John W. Carlin and Civic Leadership
Join the Conversation:
  • Home
  • About John
  • Blog
  • Leading and Learning Moments
  • Leader Corner
  • Resources
    • Feedback

Will Democrats Seize the Moment in 2018?

9/22/2017

3 Comments

 
Looking ahead to the mid-term elections in 2018, from an historical perspective, it should be a good year nationally for Democrats. The party that is out of power (Democratic) at the mid-term elections in the first term of a President (Republican) of the opposite party, usually does very well. Added to this traditional advantage is the divisive and puzzling start of the Trump administration.

But is the National Democratic Party smart enough to take advantage of this opportunity to make gains all across the country? To start, national Democratic leadership has for too long totally ignored many rural states. As a result, they have lost close to all of the Democratic representation that got elected in an earlier time. When I was active, not just Kansas but all our surrounding states had Democratic members in their Congressional delegations. Today there are no Democrats representing Nebraska, Kansas, or Oklahoma. Not since Howard Dean and his Fifty State Strategy have we had much focus outside of the traditionally Democratic states. It will be interesting if this changes for 2018.  

In Kansas, in my opinion, Governor Joan Finney (1991-1995) was the last Democratic candidate for statewide office to actually work the entire state. She didn’t win that many rural counties (just as I didn’t in two elections), but she didn’t get beat too badly, which made it possible to win statewide. In recent statewide elections, the campaign focus has been on the few heavily populated counties while almost totally ignoring the 90 plus counties that are heavily rural. Every vote does count. For Democrats to win in Kansas, they must get back to working the entire state. When they do, I suspect in time they will also elect more Democrats from rural counties to the Legislature.  

Democrats also have trouble finding the right message and knowing their audience. Framing a message and choosing the right words has never been a real strength for Democrats. They spend far too much time talking to themselves and not near enough to the people they need to reach. For example, in the 2016 Presidential election, millions of struggling Americans were ignored because the campaign didn’t think they would get their votes. Well, if you ignore them, you won’t get their vote for sure. Montana’s two-term Democratic Governor wrote a really good piece about this.

And then there is the issue of litmus tests, where disagreement on one single issue leads to no support, despite positive positions on all the other issues that are key to the future. I understand and respect those who feel that strongly about any given issue. But I would add to the conversation, shouldn’t seeing the big picture in the end prevail? Shouldn’t there be room for regional concerns and individual differences of opinion within a “big tent” party? Having a platform with a strong set of core values to serve as the “North Star” for the party makes sense, but a strict litmus test will make it so that only party hard-liners can be candidates
—​rather than opening up the field to other sensible, respected community leaders and aspiring public servants, who would work to carry out those values but also enter office with a desire to listen, find common ground, represent their constituents, and solve problems in a way that moves the state and country forward.

A party free of litmus tests would open the door for Democratic representation from all over our state and country. This would increase the reach of the party and create a greater role for Democrats to help shape policy on a wide range of issues. For instance, the issue of abortion illustrates the problem with litmus tests from a policy perspective. In Kansas, without “pro-life” Democrats, there would have been no override of Governor Brownback's tax policy, and
—​in Washington—​the Affordable Care Act would have already been repealed in one of the recent votes, which have required just barely enough Democrats and Republicans to cast their votes in favor of preserving health care for millions of Americans. Each of these votes had huge implications in terms of access to a wide spectrum of health care services, and in the case of the veto override, determining the funding that would be available for our schools, roads, and all the other things Kansans care about at the state level. Often, "wedge issues" are used as a distraction from the important policy decisions at hand, and it will be key for Democrats not to fall into this trap.

So how will 2018 go? It will depend on whether the Democratic leadership and their candidates learn from the past. With the right message taken to the right audiences, and standing for something, it could be a good year for Democrats in Kansas and across the country.
3 Comments
Kent Roth
9/24/2017 09:16:25 am

Declaring a single payer universal health insurance as the Party position certainly will not help the opposition party in 2018. Perhaps that is just Bernie Sanders and a few on the left, but my impression is dissatisfaction with the Affordable Care Act from both sides and a left that gives little thought on how to pay for this new government program or if the program is sustainable over time.

Reply
Larry Tenopir
9/26/2017 04:12:52 pm

Hear, hear!

Reply
DAVID MOUILLE
9/29/2017 11:58:21 am

Financing our health (physical or mental) care system or throwing more money at the problem offers little or no hope. Kansas has struggled with this issue and tried these approaches for at least two decades, and the only result has been a continued deterioration of our system, e.g., more hospitals close, cut services, or lose certification. We need to find ways to control and to improve the quality of the services our money buys.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    John W. Carlin​—​61st Speaker of the Kansas House, 40th Governor of Kansas, 8th Archivist of the United States, and student of leadership

    Categories

    All
    Agriculture
    Budgets And Taxation
    Capital Punishment
    China
    Civic Engagement
    Drinking Age
    Education
    Election 2016
    Election 2018
    Election 2020
    Election 2022
    Election 2024
    Environment
    Health Care
    Higher Education
    Historical Perspective
    Infrastructure
    Judicial System
    Leadership
    LGBTQ Rights
    National Archives
    Research
    Teaching

    Facebook

    John W. Carlin

    Twitter

    Tweets by @johnwcarlin

    Subscribe

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed