[Mb-hair] NYTimes.com Article: Op-Ed Columnist: No Surrender

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Op-Ed Columnist: No Surrender

November 5, 2004
 By PAUL KRUGMAN 



 

President Bush isn't a conservative. He's a radical - the
leader of a coalition that deeply dislikes America as it
is. Part of that coalition wants to tear down the legacy of
Franklin Roosevelt, eviscerating Social Security and,
eventually, Medicare. Another part wants to break down the
barriers between church and state. And thanks to a heavy
turnout by evangelical Christians, Mr. Bush has four more
years to advance that radical agenda. 

Democrats are now, understandably, engaged in
self-examination. But while it's O.K. to think things over,
those who abhor the direction Mr. Bush is taking the
country must maintain their intensity; they must not
succumb to defeatism. 

This election did not prove the Republicans unbeatable. Mr.
Bush did not win in a landslide. Without the fading but
still potent aura of 9/11, when the nation was ready to
rally around any leader, he wouldn't have won at all. And
future events will almost surely offer opportunities for a
Democratic comeback. 

I don't hope for more and worse scandals and failures
during Mr. Bush's second term, but I do expect them. The
resurgence of Al Qaeda, the debacle in Iraq, the explosion
of the budget deficit and the failure to create jobs
weren't things that just happened to occur on Mr. Bush's
watch. They were the consequences of bad policies made by
people who let ideology trump reality. 

Those people still have Mr. Bush's ear, and his election
victory will only give them the confidence to make even
bigger mistakes. 

So what should the Democrats do? 

One faction of the party is already calling for the
Democrats to blur the differences between themselves and
the Republicans. Or at least that's what I think Al From of
the Democratic Leadership Council means when he says,
"We've got to close the cultural gap." But that's a losing
proposition. 

Yes, Democrats need to make it clear that they support
personal virtue, that they value fidelity, responsibility,
honesty and faith. This shouldn't be a hard case to make:
Democrats are as likely as Republicans to be faithful
spouses and good parents, and Republicans are as likely as
Democrats to be adulterers, gamblers or drug abusers.
Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the country;
blue states, on average, have lower rates of out-of-wedlock
births than red states. 

But Democrats are not going to get the support of people
whose votes are motivated, above all, by their opposition
to abortion and gay rights (and, in the background,
opposition to minority rights). All they will do if they
try to cater to intolerance is alienate their own base. 

Does this mean that the Democrats are condemned to
permanent minority status? No. The religious right - not to
be confused with religious Americans in general - isn't a
majority, or even a dominant minority. It's just one bloc
of voters, whom the Republican Party has learned to
mobilize with wedge issues like this year's polarizing
debate over gay marriage. 

Rather than catering to voters who will never support them,
the Democrats - who are doing pretty well at getting the
votes of moderates and independents - need to become
equally effective at mobilizing their own base. 

In fact, they have made good strides, showing much more
unity and intensity than anyone thought possible a year
ago. But for the lingering aura of 9/11, they would have
won. 

What they need to do now is develop a political program
aimed at maintaining and increasing the intensity. That
means setting some realistic but critical goals for the
next year. 

Democrats shouldn't cave in to Mr. Bush when he tries to
appoint highly partisan judges - even when the effort to
block a bad appointment fails, it will show supporters that
the party stands for something. They should gear up for a
bid to retake the Senate or at least make a major dent in
the Republican lead. They should keep the pressure on Mr.
Bush when he makes terrible policy decisions, which he
will. 

It's all right to take a few weeks to think it over. (Heads
up to readers: I'll be starting a long-planned break next
week, to work on a economics textbook. I'll be back in
January.) But Democrats mustn't give up the fight. What's
at stake isn't just the fate of their party, but the fate
of America as we know it. 

E-mail: krugman at nytimes.com 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/05/opinion/05krugman.html?ex=1100673840&ei=1&en=cc4796aeb9e9bf9b


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