013 at 8:39 am
WA Franklin says:
Tallyrand (French prime minister-1700s-1800s) said of the Bourbons, "They never forgot anything and they never learned anything." Same thing applies to Democrats particularly all the quasi-professional pundits and consultants. The question is: Will Democrats in NC ever finally figure out what led to their losses? So far, no dice. All the discussion seems centered around navel-gazing and introspection. Alert: A Koch and Pope led assault on state level politics and legislatures in time to capture the redistricting process seems like a fundamental cause. Only some of us had been warning about this type of assault for some years. Most Democrats never have read or understood the crap put out by Civitas and Locke Foundation - they should have, and they should now. Instead they prefer circular firing squads and blather. And of course the pundit/consultant class wants back into the money, of which Democrats are particularly bereft currently. Got to win something to get money and got to have money to win. Hmmmm...... Leaves it wide open for the wealthy blue dogs to seize control, again. Only they don't have enough money and don't trust the peasants.
Arguing the moral deficiencies of the Democrats, whatever they are or were makes no difference. The only question is how to get feet in the street between now and November 2014 for that is the only thing we have to overcome money with. Ya think?
