MSNBC's Benjy Sarlin thinks yesterday's blowout hurts Democrats for the future, by depriving the party of potential stars:
... the Republican victories exacerbated a problem for Democrats that began in the 2010 midterms: The GOP is growing a deep bench of intriguing and diverse young politicians that Democrats have yet to counter with a star lineup of their own.Go back to the list in the first paragraph. Note that Mia Love is on there as a Republican rising star even though she lost her first House race two years ago. When that happened, Republicans didn't drum her out of their star-making system -- they just bided their time. Scott Brown lost an election two years ago -- if he'd beaten Jeanne Shaheen last night, don't you think the GOP would be touting the pretty boy as a star again? The GOP doesn't give up on its own that way.
Consider what Republicans got in this year's top tier candidates. In Iowa, they elected 44-year old Joni Ernst, a candidate whose oft-extreme rhetoric may not play well nationally, but whose charisma, military background, and groundbreaking role as the first female member of Congress from her state offer a new look for the GOP. In Colorado, 39-year old Cory Gardner gives Republicans a swing-state politician who combines staunch conservative policy with a moderate tone and appealing personality. In Arkansas, they added another relatively young war veteran in Tom Cotton, 37. On the House side, 38-year old Mia Love in Utah became the first African-American Republican woman in Congress after coming up short in 2012. Sen. Tim Scott, an underrated and unique conservative voice, became the first African-American to win a Senate election in the south since Reconstruction.
Then consider what the Democrats didn't get. Two promising Democratic women in red states, Michelle Nunn and Alison Lundergan Grimes, fell short in their respective Senate races. Anthony Brown, a Harvard-education African American Iraq veteran raised in an immigrant family, lost in an upset in Maryland's governor's race to Republican Larry Hogan. That race had the double effect of taking outgoing Gov. Martin O’Malley, perhaps the most credible Hillary Clinton alternative in 2016, down a peg as well. Pro-choice hero Wendy Davis was a long shot in Texas from the minute she announced her candidacy, but her crushing defeat to Republican Greg Abbott -- yet another Republican rising star -- knocked out one of the few recent Democrats to generate a national following. In Nevada, 34-year old Lucy Flores, whose inspiring rise from gang member to state legislator put her on the national radar, lost her lieutenant governor's race amid a Republican blowout statewide....
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party doesn't even try to make household names of its winners. How hard has the party tried to make a star of Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq veteran who lost two legs in combat before becoming a congresswoman from Illinois? After she was elected in the Democrats' 2006 wave election, how hard did the party try to promote Gabby Giffords? Before she was shot, had you ever heard of her? She wasn't promoted as a star even though she was married to an astronaut. What's wrong with the Democrats?
How many people nationwide have heard of Sherrod Brown? Amy Klobuchar? Kamala Harris? Maybe Kirsten Gillibrand gets a bit of national attention, and self-promoters like Cory Booker, Wendy Davis, and Elizabeth Warren get more. But the party doesn't have anything like the GOP hype machine. If you don't work the system yourself, a la Barack Obama, you're nobody.
The existence of Fox News and the talk radio circuit helps Republicans immensely in this; Democrats have nothing of the sort except a few hours of MSNBC prime time. But Democrats don't even seem to think this is an effort worth making. And that's why Republicans have so many A-list presidential candidates for 2016 and Democrats, with Warren taking a pass, have precisely one. And things wouldn't be much better if Democrats had been winning wave elections. Remember all the superstars made by the 2006 takeover of Congress? Me either. That's how Democrats operate.
7 comments:
How many people nationwide have heard of Sherrod Brown? Amy Klobuchar? Kamala Harris? Maybe Kirsten Gillibrand gets a bit of national attention, and self-promoters like Cory Booker, Wendy Davis, and Elizabeth Warren get more.
Why would Klobuchar even be considered in the same class as Sherrod Brown, or even Harris? Has she done anything at all high profile? I remember someone, probably in the TradMed, floating her name if Hillary didn't run. Would three people at TGOS even be able to pick her out of a police lineup?
It's the same thing with pundits. How many left-of-center pundits can you name after Paul Krugman and maybe Rachel Maddow?
Let's face it, American liberals these days just don't do stars. Maybe it's because they have other things in their lives besides politics, while Republicans are monomaniacally focused on it. But how can you compete with them without becoming entirely like them? Do we really want to expand the purview of the purity-at-all-costs academic left?
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party doesn't even try to make household names of its winners. How hard has the party tried to make a star of Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq veteran who lost two legs in combat before becoming a congresswoman from Illinois? After she was elected in the Democrats' 2006 wave election, how hard did the party try to promote Gabby Giffords?
You're talking about two Rahm-recruited Blue Dogs. Remember how Duckworth first came to attention? Not exactly a way to win the hearts of activists. Activists aren't going to get behind wishy-washy candidates and politicians. Are Nunn and Grimes inspiring candidates? Absolutely not! Stars are usually inspiring people. How many of those do we really have?
How many left-of-center pundits can you name after Paul Krugman and maybe Rachel Maddow?
How left of center is Maddow? MSNBC isn't the liberal equivalent of Faux Noise. She's left of center like Brookings is left of center.
Yes, exactly. And even Krugman isn't all that left-wing by, say, Chomskyan/academic left standards.
Every female and minority Republican is made into a star, because there are so few of them, the party has to - and is more than willing - to trumpet their success.
The Democratic Party has a ton of women and minorities - like the Republicans have older white (mostly) males.
Aren't most Republican "stars" self-made, too? Politicians like Rand Paul & Ted Cruz (not to mention green room denizens John McCain & Peter King) get as much public face time as they can garner. They are super-showboaters. And not just on the teevee. You will find them ginning up the base at wingnut confabs & -- at least in Rand Paul's case -- tantalizing reporters by showing up where they're least expected (at black community group meetings).
It's true Fox "News" is eager to raise the profiles of the wackiest wingers (Mike Huckabee), but I'm not aware that MSNBC bookers are telling Democrats not to appear on their shows to shoot the breeze. CPAC might not invite liberal politicians to its convention, but there are plenty of opportunities for liberal politicians to raise their profiles.
I'd blame the politicians themselves more than the Democratic party. They've all bought into Hillary inevitability when more of them should be better positioning themselves for high national profiles. Modesty does not become them.
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